sioux24/7

Yes prior to him being named HC. I mean they could have came back if they thought Hutter was the answer.

More me speaking it into existence. He’s had bad injury luck since he left and I know he enjoyed his time here. Still returns. Was here for homecoming, sat behind our bench when we played at UST. Probably not high odds of it happening but I don’t think it’s 0.

I guess it’s an interesting debate. I am not looking for someone that just rode the pine for 3 years at a higher level. I think there’s something to be said of someone that’s young at a lower level and put up numbers. Oral Roberts was littered with drop downs and we saw how that resulted. Obviously, there’s successes and failures both ways though.

If Uelmen ultimately does hit the portal, this is someone I would take a look at. NSIC Freshmen of the Year. Put up similarish #s to Greyson. Not quite as high of shooting %s. Better assist/TO ratio. Mankato East kid (BJ). Just throwing it out there.

I am going to start this thing up again. Don’t worry, nothing to report from UND yet but it is inevitable someone will transfer.

This is actually very comical the differences in stances here.

I missed adding Karson Ouse so here is what I have to say there: Karson Ouse (6’7) – Sophomore Ouse is another interesting developmental piece on the roster. Coming into the season the expectation seemed to be that he would redshirt and spend the year developing physically and adjusting to the college game. Instead, his redshirt ended up getting pulled earlier than expected. At 6’7 he has intriguing size and versatility for a forward in the Summit League. If he sticks with the program and continues to develop physically, he could grow into a solid depth piece who can give you minutes at multiple spots.

This. Feel like Doppler and Erikson has everyone feeling burned. If we miss out on the best ND kids, people would be pissed. Evanson and Hanson both seem like they have some real potential at this level. I do agree that the cities should be our main focus, and I think it has been a primary focus lately. Uelmen, A3, Curtis twins, Moore.

The only starter you could be talking about is Uelmen really. The only place I could see him going in conference is UST but he also seems to hate them or at least on the court it appears that way.

I know they honored him on senior night. Doesn’t mean he can’t return though. Apparently NDSU has 7 guys coming in and only 2 on their current roster have to leave so something has to give.

If they can return Andy, Treyson and Carson, absolutely.

Now that the season is officially over, it feels like a good time to start looking ahead. University of North Dakota finished the year 18-17 and made an impressive run to the championship game of the Summit League Tournament before ultimately falling short to NDSU. Considering the expectations coming into the season, I would argue this year should be viewed as a success. There were plenty of ups and downs throughout the year, but the team improved as the season went along and showed what it is capable of during that tournament run. Because of that, the contract extension that athletic director Bill Chaves gave to head coach Paul Sather looks warranted. Now comes the fun part of the offseason. Speculating about what next year could look like. Obviously it is still very early. The portal hasn’t opened and roster movement is inevitable. But that never stops message boards from trying to piece together what the rotation might look like. So let’s take a very early look at the 2026-27 roster. First, the things we know. Leaving the program are Eli King, Reggie Thomas and Garrett Anderson. Coming in are three freshmen: Jayden Moore (6’0 PG) – Minneapolis Carter Evanson (6’3 G) – Horace, ND Sage Hanson (6’10 F) – Towner, ND That’s 3 in and 3 out. There has also been speculation that Anthony Doppler and Ryan Erikson may look to transfer somewhere they can get more playing time, possibly at the D2 level. Matthew Bothun has been getting minutes recently due to Josh Jones’ injury but could also be someone who looks elsewhere. For the sake of this exercise I’m assuming Doppler, Erikson and Bothun depart. So let’s build the rotation. Starters G – Greyson Uelmen (6’2) – RS Sophomore Uelmen has already proven he can play at this level and score at a high level. He broke the freshman scoring record at UND and has been one of the main engines of the offense. He gets to the line a ton and is excellent there. He’s also a really crafty finisher around the rim. When he’s open he can knock down a three but the release isn’t quick enough yet to consistently get it off when defenders recover. That’s probably the biggest offensive improvement he needs to make. Ball security is another area for growth. He has the ball in his hands more than anyone so turnovers are expected, but cleaning that up and improving his distribution will take him to another level. And then there was this past weekend at the Summit League Tournament. Uelmen basically carried UND to the championship game. 41 points 28 points 24 points He shot 70.7% from the field and 66.7% from three across the three games. Just ridiculous efficiency. That weekend pretty much solidified him as one of the stars in the Summit League. Now the next question becomes the one every mid-major fan base asks. Can Sather hold onto him? G – Anthony Smith III (6’1) – Sophomore A3 might be the fastest player on the roster. He’s an absolute pest defensively and finishes at the rim incredibly well for someone his size. He also might actually be the better natural distributor compared to Uelmen. You could easily argue he should technically be the point guard with Uelmen playing more off ball. But both guys are best with the ball in their hands so the offense will probably remain pretty fluid. The big swing skill for him is shooting. If he becomes a consistent threat from three it completely changes how defenses guard this backcourt. F – Marley Curtis (6’8) – Sophomore Curtis has shown flashes and is shooting 30.7% from three which isn’t great but can hit an open 3 at times. But his biggest advantage is his size and athleticism at 6’8. That’s something most teams in the Summit simply can’t match. The next step is realizing he doesn’t need to try to score every time he touches the ball. If he focuses on defending, rebounding and taking good shots within the offense he could make a big jump. F – Micah Curtis (6’8) – RS Freshman? Micah is the big wildcard. Coming out of high school he was the more accomplished of the twins but battled through a back injury this season and was eventually shut down. There has been speculation about whether he wants to move on somewhere else while preserving eligibility. Hopefully that isn’t the case. Because the talent is there. I see a little bit of Markell Sutton in him. He will have growing pains but the physical tools are obvious. If he embraces rebounding, defense and toughness first the offensive game could develop quickly. C – Josh Jones (6’9) – Senior Jones has become a bit of a running joke around the league because of the constant illegal screens and foul trouble. Before getting hurt he was actually leading all of Division I in fouls. But his injury also showed how important he is defensively. When he’s on the floor the defense is simply better. He’s not going to give you much offensively but if he can stay out of foul trouble he provides real rim protection and interior defense. Bench Rotation Zach Kraft (6’3) – RS Junior One of the best stories on the team. Former walk-on who has turned himself into a legit contributor. Kraft is an excellent shooter and even though people question his defense he has shown a good ability to get his hands on balls and disrupt passing lanes. He’ll probably start in reality, but I kind of like him as a microwave shooter off the bench. Jayden Moore (6’0) – Freshman The highest ranked recruit in program history. Quick point guard who distributes well and plays solid defense. He’s small though. Probably not even a true 6 feet. That could create some challenges physically early on. Still, he could absolutely push for immediate minutes. Carter Evanson (6’3) – Freshman Local kid that a lot of fans are excited about. In a perfect world he redshirts. But with how college basketball works now that might not happen. If he plays right away it will likely be because he can defend and knock down shots. Guga Natsvlisvili (6’10) – Senior Guga has shown some big flashes this season. The issues are finishing through contact and the free throw shooting which has been rough. He also seems to have lost some of the perimeter shooting that used to be part of his game before adding weight to play inside. He could start but I think he makes more sense as a frontcourt piece off the bench. Wylee Delorme (6’5) – Junior The plan was to redshirt him this year but injuries forced him into action. He made the most of it too, especially with a big performance against SDSU. He profiles as a nice 3 and D type wing who can space the floor and defend multiple spots. Sage Hanson (6’10) – Freshman Another developmental big. Ideally he would redshirt but that’s increasingly rare these days. He’s talented though and likely would have picked up some bigger offers if he had stayed at the prep school he attended during his junior year. The Three Portal Needs Even with this roster there are still three obvious needs. 1. Call BJ Omot BJ Omot returning would instantly solve a lot of problems. He could step right into the 3 spot and give the team a proven scoring option on the wing. I’ve heard he loved his time in Grand Forks so it’s at least worth the phone call. 2. A Legit Shooter Outside of Kraft, shooting is still a concern. Finding a long wing who can knock down threes consistently would be huge. Someone in the mold of Garrett Anderson would fit perfectly. 3. A Real Big For the love of God this program needs a dominant big. Since Filip Rebraca there hasn’t been a true interior force. He wasn’t even a bruiser, but he was just a really good player. Landing a true Summit level interior presence would completely change the ceiling of this team. Looking ahead, there are some really intriguing pieces here. If a couple players take a jump and the portal additions hit, the 2026-27 roster could be really interesting. And if nothing else, the future at least looks a lot more stable now that Sather is locked in.

I really don’t believe Greyson can play at the P6 level, at least yet. He could probably get by at the high major level but really feels like he’s where he should be. Obviously, I am biased since I don’t want to see him leave.

The one thing with Uelmen is that his family is loaded and they seem to be all in on UND. I mean obviously he could still leave but I think we might get one more year out of him.

UND (KenPom 279) pulled off an incredible comeback in the semifinal against St. Thomas, winning 67-66 in dramatic fashion thanks to a Guga free throw with 0.1 seconds left on the clock. Yes, that same Guga who airballed a free throw earlier in the game stepped up and hit the clutch one when it mattered most. March basketball, man. It was a gutsy effort by UND to stay in that game the entire way, even when it felt like the stripes were doing everything they could to give St. Thomas the call down the stretch. Regardless, the Hawks battled and found a way. Now UND advances to the Summit League Championship game tonight at 8PM against the in-state rival NDSU (KenPom 113). The first two meetings this season against NDSU did not go well. UND led at halftime in the first matchup, but from that point forward it has mostly been all Bison in the series. One major difference this time around is Josh Jones, who was unavailable for both of those games. We have now seen how important he is, especially on the defensive end. NDSU is loaded with weapons. Trevian Carson, Demari Wheeler-Thomas, Markhi Strickland, Andy Stefonowicz, Treyson Anderson, Noah Feddersen, and Tay Smith can all impact a game. Any one of them can step up on a given night, which makes them incredibly difficult to defend. UND will absolutely have its hands full. Once again, I encourage everyone to make the four hour trek down to Sioux Falls. Yesterday was an absolute blast at the Denny. Let’s make tonight even better. Tip is 8PM and the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. KenPom projects NDSU to win 80-70, but at this point it’s March and anything can happen.

Guys, it’s a 4 hour drive, that’s nothing. Get to the Denny tomorrow night! Log Cabin prior to the game. Let’s gooooo

Are you asking why Josh Jones started? Because he’s our starting 5 when healthy. Showed how important he was yesterday.

I worry about the availability of A3 tonight. Not that he was really needed yesterday but I don’t imagine Greyson will carry us again like last night. A3’s groin really seemed to be bothering him.

UND (KenPom 282) rolled past Denver in the quarterfinals behind an absolutely historic performance from Greyson Uelmen. The freshman dropped 41 points, the most ever scored by a freshman in the Summit League Tournament and the second most points ever in the tournament, trailing only Treyson Eaglestaff’s 51 point explosion against SDSU last year. Josh Jones also returned and his presence was immediately felt, especially on the defensive end. Having him back stabilizes things inside and raises the defensive ceiling for this team. Now UND moves on to the semifinals for a rubber match with St. Thomas (KenPom 103). I won’t dive too deep into their roster because most people know what the Tommies bring at this point. They’re loaded and extremely well coached. Nolan Minessale probably should have been the Summit League Player of the Year. Nick Janowski took home Freshman of the Year and has been a nightmare matchup all season. Carter Bjerke can get nuclear from three if he gets going. Austin Herro is one of the best perimeter defenders in the conference. And that’s before getting into the rest of their depth. You get the idea. They have options everywhere. Tip will be late. The game is scheduled for 25 minutes after the NDSU-Omaha semifinal, which starts at 7PM, so it’s looking like around 9:30PM before UND and UST get going. If you’re not making the trip to Sioux Falls (you probably should be, especially if UND pulls this one off and plays tomorrow), the game will be on CBS Sports Network. KenPom projects St. Thomas to win 84-73. Should be a fun one. Winner plays for the Summit League title tomorrow night.

Band was there, don’t spread misinformation. Awesome game. Really wish we could get some fans down to Sioux Falls. Yall better come if we win tomorrow.

Dags has them:

Huh?

We are 352nd in 3pt % against us. You’re not wrong. With a team good at handling the trap we can be very susceptible to wide open shots.

That’s something a lot of coaches say. He’s not going to lay out any sort of game plan in a presser.

Gene Roebuck record over 24 years 628-145 UND’s record over the last 15 years 192-231 Woof. Different eras but man that’s depressing. Used to go to all the women’s games growing up but now I hardly even check how they did because it’s been so bad. Thought this year I’d start going with Jocie hopefully bringing the program up but that all changed. Transfer portal and NIL have obviously severely hurt us in sports but I feel like more outside of WBB (besides last year). I don’t think there’s a good excuse we can’t be consistently in the top 4 of the Summit. NIL is not nearly the factor in the women’s game it is in the men’s.