UND92,96

Another terrible free throw shooting performance--11 of 20.

Predicted highs in the 30's on Saturday and Sunday--pretty balmy for this time of year!

Unfortunately, this is a situation where to some extent Jones is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't. If he maintains the status quo, he's conceivably blowing an opportunity to have a legitimate chance to make the NCAA tournament--an opportunity that may not come again any time soon. On the other hand, if he non-renews the scholarships of a few fifth-year seniors-to-be so that better talent can be brought in to supplement the talent of the current group of sophomores, some will be view that as unfair and/or unethical. I'm glad I'm not in his shoes. I suspect this may serve as a cautionary tale to any coach who may be tempted to redshirt a large group at once.

Mussman has been named one of the five finalists, so please keep voting.

Could you imagine the football program having a 24-person red shirt junior class, all on full scholarship, and there being no starters from that group, and only minimal playing time? That's roughly the equivalent of the current situation with UND men's basketball.

That's true, but although a coach is technically justified in non-renewing a scholarship for almost any reason, there are going to be some who will cry foul if the non-renewal is due to simply not being a very good player. I'm just curious whether those same people feel that the fact that a kid red shirted means that he/she is guaranteed a fifth year so long as there are no academic or behavioral issues? As somebody who donates money for scholarships, frankly I don't like the idea of funding a fifth year for a kid who isn't contributing on the court, but I'm open-minded enough to see the other side of the argument, as well.

Hypothetically speaking, would you draw a distinction between the non-renewal of a scholarship during a player's first four years, and not inviting a red shirt senior-to-be back for a fifth year on scholarship? Or do you think that the two situations are essentially identical?

To the best of my knowledge, there is no particular significance or order in terms of how schools are listed for an individual player.

On ESPN, the offers are listed in order of how the player is graded, with the highest-graded player listed first.

Here is a pretty good compilation of commitments so far by Minnesota high school players: http://www.mnfootballhub.com/page/show/345136-2012-college-commitments

Huff has really rebounded well so far this year--7.5 per game to lead the team.

That was the point I forgot to make--clearly the west is still very much an area of emphasis. My gut feeling is that we will probably still see a few Cali signees, but they will probably be kids who, for whatever reason, weren't listed as UND targets on any of the main recruiting sites.

I'm surprised at the complete lack of info regarding UND recruiting in California this year. At this time last year, scout.com had UND listed for 10 or so kids from Cali.

Not really news per se, but rivals is finally showing Taj Rich as a UND commit. Obviously you can taking rankings with a grain of salt, but it's encouraging that ESPNU has both Mollberg and Rich ranked among the top 20 prospects in Minnesota: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/playerrankings/_/state/minnesota/class/2012/view/state

I don't think he did. In any event, he's not listed in the alumni directory which came out in 2005. I wonder if perhaps he withdrew after the fall semester of 1998 to train full-time for the NFL combine?

Without looking, I'm guessing the vast majority of the 735 points scored occurred in the 2009-10 season, when playing time was far easier to get. I asked the question in the Herald's live chat yesterday regarding why Gentry didn't red-shirt. Wayne Nelson said something to the effect that it's difficult in this day and age to get a kid to agree to red-shirt.

The junior class has combined for just 32 points through six games. If Goodman could ever get and remain healthy, I think he could be a consistent offensive threat off the bench, but I just can't see anybody else from that class having that kind of ability. The fact that this class accounts for nearly 40% of the scholarships, and yet provides almost no scoring, is very disappointing.

Minnesota AP all state team is out: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/222670/group/homepage/ I see Bemidji has two other second-teamers in addition to Woods. I wonder whether either is considered an FCS-caliber prospect?

Muss showed me something this season. Winning close games, and coming back in the fourth quarter several times speaks volumes about his ability to get his players to keep fighting and handle adversity. I also believe he is a good recruiter, and should be even better with the transition in the rearview mirror. If there's one area which concerns me a bit it's whether he can honestly assess certain areas of the program, such as whether continuing to have co-defensive coordinators is truly in the program's best interests.

I hope he does come back, as he has very good athletic ability. As Goska showed this season, struggling in 2010 as both Goska and Hendrickson did does not mean a quarterback can't improve to the point where he can be an effective starter. The rumor is indeed out there that he is or was planning on focusing on baseball next season, but I have no idea whether there was or is any accuracy to it.

I felt good about UND's recruiting class already, and feel even better now that I just realized that SDSU got their first commitment for 2012 yesterday. I don't believe USD has any now that Wiseman has de-committed.

Hopefully that turns out to be as accurate as the reports from this past summer that Mollberg was leaning towards NDSU.

Hindsight is of course 20/20, but in retrospect UND probably should have leaned a bit more on the top six players to play more minutes in a slowdown game like this. Points and possessions were at such a premium that when there were lineups out there with only two or three scorers, it was a problem. WIU only played eight, and two of those eight didn't play much. You may struggle to make it through an entire season with that short of a bench, but it worked for them in the short term anyway.

I won't argue that technically speaking, WIU plays some sort of man defense. But the phrase Jones used in the Herald article was something to the effect that they "pack it in so much on defense", so in essence it creates the same problems for UND as zone defense does--penetration was very difficult and Brekke could not get shots. Against teams like this, I question whether there are enough 3-point shooters on the team? Mitchell and Schuler certainly are, and at times Anderson, Webb and Huff can knock down 3's, but I wouldn't classify any of them as pure shooters. It seems to me that if somebody like Haugen is going to have a role, it has to be as a shooter against sagging defenses. I'm also concerned about the future as once Mitchell graduates, is there somebody else who can take his place in terms of providing another 3-point shooter?

Probably. I just didn't list them since it was a little different situation with an interim coach. For that matter, I suppose I could have listed Penn State too.