UND92,96

Has anybody else heard anything about whether Rich is staying or going? If it's true that he's staying for at least one more year, I don't think I will be attending any men's games next year, even though I'll have season tickets since you can't drop men's but keep women's. I just can't take the frustration anymore. If the administration doesn't care how the men's team does, why should the fans?

Any predictions for tomorrow? I think the Sioux will win big; Northern over Regis since the RMAC never wins games in the regional; Augie over SCSU in close one; and Wayne over Concordia-St. Paul.

I think Valley City's winless season doomed any chance she had. I expect she'll go on to a better college career than most of the other nominees, however.

From what I've heard from a pretty reliable source, Richie has no intentions of quitting, at least not right now. So unless Buning pulls the trigger--and I highly doubt that will happen--there won't be a coaching change this year.

I'm basing the tougher schedule theory on the fact that Crookston has a much better record than DL despite getting smoked by DL when they played head-to-head. Not exactly a scientific argument, I'll admit, but not without a certain amount of logic, either. Also, Crookston barely beat Central, who is simply not a very good team. Just my two cents.

I read the Washburn article last week, and what struck me is what an accomplishment it's been for UND (and NDSU and SDSU) to have won a total of nine national championships without (to my knowledge) having any players who were in dII solely because they weren't academically eligible to play dI. Obviously we see that a lot in men's basketball, but relatively infrequently on the women's side. I wouldn't necessarily go so far as to say that it taints things somewhat when your best player by far is only at your school because she HAD to play at a level below dI, but I will say that I'm proud of the way UND and the other NCC schools have done things in women's basketball.

Just to play devil's advocate since I haven't seen Wahlin play in person, but Privatsky's numbers are basically identical to Wahlin's, and Devils Lake plays a much more difficult schedule. Wahlin may very well be the better player, but I'd be interested in hearing how a coach would compare the two. I'm not sure the difference is necessarily as substantial as you seem to think.

That's about what I figured. I suspect all but perhaps one or two of the "no" votes were by fans of other schools who have a vested interest in UND retaining the status quo.

Thanks for the info. The kid from Park Rapids is Janeesa Wolff. I agree that she and Draxten are likely the two best college prospects in the region. I suspect both will get a lot of major conference dI attention, so it would probably be a longshot for UND to get either, but you never know.

Another area player to watch is Ashley Privatsky from Devils Lake. She's averaging over 17 ppg as a sophomore, which is third in the EDC after Bergan and Seay. She's also second in the conference in assists. I'm curious how those "in the know" would compare her to Kamille Wahlin? Devils Lake handled Crookston pretty easily when the two teams played earlier this year, for whatever that's worth. It would be nice to re-open the old Devils Lake pipeline to UND (Walford, Heisler, Chaske, Deutsch).

Boese named mvp; Roebuck coach of the year; Langen all-conference; Jahner co-defensive player of the year (but not all-conference?). Kimbrough was snubbed for freshman of the year. Her numbers were clearly better than DeVille's. link. And how in the heck can undefeated UND have the same number of all-conference selections as UNO and UMD?

Apparently not.

I think all the first round games could be very competitive. North may be the team to beat right now as they're playing very well. Between the high school tournaments and the women's regional, this could be the best weekend ever to be a basketball fan in GF!

Lindahl was named all-NCC. link

O.K., I'm not trying to "call anyone out," and I can respect a difference of opinion, but would any of the 13 "no" voters care to give an explanation as to WHY they voted as they did?

I agree that it's likely to come down to UND and the SCSU-Augie winner. The bottom line for the Sioux is we need to shoot it better from outside. Teams are not going to let Langen beat them for the 3rd or 4th time in a season, so they'll just double her all the time or sit back in a tight zone. We'll go as far as the outside shooting of Mahlum, Boese, Maffin, Guinn and Jahner will take us. And unfortunately, another shooting performance like today's could very easily result in a loss. You're not going to win very often shooting 34%.

Of current local or formerly local coaches, you have to look at Craig Smith, Craig Irwin and Brad Huse. I'm not aware of anybody else who would be as good or better of a candidate locally. I'm hearing rumblings that Margenthaler from Mankato may be headed to a division I job (Idaho St?), so another good job may be opening which will attract attention from most of the same people who would apply for the UND position should it open up within the next few weeks.

I'm surprised they have two games in which conference foes are playing each other in the first round since it was easily avoidable, but such is life I guess.

CSU-Pueblo won the RMAC tournament to get that conference's autobid, and I think it's almost certain they'll get the number 8 seed, and play UND in the first round. The Sioux beat Pueblo 89-47 earlier this year. I'm guessing that Wayne State will be the only team in the regional that UND has not played this year. I'll guess the seeds will be as follows: 1. UND 2. SCSU 3. Wayne St. 4. Regis 5. Northern St. 6. Augie 7. Concordia-SP 8. CSU-Pueblo

From today's McFeely column:

But have things really changed that much? Again, I bring up the name Dave Gunther. I'm not saying it was a mistake to have forced him out, but if anybody had earned the right to go out on his own terms, it was Gunther. I see absolutely no reason why Glas has gotten so much more leeway, except for the fact that former a.d.'s Gino and probably Wanless were more willing to pull the trigger than RT was. Time will tell as to whether Buning will do what so obviously needs to be done.

Looks like some opposing teams' fans are voting.

Glas actually did make at least a cameo appearance last night, as I was sitting right in front of him during the RR-South game. On another note, while I'm not trying to be a smarta$$, I'm surprised that as many as 5 people (so far) have voted for Glas to stay. I assume those people also feel that Dave Gunther got the short end of the stick, as he was forced out after six sub-par seasons, which is far fewer than what Glas has had. And of course, had Gunther not been forced out, Glas would probably have never gotten the UND job. Ironic, isn't it?

I think it would be a shame if it wasn't discussed. To pretend things are fine with the men's basketball program right now would require somebody to be in complete and total denial. If Rich can't see that he should voluntarily step down, then he's the one in denial. 11 years in a row without so much as a top-2 finish in the NCC is more than enough to justify a change, with this past season being the last straw.