jdub27

Because "they pulled them off the ice" or because the coach was so clueless that he didn't prepare his team for the possibility despite it being the biggest hole in the athletic department's budget?

His midrange shot is fine, his 3 point shot is where he needs a little work. He's got a handful of videos out there that show him shooting. At this point, I don't think there is a concern. His name was getting out there after passing his entrance exam, Sather did a great job on this one.

Cortez Seales heir apparent? Hard-nosed lefty playing the 2/3 with a solid mid-range game, can handle the basketball when needed and plays good defense. Looks like he was looking at JuCo until he got some entrance exam stuff cleaned up and he is now a full qualifier. Looks like he had an offer from Milwaukee and possibly one other D1 school. Had interest from multiple schools but the school stuff slowed things up on his recruiting.

LOL. Yep, I don't have a clue what is going. Can't believe how much I missed the mark when I told you UND had been in consistent contact with the Summit/MVFC over a few year period and the move was imminent because FBS is not even close to UND's radar right now. Really swung and missed on that one. Should have listened to your consistent message of the Dakota's moving to a split Big Sky instead. I'm also well aware of the rules and have been in agreement with you on the danger the Summit autobid is on. I can't help that you have more faith in Tom Douple than I do and think he's masterminding something when he isn't. I also understand the public perception optics of the NCAA announcing they are taking away a basketball autobid because of soccer and baseball, which is why waivers will be the band-aid in the case one is needed. Only 12 more days until your self-imposed ban on the topic. I'm almost disappointed because I actually enjoy some of the insight, it is the presentation that is lacking.

Again, so much projection, assumptions and wild guesses presented as facts. Here are my various thoughts on your "facts", some coming from conversations from people connected with the actual decision making process. I understand the geography, but you seem to continue to ignore the Montana's have no desire to move their footprint out of the west. Idaho was so sore about those teams leaving, they left and then came back. The 1970's were almost 50 years ago, none of that is relevant, the landscape has changed just a little bit since then. Exactly what TV source and money was the Big Sky going to lose? The Altitude contract? Or the free streaming they offer for the rest of their sports? Based on recent decisions, Idaho isn't going to go back to FBS without a massive shift. Weber St. doesn't have the support to go up, they are an after-though in the SLC metro and always will be with Utah 45 miles away and BYU 80 miles away. They averaged a whopping 8,300 as the #3 team in the country over 8 games this year, half of which were top 25 match-ups. Omaha will do what's best for them. They won't be tied to the Summit because of their hockey relationship with UND. If the MVC called, they would take it in a heartbeat. Denver is just going to go to wherever will let them be and keep their eclectic sports mix. Their decision on that is the exact reason why they are in the Summit, they don't want to change their offerings. Again, Douple's plan seems to be to let everything play out and then ask for waivers in the interim if needed. If the Summit ends up short a team and came up with a plan that involved getting back to the right-sized number that included a D2 move-up, the NCAA would grant a waiver. They've done it in the past and aren't going to pull an auto-bid that quickly. Not a fan of the plan, but it seems that is what it is right now. My personal opinion is you are over blowing this significantly, especially at the low-major level. Yes, people want to be associated with peers, but it is a lot more complicated than that. You've made that claim about the last UM president, who didn't make a move. You made the claim about Kennedy, who threw you a curveball and moved UND to the Summit/MVFC (because of cost and rivalries, not "prestige") and the MSU president doesn't strike me as someone who is all that concerned about the "prestige" they would get from collaborating with the Dakota's in athletics.

I apologize for not submitting a formal proposal, however I am fine with not throwing completely random scenarios against the wall, stating matter-of-factly that it is exactly what is going to happen and then try to run down anyone who offers any realistic criticism to those pie-in-the-sky scenarios. If you presented your ideas in a different way, the criticism you got would be completely different. Instead you choose to state your opinions (at best) secret, behind the scenes things going on and claim others aren't able to see these things only you can and then are somehow surprised when they don't happen. There are plenty of people who are actually at least somewhat plugged into what is going on, at least with UND directly, yet you continue to brush those aside. Even when you were told UND to the Summit/MVFC was a done deal by multiple people, you refused to believe it. I'm not sure where you get the thought that I'm somehow against a merger of the top Summit and Big Sky teams. I think it would be a fantastic conference. I also realize, at this point in time, it isn't going to happen. Full stop. The interest isn't there from either side and the Montana's have no desire to leave the Big Sky. None. I also have no argument about the Summit having stability issues. I've always been less than impressed with Douple's reactionary MO. Not stating I have all the answers on what he should be doing differently (nor am I going to pretend by concocting unrealistic scenarios), but getting waivers from the NCAA doesn't seem to be the most ideal route to keep autobids and my guess is that is the current plan if the baseball or soccer numbers fell below the requirement. It seems they keep waiting for a seismic change that I'm not so sure is going to happen.

Well....it didn't happen last year.... But for sure it was going to happen this year..... But now, I guess not. So on to 7/1/20 then? I guess with only 2 weeks left until a self-imposed deadline, time to start hedging.

If you get a chance, take a few minutes to talk with Coach Pawlak. You'll be ready to run through a wall for the guy and not in the PJ Fleck way (not that there is anything wrong with that). Between him and Danny, there will be a different attitude with the offense this year and I think everyone will be happy with the results.

I mean, I didn't think he looked the part but that Werner kid seemed to turn out OK....

https://www.inforum.com/sports/2708960-Meidinger-ends-his-playing-career-for-NDSU-mens-basketball Meidinger hangs them up before ever getting a chance to play minute for NDSU. Not a huge surprise given his injury history but tough break for a ND kid.

Very impressed by this hire.

I mean, there have been first year offensive coordinators in the NFL that were younger than Danny is that have had success against coordinators with decades more experience, so I guess I'm not sure what age has to do with it one way or another. By no means am I comparing his talent level to that, without a doubt he has to prove it (just responding to your "any level" comment), but he has said all the right things, he isn't stuck to a system and is going to put players in the best spot to succeed and create mismatches. Talk to him for a few minutes, his football knowledge is off the charts. If they can put together consistent O-Line play, the offense is going to be damn fun to watch.

They may have got a cursory glance but they weren't going to get it over Saul once he expressed interest. If you read the preferred qualifications on the job posting, they are literally written to spell out the resume's of Stevens and Horstman from Northern State and it will be a pretty decent pay bump for both of them assuming Tom Miller's reported salaries are correct. Their current NSU salaries are public record, so Saul would have had to negotiate the salary pool by more than double just to be in the ballpark, plus I assume their loyalty is with Sather. Not sure on the exact date of the job posting, but it should be official very shortly after it closes.

Just for perspective, there were people that already tried to slap UND with a Title IX lawsuit after WIH was cut (despite them being the most in balance of all the Dakota schools). The uproar to add back just baseball would further that agenda even though I believe UND would still be well within compliance. To offset it, they would almost have to add back women's sport, which theoretically should be S&D but everyone knows how the conversation would realistically go.

Dale and Paulette Lian from Fargo. Dale played back in the mid/late-70's. One of the bigger football donors.

Just so its clear for everyone following along (and I know you are aware which is the point you're pounding home): They were reproduced without the a license. Learfield had been cracking down pretty hard on that recently as allowing it can start hurting UND's standing to continue to hold the trademark (which is part of the settlement agreement), particularly a mark that they are using in limited amounts.

I'm not sure Gunther, Glas or Jones had ties to UND prior to coaching.

Couldn't get away fast enough from reporting a starting fullback getting popped by an NCAA drug test before the championship game though.

Considering there isn't a set definition for "finalists", it's up in the air whether UND will release anything. There were a lot of phone interviews last week, with pretty much everyone who made it through the HR screening (call it the "first round"). In-person interviews with those that made it through the phone interviews this week (call it the "second round"). Not sure on location or number of interviews being completed. They could go a step further and do a couple more interviews with "finalists" or they could just do a "final interview" and announce that person as the new coach as they release they were the only finalist and no other names get released.

Team GPA of over 3.0 with 14 4.0's. They can roll the dice on a kid or two academically, you're doing it wrong if you don't. With the help and support system in place, there isn't a lack of effort of UND's side it can pay off big (see the MBB for proof), but sometimes it just doesn't work out. This wasn't a huge surprise and comes down to individual accountability. Hopefully he figures it out and finds his way to a degree regardless of whether he sees the field again.

Interesting. Chaves hired him from a D3 school and signed him to a 5 year extension, so it couldn't have been too bad. Have anything that actually documents this?

Nothing but good things said about him in his time by fellow students and athletes while he was at UND. All interactions I had with him were positive. Clearly some people at Loyola felt he did a good job helping a younger player develop. Clearly Coach Jones felt he was worth bringing back to help out the UND program. And clearly Wieck at Duluth heard enough about him that he felt he was worth bringing on as an assistant.

You're probably correct, but he does have ties to ND and it's what makes the job and opportunity intriguing for both sides. I'm not sure if they are even going to do "finalists" per se so we might never know who actually applied outside of who gets the job, but I would be floored if he wasn't a top 3 candidate and I personally have him as a slight favorite over the field to get the job.

They're replacing 6 year old turf? There have been discussions on how they are approaching it in the future, but I haven't seen anything concrete in the capital budgets for UND or the Alerus Center so I think you're a little ahead of yourself on this one.