UND92,96

I can't believe how absurd it is that UND managed to lose this game...

Chris Webber comes to mind for some odd reason... Not sure if I'm more annoyed with Webb or Jones...

I swear I've thought this game was over about 10 different times.

Sometimes he's listed as 6'6", and sometimes at 6'8". I suspect it's really 6'6", but as mentioned with his long arms he plays bigger. EDIT: If you look at the team picture, he's clearly shorter than Allard, who's about 6'7" or so.

Utah Valley's defense has been terrible in the third OT.

Sweet move by Brekke.

Webb is having a nightmarish game.

He seems to play bigger than 6'6". His long arms help.

Sioux need to pound it inside to Brekke and Mitchell.

Webb to shoot 2. I can't watch.

As frustrating as the game has been over the past 9 minutes or so, I am impressed with Brekke's rebounding, and the number of shots UND has managed to block despite our relative lack of size.

I'm pretty impressed with UND's defense. Not a lot of open looks being given up.

Although Allard is listed as a guard on the roster, I think his best position is the 4. He needs to get a little stronger, but it looks like he could potentially be pretty effective.

Huff plays like a true freshman at times, but he also makes some incredibly athletic plays.

Interesting that former UND football player Mac Schneider is getting some mention as a potential Democratic candidate: http://prairiefire.areavoices.com/2011/01/19/if-conrad-isnt-running-who-will-be-north-dakotas-2012-u-s-senate-candidates/

Valley City has produced some very good players--Mike and Jeff Boschee, Justin Anderson, Rory Beil, Kraig Rowekamp, etc.

I believe Qvale's dad played football at NDSU. While we probably did recruit him, it was likely an uphill battle. I once played on a summer league team with Krajewski. He was a high school teammate of former Sioux player David Robertson, although they were a few years apart. Those were the glory years for Grafton basketball at the class A level.

Some may be familiar with the weekly live chats covering SDSU and USD sports that the Sioux Falls Argus Leader does. The Herald is now doing the same for UND sports on Wednesday afternoons at 3 P.M. Here's the link: http://www.coveritlive.com/index2.php/option=com_altcaster/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=f91dd1421a/height=550/width=600

Welcome to the board. I wonder whether Lindahl is expected to grow any more? His father is 6'10" or 6'11", and I believe Evan is 6'9" or so. Is he willing to play inside, or is he more of a tall kid who likes to shoot from the perimeter? I recall watching Kueber at the state tournament a couple of years ago. He was pretty raw, but has long arms and did seem to play bigger than what he is. I agree he may be worth a look due to his shot-blocking ability.

With the departure of Kuehl and the opening of a scholarship, I wonder if Caitlin Farroh from Grand Forks Central is an option? She's an outstanding rebounder, averaging more than 16 per game.

To the extent anyone is interested in what the grades are supposed to mean, here's an explanation: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/basketball/mens/news/story?id=2639514 Schuler's relatively low grade was apparently the result of concerns about his athletic ability. His shooting ability was definitely not an issue. The reality is that if he were a bit quicker, we likely would not have gotten him, particularly considering our conference situation at the time. If you compare the grades of the recruits in UND's last three classes to those of the other Dakota schools, UND is actually doing fairly well all things considered.

Article on signee Brianna Williams: http://minnetonka.patch.com/articles/hopkins-girls-basketball-star-brianna-williams-leads-the-top-team-in-the-state#photo-4506133 Didn't realize NDSU db Marcus Williams is her brother. She's also currently ranked as the 8th-best senior in Minnesota by gprep.net.

The ESPN database for UND only goes back to 2009, but here's a complete list of the grades of the players in the last three classes: 83 Huff 82 Benton 79 Anderson 77 Gentry 72 Schuler 40 Webb NA Brekke

No question the sophomore class has suffered a ridiculous number of serious injuries. However, I think it's fairly safe to say that Webb, Huff, Anderson, Schuler and Brekke have all looked better as freshmen--whether true or red-shirt--than any of the sophomores looked last year as red-shirt freshmen. Unless the next group of newcomers doesn't pan out, or there are defections from the current group of freshmen, it's a little difficult for me to foresee any of the sophomores other than Allard and Wilmer ever becoming significant on-court contributors, even if they fully recover from their injury problems. I suspect the five current freshmen, Mitchell, Allard and Wilmer, plus maybe a juco transfer interior player if that's the route Jones goes with the last remaining scholarship, will get the vast majority of the minutes next year.

Agreed. I've been pretty down on Jones for the past few years, but this group of true and red-shirt freshmen appears to be legitimately good. Not sure why the group of sophomores Jones had touted so much hasn't panned out for the most part, though. Allard and Wilmer may yet be able to do some good things, anyway.