UND92,96

Per a Nate Baukol tweet, Ross Brenneman and Romon Bridges are the 2012 Beefmaster award winners. I'm not surprised by Brenneman, but Bridges seems surprising, at least to me.

Here's the writeup: http://siouxfb.areavoices.com/

I would just be satisifed if we could find a couple more players in the Mitchell/Brekke mode. Finding a 6'8"-plus kid from the juco ranks who can really play is probably a longshot given the number of dI schools in the market for such players. Finding a versatile 6'6" or 6'7" kid from the upper midwest who can shoot a little bit should be quite realistic. There are players like that in the NSIC right now.

I don't want to make any predictions with regard to the fate of any individual player, but my feeling is that in most cases, it only makes sense to bring somebody back on scholarship for a fifth year if that player is likely going to be a part of the regular rotation. I think it comes down to what really is the purpose of red shirting? It's supposed to be beneficial to both the program and the player. But if the player isn't contributing on the court, then the benefit of the red shirt becomes fairly one-sided in favor of the player if he's brought back for a fifth year on scholarship with little hope of actually playing more than mop-up minutes. I know some disagree, but IMO when you recruit a kid, you should commit to a four-year scholarship (just like the non-red shirts get). The fifth year should not necessarily be guaranteed.

Bracket: http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/gwfc/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/schedule/schedule.pdf

Bracket: http://grfx.cstv.com...le/schedule.pdf

Wish there was a jumbotron at the Betty. I was at the game, but was watching the play and not the clock so I have no idea if Mitchell really got the shot off in time or not. I must say that although Hunsaker is clearly a good coach, he's a bit too whiny for my taste. He's had more than his share of good fortune against UND. Today the shoe was on the other foot, so deal with it.

I find it pretty amazing what today's opponent Utah Valley has accomplished the past two seasons, despite 1) still facing an uphill battle to gain admission into an autobid conference; 2) being probably the least prominent of Utah's six dI schools; and 3) having to deal with the challenge of trying to recruit at least some non-Mormons to an area which is very much Mormon. Hunsaker deserves a lot of credit for winning roughly 40 games the past two seasons.

What's the reasoning behind having the state B so early this year? It seems weird not having it be the last tournament of the winter sports season.

I agree that if Huff won't grow up, be coachable and learn to play within a team concept at all times, he may need to go. The problem is, losing any of the top five underclassmen would be potentially disastrous considering how little depth there is right now. Yes, Schuler could very well slide into Huff's starting spot, and maybe Antwi can develop into an 8-10 ppg scorer off the bench, but that would still result in one fewer scorer on the team next year compared to this year, as the impending loss of Mitchell was already going to be difficult to overcome. Is it too late to sign impact players for next year? I'm sure at least one juco will be brought in, but I don't know how likely it is that a juco will make much of an impact. Webb was kind of an under-the-radar player found in a prep school, and he stepped right in and was effective immediately. Maybe another prep schooler is the answer?

I mentioned only Kroeplin and Hagler because they're juniors, and appear to play the same position (point guard), whereas Arvidson is a senior and probably a 2. I believe Arvidson does have a legit shot at playing dI, although he may need to start off as a walk-on. No inside info there, just a gut feeling.

I have no idea whether either is considered a true dI prospect, but I'm curious who is considered to be the better college prospect between Mac Kroeplin and Jake Hagler?

This team is really difficult to figure out. On the one hand, the home record is as good as it's been in many years. And the talent level of the top six players is good. But then you start factoring in the terrible road record, the extreme lack of quality depth, the erratic free throw shooting, periodic turnover problems, dumb fouls and questionable shot selection, and it becomes difficult to be overly optimistic about next season. I can't comment on leadership issues as I have no knowledge of them one way or the other, but I certainly trust UND Fan's assessment. Bottom line--despite three or four very good wins and a good home record, I can't help but feel that this season has been something of a disappointment overall. But that opinion is subject to change should UND beat Utah Valley next week, and win the GW tournament.

Not sure which thread to post this in, but according to a tweet by Tom Dienhart of the Big Ten Network, Brooks Bollinger is expected to be named quarterbacks coach for Paul Chryst at Pittsburgh.

I expected a bit more from a former UND student body president. It sounds like he just enjoys being contrarian. That attitude probably isn't going to help him in his mayoral bid.

Per a Wayne Nelson tweet, an announcement is apparently going to be made tomorrow regarding the women's basketball program, presumably naming Brewster head coach.

Keep in mind these players are currently high school juniors, and would not be coming in until the 2013-14 season. I assume any players brought in for next year would play the 4/5 positions.

Happy for any road win at this point, but to put things in context, UND's two road wins this season came over teams with current RPI's of 331 and 334.

UND now up 38-30 about four minutes into the second half.

In the final regular season road game of the year, UND and Longwood are tied at 28 at the half.

Mussman letter: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/229761/group/homepage/

I'm sure they're all nice kids, but the experience UND has had with redshirting a large group should serve as a cautionary tale to any transitioning program. If it works, like it did for NDSU with the Woodside group, it's a brilliant move. If it doesn't, it can really hamstring a program for several years because you then have basically zero margin for error with regard to recruiting. With so few available scholarships, essentially every subsequent recruit has to pan out, and quickly. It almost looked like that was going to be the case with last year's freshmen, but while talented, they aren't good enough to completely carry the load. They need some help, but have not gotten it as of yet.

So to recap, in the past week we've had prominent former UND letterwinners Tim O'Keefe, Dave Hakstol, Dale Lennon, Bruce Smith, Corey Colehour, Dan Martinson, Dave Williamson and Kelby Klosterman all publicly say the nickname must go for the good of the school and the athletic department. Frank Burggraf is the only former letterwinner I'm aware of on the opposite side. I'm guessing the first group will continue to grow in the coming days and weeks. Will Frank's?

Lennon, several other prominent football alums say nickname must go: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/229740/

I realize this has all been discussed before fairly extensively, but now with the season nearly over and either a 1-14 or 2-13 road record, I have two questions for bball fans: 1. Realistically, minus Mitchell is the current roster capable of doing much better than this next season? 2. If you answered "no" to #1, what would you do if you were Jones, knowing full well that a .205 road winning percentage may put you on thin ice, and no available scholarships barring some difficult and potentially unpopular decisions?