UND92,96

Regarding Winkelman, here is an article from about three weeks ago regarding his recruitment. Perhaps the most interesting quote was this: Wouldn't that all but eliminate NDSU from consideration?

Regarding VerDouw, I believe his brother was on the team here for a few years. If I remember correctly, he signed about the same time as Jahner. He evidently didn't pan out, but whether that has anything to do with UND not recruiting the younger brother, I don't know.

Under the circumstances, I'd say that 9-4 has been a major accomplishment. Really, only the Mary game has been a terrible performance and the team isn't too far away from being 12-1 right now. However, I believe SDSU had a similar situation last year to what UND has experienced this year in terms of injuries/illnesses to three of their best players, and they were still able to finish 24-7. My point is that it is still possible to put an NCC champion-type team on the floor even with as many as three starters out for the season. Clearly, we are not close to being an NCC champion this year with only three guys capable of consistently scoring in double figures. Had we had our full arsenal, with a starting five of Rypkema, Lindahl, Austin, Johnson and Nobles, with Parks adding instant offense off the bench, and Jacobson, Jahner and Bradley also contributing, the team would have been pretty good. Unfortunately, neither of the juco big men have really worked out, so depth in the post was going to be a problem regardless. Hopefully, next year Gutter can be that third big guy that we are lacking right now. We also definitely need to sign another big guy--preferably a high school recruit. I know it's tough to sign a decent big kid out of high school, but we have generally been able to find some good ones like Behrens, Mustard, etc.

Thanks for the info, UND Fan. Regarding Nobles, this was in the Herald last week:

Does anyone know how many of the mens basketball players are on a full scholarship? I'm not asking for any names of those on scholarship, but rather if there are ten guys on a full ride, or whether many of the ten scholarships are split up into partials similar to in football.

You and some of you fellow NDSU fans can just keep on thinking that Lennon is going to leave soon, that UND's tremendous success has been based on him and his coaching staff alone, and that UND's football program will collapse when he does eventually leave. I will continue to think that UND will be just fine regardless, unless we are stupid enough to hire a coach like a Bob Babich, for example, when Lennon does finally decide to move on. Of course, a successful program would never do anything that dumb, right?

I am surprised that NDSU has signed as many transfers as they have the past few years, and that they are apparently planning to continue this practice. Especially considering they have next to nothing to play for over the next five years, it seems odd to sign guys who only have two years to play. If it is true that Summerville is leaving or already has left, as has been stated on the Bison board, that would mean that NDSU signed about six jucos last year (Summerville, Ware, Irby, Byrd, Fleming and Mamula?) and only one seems to have really panned out. Not a very good percentage. Why not just sign the best high school players you can find and develop them? I guess it's just a different philosophy, but I certainly hope UND does not take this route for football.

Tom Dosch is on his way to Jamestown College according to Pat Sweeney on the 5:00 WDAZ sports tonight. Also, Sweeney said Sac. St. had also been pursuing Tibesar.

The UND men get two close wins in the SDSU tournament--over Colorado School of Mines and Winona St. Any news regarding Austin? There's been nothing official yet nor has there been anything in the Herald. I hope he's still on the way because right now nearly all of the scoring load falls on Rypkema, Lindahl and Johnson. Without Austin, it will be extremely difficult to finish at .500 in the NCC. There just isn't enough offense. With Austin, things could be pretty interesting since aside from SDSU, everybody in the NCC looks pretty beatable right now.

link There's no question in my mind that this was the right decision. I am very confident that the UND defense is in good hands.

A profile of Brian Jark from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader:

I don't believe Dressler's commitment should signify that UND is not actively pursuing other running backs such as DesCamps. Dressler is likely not going to be an every-down running back. He'll probably play more of a 3rd-down back/receiver/returner role.

I'm pretty sure that any big-name dII opponents on UND's schedule would be part of a home-and-home, so there wouldn't be any huge guarantees involved. In this day and age, I don't believe it's even possible to entice an elite dII program to agree to a one-game contract for a road game unless the guarantee is so large that there's basically nothing left from the ticket proceeds for the home team. It's not worth it financially.

And yet another article about the whole "will they or won't they play next year" saga. I am so sick of this issue. To the extent there was any question about where the game would be played in the unlikely event it occurs, this quote from Gene Taylor removes any lingering doubt: I know what NDSU's motivation is: one big gate since their home schedule is likely going to be poor. From UND's perspective, the benefits--to the extent there are any--are a bit more difficult to discern.

A link to the Bismarck Tribune article on Dressler's commitment.

Three more Canadians, all from Toronto, whom UND may be recruiting per a post on the allcanadagridiron.com message board: Ricky Clarke, wr, 6'0", 180 Allistair Blair, rb, 5'10", 225 Tristan Black, lb, 6'2", 228

A summary of recruiting so far (NOTE: I can't vouch for the 100% accuracy of these names as they have come from various internet sources, recollection from area newspaper articles and/or my own speculation): verbal commitments Jake Caufield, wr, 6'2", 190, Minot Weston Dressler, rb/wr/returns, 5'6"?, 150?, Bismarck probably have either visited or will visit, or at least have been contacted Zach Harrington, dl, 6'2", 270, Carrington Tyson DesCamps, rb, 5'9", 190, Aberdeen Rory Manke, qb/db, 6'1", 195, Detroit Lakes Jared Bardon, te, 6'3", 225, Deforest (WI) Brandon Jordan, wr/db, Winnipeg Tyler Morrow, lb, 6'3", 232, NDSCS (formerly Wahpeton High and NDSU) Jordan Armentrout, rb, Madison Memorial (WI) Jordan Meier, qb, Madison Memorial (WI) Mike Klepatz, te/de, 6'6", 225, New Berlin (WI) Bobby Coy, rb, 5'10", 175, Heritage (CO) Brady Trenbeath, wr, 6'0", 175, Cavalier Wayne Samson, ol/dl, 6'4", 275, Cavalier Trevor Dally, ol, 6'4", 285, Fosston Kole Heckendorf, wr, 6'1", 175, Mosinee (WI) other possibilities from the area Dustin Timmersman, fb, 6'2", 210, Roseau Jesse Vote, fb/db, 5'10", 200, Cando Jerry Netland, fb/punter, Bagley Josh Karch, lb, 6'2", 195, Moorhead Nolan Oliver, lb, 6'1", 205, Moorhead Ryan Brathwaite, db, 6'2", 175, Grand Forks Central Wade Haugland, dl, 6'0", 285, Grand Forks Central Eric Schaumberg, db, 6'1", 165, Mahnomen

After watching the Cal-Virginia Tech game last night, I'm more confident than ever that a kid the size of Dressler can play at this level. Cal had a quick little guy who was about 5'7", 150 who was able to contribute as a receiver and even scored a touchdown on a reverse against one of the most athletic teams in the country. Dressler certainly has the speed and quickness, and if he's as tough as people say, he has a pretty good chance to contribute in a few years.

The ex-UND quarterback was named MVP of the Blue-Gray game yesterday. link

It would be interesting to know the inside scoop on this (from the Forum):

This is from allcanadagridiron.com regarding Jordan:

Thanks to Jim Dahl for providing us with this forum! I can't even begin to imagine the time and money such an endeavor must require.

I assume you meant Schweigert--not Mussman. My understanding is that the UMD assistants will keep their jobs assuming they want to stay. It's probably not much of a surprise considering that Neilson hired them in the first place and wouldn't want to leave them out in the cold. But from Schweigert's perspective, it must be kind of weird not being able to assemble his own staff. I am glad personally since there's not much of a chance that any other UND assistants will be able to follow him to Duluth like Underwood did when Hedberg took the St. Cloud job. With regard to the prospective game between NDSU and UMD, it surprises me that UMD agreed to that game unless they really need the money. They typically haven't played the strongest of non-conference schedules anyway, and with the way the strength of schedule index penalizes games against I-AA's, it would seem a strange time for them to do an about-face. I know UND has very much wanted to schedule them in the past and even offered to travel to Duluth but UMD refused--probably because they preferred to take their chances against the weaker NCC teams like Mankato and USD.

I really like the fact that UND is getting back into Canada for recruiting. There was a dry spell between the signings of Lotysz, Schultz and Juhasz until last year's signing of Alexander. The Sioux have had many great Canadian players over the years (Milson Jones, the Robson's, Tim Prinsen, etc.) There is more and more talent being developed north of the border, and while there are several division I schools who recruit there, I think UND's proximity to Canada and the history of developing Canadian players will still result in UND signing our fair share of them.