UND92,96

Here's a pretty interesting Herald article on the men's basketball season thus far, including some comments from Rich Glas regarding the heat he's feeling from fans:

UND has apparently offered a receiver from Mounds View who is getting quite a bit of dI interest: link.

Things just keep getting worse and worse for the NCC. USD was the last team to have a good non-conference record (albeit with their typically weak schedule), but they got blown out last night in Sioux Falls tournament by Bemidji.

Another Wisconsin kid UND is apparently recruiting: link.

I've never seen him play basketball either, but at 6'3" and around 235-240, I assume he'd physically resemble Kleinsasser as a high schooler.

I think they started three seniors and two juniors on the o-line this past year, so youth wasn't the problem. I really don't know why it was they had absolutely no running game. Although I'm sure they'll TRY to run the ball early in the season next fall, I'm not convinced they won't abandon it altogether again if they don't have success with it early. I'll also be interested to see if any of their current backs transfer in the off season. It's interesting that Bubba is recruiting in UND's backyard again. I know he was really after Chappell, Wahlin, Rambeck, etc. last year.

Duluth is the last program I'd want to go to if I were a running back, for reasons obvious to anybody who saw them play the second half of last season! Realistically, I think Kasowski projects much better as a defensive player at the college level. That's not to say he couldn't be a Roland/Beatty type runner, but it would probably take him longer to get playing time than if he played defense.

I don't think Pitt St. is willing to travel for non-conference games, or at least they haven't since 1999. The relatively few quality non-conference games they've had in recent years, e.g. Delta State and St. Cloud, have been at home as opposed to part of a home-and-home. I don't think there's any way they'd agree to come to Grand Forks during the regular season, so there would be no incentive at all for UND to play them on the road.

I haven't heard any news regarding Anderson. Apparently he's taken his visits to both schools but hasn't committed to either as far as I know. I'm pretty optimistic about UND's chances considering our recent history with the Cavalier program, but you never know. I haven't heard anything about either Landry or Kasowski, but I would kind of expect both to sign with UND. Kasowski has pretty good speed, as he runs about a 51 second 400. I think he could play either at weak side outside linebacker or possibly even strong safety.

I'm not sure how solid this information is, but I heard things are looking pretty promising for UND to land Travis Mertens from Devils Lake. He supposedly wants to try play both football and basketball in college. Of course, the history of anybody pulling that off successfully at UND isn't too good, but if he wants to try it, more power to him. After seeing him throw down a couple of pretty nice dunks last weekend, I really like the idea of a 6'4" receiver with good jumping ability, a la Chris Denney from Omaha.

Here's a St. Cloud Times article on the domino effect that could happen if UND were to go dI.

So long as UND stays dII, at least we will continue to be a part of a very respectable conference, albeit one a bit smaller in numbers than what we'd prefer. The DAC schools going dII would not change that. If we were to go dI, we might not have a conference at all for the foreseeable future. And we simply cannot gloss over the fact that we apparently have a budget deficit despite very large overall ticket sales, well above average ticket prices, and relatively limited travel distances. How would our finances look with far more scholarships to fund, much more travel, and probably less ticket revenue (basketball in particular)? Throw in the conference uncertainty, and it should give a person great concern about what dI would hold for UND. I'm not trying to be a pessimist--just a realist. If we have some sort of large untapped revenue source and a high likelihood of a conference invite, then going dI starts to look a whole lot better. But without those things, we need to be very careful.

I see where SCSU had a close game last night with Moorhead in St. Cloud. They have one of the softest non-conference schedules I can recall. Not only do they have no difficult road games, but they actually play UMC three times! I have a feeling they're in for a dose of reality when NCC play starts, as they open at Duluth.

I figured if I included the men in con 5, that would imply that we have national championship possibilities now.

Per the WDAZ sports tonight, UND has received a verbal commitment from a big offensive lineman from Winnipeg--Ian Henderson, 6'5", 287. Here's a link to a Herald article.

I can't say. All I know is that Roebuck has said on more than one occasion that it would be MORE dificult to recruit if UND were dI. Perhaps that would change upon becoming tournament-eligible. In any event, I have to defer to his opinion on this since he should know better than any of us.

The thing is, I don't think games against these types of schools would be eliminated upon going dI, at least not for the first several years. NDSU plays Hamline, Jamestown, Mary and Mayville this year. Finding enough decent home games is tough whether you're dI or dII.

Sorry, but I had to stick up for my alma mater.

I maintain my stance that I would really prefer UND to stay dII barring a dI conference invite or a big football scholarship cut. But IF dI is the direction UND is heading, what are people's thoughts of how it would affect UND basketball? My own personal opinions are: pro's 1. men would probably start getting the caliber of players we were getting in the 70's, early 80's, and early 90's. 2. occasional (road) games vs. big name opponents. 3. women would probably be immediately very competitive with all but the elite teams. con's 1. conference? 2. lower attendance due to poor home schedule, which would be an even bigger problem without a conference. 3. increased expenses, which would hurt even more considering number 2 above. 4. while it may help men's recruiting, it could very well hurt the women's recruiting. 5. no more national championship possibilities for women. 6. lengthy period of post-season ineligibility, which would be a much bigger problem for the women than the men. Thoughts?

I have to take issue with the highlighted statement, as Central did beat South in the regular season in football, and was ranked first in the state for most of the second half of the season.

I have been watching that situation, also. It's extremely difficult to get "name" dI schools to travel to low to mid major schools. Looking at Montana's schedule, they very rarely get anybody decent to travel there either, and obviously they've been dI for many years. But of course, at least they have conference games with established rivals to make up for their lack of attractive non-conference home games. Maybe getting guarantees would offset the lack of home attendance to a degree, but as far as ticket sales are concerned, a move to dI would likely have a negative impact for UND. I think that's a very important fact that needs to be considered in discussing a potential dI move.

It's tough to be too critical of a 32-point win, but I was a little disappointed in how many easy baskets the Sioux gave up, and in how few turnovers were forced. I suppose it can be chalked up to the fact that the level of intensity against an obviously overmatched opponent isn't going to be the same as it would be against a Concordia-St. Paul, for example, especially in the last game before the Christmas break.

Who is going to step forward and stake a claim to the starting 3 position? Maffin had started for most of the first 13 games, but is struggling right now and has a low field goal percentage. Guinn started last night and is shooting better than Maffin, but has had a bit of a problem with turnovers. I realize both are coming off serious injuries, which is difficult for anybody. Hopefully one of them can step forward over the next few non-conference games, because NCC play is coming up fast. That position will be important because whomever is playing there will likely get a lot of open looks as teams will continue to focus on trying to stop the inside game.