UND92,96

UND has offered Wylee Delorme.

I'm surprised she's still uncommitted. UND was actually her first offer--three years ago. Of course, there are no staff members left from that time, and I have no idea whether there's been any ongoing communication with her.

UND has also offered Elizabeth Puot of Kirkwood Community College. Looks like she has several dI offers.

Sounds like Hutter has offered Lauren Hillesheim's Hopkins teammate London Harris, a combo guard.

Totally agree. I don't know if Kinnebrew has any interest in leaving Bismarck, but she absolutely could help. Same with Johnson at Moorhead.

I was agreeing with you. That strategy isn't realistic anymore, although it was for Sather when he was Northern State. But that was a different time and those days are over. That's not to say you never take a chance on a kid like Ouse, but you can't have four or five guys who you're just hoping maybe can help you in years three and four.

I'm a little more optimistic about Ouse's potential than most others on this board, but it's probably a fair point to question whether it even makes sense to sign high school players in this day and age unless you feel there's a decent chance they can contribute almost immediately. Developing a player over the course of several years was fine in the days when you could actually expect to keep him for four or five years, but obviously that almost never seems to happens anymore.

It sounds like he's going to get back to recruiting the area/region moreso than what we've seen in a while, so that's a positive in my opinion. Until this most recent recruiting class, MN in particular hasn't been enough of a priority in recent years. One Minnesotan on the roster this year. That's pretty hard to believe.

They never offered. Marisa Frost (another class of 2024 PG) committed to NDSU way back in August of 2022. UND offered Jocie in November of 2022, and she committed quickly thereafter.

Agreed. I think the key here is that at NDSU, she's probably going to have to share minutes with Marisa Frost, whom they chose to recruit instead of Jocie in high school. At UND, it will be all the minutes she could ever want.

The players announcing their intentions to leave is what caused Mallory to resign, from what I've heard.

Yes, he was immediately named as the new coach.

I respect Hutter's record at Mayville. But my question is, why not name him as interim coach rather than just giving him the job? What was the rush? Obviously you don't normally promote an assistant when the program is underperforming. If the players you actually wanted to keep were on board with it, maybe it's a bit more understandable. But that doesn't appear to be the case, and it appears we're losing them anyway, so what exactly was the thought process here?

So based on the Herald article that was just posted, only Demers and Aumer aren't in the portal, at least as of yet, amongst those who actually saw much playing time this past season.

I would be surprised by that. He's got a pretty good thing going in Minot, and the pay difference isn't as much as one might think. I think Phillips was making something like $112k. Murken is at around $100k, and is probably in a position to get a raise after the season they just had. I still think the chances are decent that Sather is in the mix.

And they pretty much never lose players early. Women's basketball seems to be the last relatively high-profile sport where it's still possible for a low or mid-major to be relevant.

So it’s possible some may choose to stay now?

Unfortunately, at least one of the eight is among those you absolutely didn’t want to lose.

I have to think this is more a matter of being 1500 miles from home, and having put up numbers good enough to play for Washington or Washington State or Gonzaga. I can't really blame her.

I don’t necessarily disagree, but it may or may not be noteworthy given there was some discussion of him on this board recently, he finished the season pretty strong and it comes shortly after the Eaglestaff announcement. If Sather is back, and depending on how many players transfer out, I wouldn’t be shocked if UND has some interest.

Wylee Delorme from UMary is in the portal.

There is a recent article in the Aberdeen newspaper regarding potential candidates for the Northern State job, but it's behind a paywall. Anybody read it? Curious whether Sather was mentioned.

It's going to be an interesting decision. I think Sather will be given the opportunity to come back for the final year of his contract, but with the understanding that another extension won't be forthcoming without major improvements. So even with a probable pay cut, is he better off with the security of a multi-year deal at someplace like Northern? My guess is yes, and he leaves on his own. I still think he's a pretty good coach. It just hasn't worked out here.

Yup. But I have to believe extending a coach with .396 winning percentage after five years is a line even he won't cross. The optics would be horrible.

I see three realistic possibilities, and none involves giving Mallory an extension: 1. Allow her to come back for the last year of her contract, with the understanding that UND will move on after next season unless there are major improvements, e.g. 20-plus wins and a top-three regular season finish in the conference; 2. Fire her, and name Hutter as interim coach for a year. If he does well, give him the job. If not, conduct a national search after next season; 3. Fire her, and conduct a national search now.