jdub27

The FU faithful spout the exact same line when discussing their under-performing non-revenue sports. And lately when discussing their former revenue turned non-revenue sports of WBB and VB.

Especially after her suspension that was swept under the run until accidentally stumbled upon by The Forum.

How does it almost guarantee continued mediocrity? I'd say giving a sizable raise based on current performance would be more of an indicator of allowing mediocrity to set in. Having a coach who knows he doesn't have a large salary (hence a large buyout) would seem to send reference that there is still large rooms for improvement. I will agree that if there are 3 more years of average-ness, then I don't see his contract being renewed. I think something has to give, either the OOC records gets better or the conference finishes will decline, there seems to be a weird disconnect that will tip one way or the other at some point and will point which direction Jones is headed. How does firing a coach guarantee future success?

Not sure I'd agree with that. Ahelegbe had only been on staff for 3 years. Basketball recruiting is a different animal than football, but he probably played a large part in getting Hooker and likely Crandall, both who are from the Minneapolis area. Other than that, in that time frame you have Benton and Antwi still on the roster and Shay likely takes credit for Cashman. I'd guess kind of a hodge-podge on the transfers/JuCo's. No clue, but guessing that Oliver takes over recruiting. Some Midwest ties (from Iowa and played there as well). Hoping whoever they bring in can replace the Minneapolis ties as well.

Which is why they fired their interim coach to allow for a search to see if they could bring Smith in.

Valid points but Bennett had a part into building them up into where they are being an assistant coach for the 6 years prior and the top assistant the last 4 of those. Much of the rebuilding happened while he was an assistant. Their winning percentages were .526%, .615% and .700% the three years before he took over, losing to eventual champion Duluth in the first round of Leamann's last year there. Not at all saying he doesn't appear to be a great coach and has accomplished a ton in a short period of time as the head guy, quite amazing actually, but he didn't step into a dumpster fire and turn it around in 3 years either. Much of the work had already been done to get them to them out of mediocrity before he took over as head coach and he obviously was able to help them go to the next step. Will be interesting to see if they will be a flash in the pan or if they can maintain competing at a high level.

$150k is his base pay before any bonuses/media contracts/camps/etc and attendance at the last game was 6k (which is terrible, but that's another argument). I know those don't exactly line up with the talking points you were sent over here with, but it is what it is. NDSU WBB averaged less than 800 all year.

Too bad it isn't one where he actually donates money instead on just talking like he does.

Was the recruiting coordinator and had some good ties in the Minneapolis area.

Once they put on a UND jersey, it doesn't matter where student-athletes are from, they are part of the UND family. I guess you could be ignorant and turn away some of the best players in the world at the level they play at. Do you have issues with the non-US student-athletes that have played for FU?

How often do you drive up to Grand Forks to watch UND at home? Now you are going to drive even further?

Former St. Cloud Husky Ryan Malone in the news for the wrong reasons...

I think a coach who gets UND into the conference tournament, has them in the running to host it and gives the team a chance win games in it are the most important thing since the Big Sky will almost always be a one bid league. Everything you mentioned doesn't amount to much if the team flops in conference play.

Wonder how many will actually go on sale to the general public? UND has said they will hold some back for a presale for Champions Club members. Guessing they could sell all 6,000 just to that group if they were able to.

Not sure off the top of my head but nothing within walking distance that I can remember. It is still kind of by itself though the development is making its way towards it. Pretty sure there are quite a few bars that run shuttles for events there though, which is a good thing because parking can be a disaster.

And it continues..... UND Student Body President Attacked On Social Media For Vetoing Buffalo Feed Funding Request

UND is 27-2-1 when scoring at least 3 goals. Sounds good to me.

It is no one's fault, it shouldn't be offensive but it could have been worded better. Unfortunately the reality we currently live in is one where people go out of their way to be offended. There was absolutely no ill intent in their banner. It shouldn't have required a comment from Kelley but I'm pretty certain it would have been a bigger mess had he not gotten out in front of it to control the message. If he doesn't comment and the PC police bring it to the paper or TV station's attention, they blow it up and UND is reacting from a defensive position.

Not a whole lot of arguments, but I believe Klieman's total comp package is less than Bohl's before he left (different structure though), though they are close and NDSU needed to pony up as I've heard that Klieman originally intended on going with Bohl. I suppose that Richman probably could have joined Saul or Miles' staff for similar money if he didn't get the NDSU job, so that probably played into it some. Agree that USD raised the bar, but since it appears they really wanted Smith, they didn't have a choice between what he was making at Nebraska and their ability to only offer 1 year contracts. While NDSU may be more familiar with Richman than USD is with Smith, I think that Smith definitely has a stronger resume.

I know the feeling. Could have been where I saw it a few weeks ago as well.

All fair points and exactly why I stated that I think Jones has roughly 2 more years to prove his case. Very curious what he can do without the senior class that graduates this spring. I want to see if some of the issues that we saw were due to his coaching or due to the players on the court or how much of a combination of both it was. Not expecting a miracle next year but I'd like to think the record will similar, though I don't see UND fairing as well in conference play. Seeing some success next year would also be encouraging that UND isn't going to settle for being a contender once every 4-5 years. The classes need to balance out for that to happen and while maybe not ideal, bringing in some JuCo's is both bridging the gap and balancing out the classes. As to your last point, well aware that Jones is below the other Dakota schools, my only point is that he received a 15%+ raise to get to 6 figures after the first year in the Big Sky, he wasn't below that threshold anymore. And again, the South Dakota school's can only offer 1 year contracts, they can offer more up front knowing there is no buyout on an extended year contract. If Richman flops at NDSU, they are on the hook for 5 years at $190k. If Smith flops at USD, they can cut ties after any season they want.

Different sport but similar technology:

I agree that there is more to it than just numbers but to say what is presented is meaningless is being willfully ignorant. Here are some quick breakdowns of percentage of students who get waivers: ND Students UND - 18.2% NDSU - 24.0% Non ND Residents UND - 5.8% NDSU - 17.4% International UND - 26.7% NDSU - 78.9% Total waivers given out UND - 2,430 to 2,022 unduplicated students worth $8.9 million NDSU - 5,034 to 3,892 unduplicated students wroth $18.0 million UND gave out 699 full waivers worth $3.7 million. NDSU gave out 1,044 full waivers worth $7.3 million. Of waivers given out, the number that was mandated by statutes or policy was 328 waivers worth $486K for UND and 424 worth $699K for NDSU (schools had no choice but to give these waivers). My two points: 1) 25.1% of NDSU students get a waiver of some sort and they give out 57% of the total waivers in the entire NDUS system. By comparison, UND is at 12.1% and 28%. I don't care how you spin it, that is a significant disparity, especially considering the numbers include UND's law and med school. 2) While there are grants and stipends that come along with some of these waivers, NDSU continues to claim they are underfunded while adding to their enrollment with students who aren't paying tuition/room/board/etc or only portions of it. So not only are there a large amount of students getting waivers (revenue NDSU is foregoing), NDSU is getting still gets funding from the state to support them because as far as I can tell, the funding formula includes all students, regardless of how much of a waiver they get. Not bad from NDSU's perspective.

No clue on how Klieman will end up as a head coach, but he did step into a national championship defense full of experienced underclassman that was put together by Hazelton. He was obviously able to maintain it quite well, but the ground work was well into to place before he stepped on campus.