MoSiouxFan

I know that it didn't make financial sense, but I'm one of those dumbos that hated to see baseball cut. Dodson was an outstanding recruiter, getting good talent to come to a (far) northern school like UND. Amazing to see how well some of his final recruits did at major schools the last couple of years. I remember 3 or 4 summers ago how his powerhitting first baseman ( I forget his name) won the college home run derby against players from P5 and other conferences. And I read recently that one of his lefthanded pitchers (again, I forget his name) has made it to a AAA team.

Softball field/stadium? Pretty luxurious/impressive, if so. That would be a lot money to put into a sport that doesn't draw anybody.

Sounds like a kid with the kind of character that any coach would love to get.

Good post. Changes have been made and the ship is headed in the right direction. And, as you mentioned, the recruiting season is off to an excellent start, which bodes well for the future.

Any word on whether Izzy'll be good to go?

Thanks. That's what I thought.

Do you know where John Burckhard was from?

Thanks for posting this, as I never got to see them play. Very fun to watch.

For sure! And this looks like a very good hire to me; he has brought fairly high-level success to the two programs that he has headed.

Looks like it was actually by Schloss, but I'm thinking that may be a mistake?

No kiddin'.

What about London?

Glad your son chose to come to UND. He helped create the memories that you speak of, and they were definitely great memories that we will never forget. Thanks for your comments!

I've emailed Chaves. I'd encourage anybody else that likes McCollum to do the same. You never know.

Probably, although if Chaves put the hard sell on him and showed him that we really wanted him and that we're fully committed to winning, who knows...….

If we go with a Division II coach, then I believe that Ben McCollum deserves a serious look. No D-II coach has accomplished what he's accomplished over the past few years, winning two of the last three national championships, including a perfect 38-0 this season, and 7 of the last 8 conference championships, so he has nothing left to prove at that level. Plus, he's young (38), is from the Midwest (Iowa), and obviously knows how to recruit, as most of his players are from the Kansas City area, where he has a lot of competition from several other DI and DII schools in the area. Also, he's a two-time national coach of the year. Moving up from DII, he would probably get a bump in pay, even with what UND can afford to pay.

He responded to my email as well. I hope that he applies, but he's coaching at his alma mater now. However, he doesn't have a whole lot more to prove there, having won two national titles in the last three years and 7 of the last 8 conference titles. I was trying to find his current salary, but have been unable to so far.

He's at Missouri Southern State University. His team plays in the same conference as Northwest Missouri State University (Ben McCollum).

I also emailed Chaves just to put a bee under his bonnet.

I actually emailed him and encouraged him to apply. Nothing may come of it, but who knows. He looks/seems like a really sharp guy. I've seen his two national championship wins and his teams seem to be very disciplined and he seems to know how to tailor his talent to the appropriate style of play. Plus, he gets most of his talent from the Kansas City metro area, where he has to compete with multiple DI (KU, K State, MU, UMKC, Mo. State) and DII (Pitt St., Washburn, Emporia St., William Jewell, Ft. Hays St.) schools for talent.

Oh, yes! His best player is from Minnesota, but most of his players are from Missouri and Kansas, and primarily the Kansas City metro area. The rest are from Iowa and Nebraska.

Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri State University. Only about 38 years old and has lead N. W. Mo. St. to two national division II titles in the last three seasons, including a perfect 38-0 this season. Big time up-and-comer. 2019 national coach of the year; 7 conference titles in the last 8 seasons.

Been looking forward to this one. Only about a 2 and a half hour shot (or less) from Kansas City.

Lol!