Corella

I do not know if Swan will be doing track also, but I have wondered the same thing for a few months now. No doubt with his credentials he could help the track program out. Regarding Gunhus, I am not sure if he is being recruited or not. He is a good scorer and has a real solid frame at 6-3 and about 210 lbs. His HS and AAU teammate, Austin Pennick, is a player that is being persued though. He is a 6-3 PG who is a real good athlete, could also probably swing to the 2. They both actually live in Fargo but go to Park Christian in Moorhead. There are a few other players on their AAU team, the Minnesota Glory that the Sioux are pursuing as well. This years recruiting will be very interesting to monitor for a few reasons, 1) What effect will the SU's move up have on "us", 2) Will the Betty help that end as much as advertised, and 3) Minnesota is as deep in "NCC caliber talent" this year as it has been in any year that I can remember. The state does not have an abundance of players that will go to BCS conference schools, but does have a ton of players that are legit DI mid-major players and D2 (NCC) difference makers. What does that mean, there is not much of a difference between the top 5-10 players at certain positions within the state, so getting a guy who is perceived to be a bit furtehr dwon the supposed list is not too far of a drop off. I look for one of the best classes in quite a few years to be signed this coming year.

Some info on 2005 HS seniors that the Sioux have apparently offered. Sioux recruits The link to the Howard Pulley site is kind of strange, but just click on news on the left side of the page, and the 1st story that appears has a lot of info. It lists the Sioux as having offered John Kreklow, Jeff Probst, and Andy Wills, as well as great interest in Josh Vaughn (who may be a bonafide DI player now though). Kreklow is one who can shoot the lights out, and was invited to the Nike All-American Camp. One of the biggest things about these guys is that one of their coaches with Howard Pulley is/was Broderick Powell, the former UND shooting guard. This relationship has helped many a school out in the past (AAU coach and alma mater), and is one that I have been anticipating the Sioux taking advantage of for a few years now. Hopefully the results are good, should be a lot of money available after this coming year with many SRs on the team.

Flurry to UMD

It is about that time of the year. To me, UND and UNO will be 1 and 2, with St Cloud at the 3, and USD and UMD ready to suprise. Also, it has been released that Vinny Flurry, a WR from Lakeville (MN) who had accepted a scholarship to Air Force, is now walking-on at UMD. Minnesota wanted him to walk-on, and he was one of the 2 or 3 best WRs in Minnesota last year. It is hard to predict that a true frosh is going to change anything for a team, but I believe that Flurry can, he is a real difference maker, albeit small at 5-9, but very quick and the type of instant-impact guy that isn't seen too often in the NCC. He is one of the best recruits by any NCC team this year, and he kind of just fell into UMD's lap. He could be a very good replacement for UMD's departed All-American at WR. Flurry could be the difference maker that puts Duluth into the 3 hole preseason in my mind. Bubba's return back to GF just got potentially even more interesting.

Maybe this is what the good doc was talking about.....More SDSU legal woes I realize that every university has athletes who have occasional legal woes, but to get 2 of the variety that they have had in the past few weeks, it really makes you scrach your head. I don't like to, but cannot help but think there may be a disciplinary problem that started at the top this year and has trickled on down.

St Cloud adds 4 transfers Some interesting moves by the Huskies. I am not sure if they are sound moves or if it signifies that their cupboard was simply empty with Carlson finally being gone. The 7-footer would have to be deemed a projest at best, but the kid from Vermont sounds like a player, and the kid that transferred from Crookston can shoot it. These moves certainly change the outlook of their season though.

I guess we are going to have to disagree, because I see it as a potential major problem for an established conference to take a provisional team. Sure, being in a conference takes care of a bit over half of the schedule, but the hard part would be to secure the rest of the 8 or so mandatory D1 games. If Coach, Miles, Nagy, or hopefully Coach Glas in the not too distant futurre calls me, a D1 coach, and wants to hook up on a game, and they have a conference schedule and not much else, there is no chance in Hell I am even thinking about it. Those teams that may be scheduled are putting themselves at major risk, and I am typing this in the most unbiased thoughts, because if the SU's don't get their "full D1 schedule", the teams that have scheduled them are completely screwed. Their schedule suddenly drops from 28 to 27 regular season games in the NCAA and RPI's, and that is something that could easily put a bubble team out of the Big Dance, drop an established seed a few spots in tourney rankings. Also, as it has been suggested that the Mid-Con add up to 3 teams, and those 3 could be UNC, NDSU, and SDSU, and all three don't get "full D1 schedules" for a year or 2, that would burn every team in that conference. Even having 2 of those 3 teams not meet the requirement would be chaotic. Think about every team in the conference losing 4, 5, or 6 games in the RPI and NCAA's eyes. It would completely cripple them. Just looking at it from other teams in Mid-Cons perspective, especially on this RPI issue in basketball, the conferences' baby, there are obviously some major concerns out there that are not as clear and evident as common public perception suggests. I am a big believer in the RPI, as are many people in D1 college basketball, and the power that it holds and how it rates teams. From a basketball perspective, I believe it is a huge hurdle for the SU's and hopefully UND in not too long to jump through in their provisional years

This is from collegerpi.com... Why don't Longwood, North Dakota St, Northern Colorado, UC Davis and Utah Valley St count as Division I teams? These schools are in the process of moving up to full Division I status, but are not quite there yet. It used to be that teams would not be considered D-I for the purposes of the RPI until they became full-fledged members of Division I, but now they will count in the RPI if they play a full Division I schedule. That is defined as one with no more than four games against teams outside of Division I. None of these teams are close to playing a full D-I schedule. not sure if that answers anything, but.

Provisional teams are not accessed an RPI. For evidence just consult www.collegerpi.com where you will see no provisional teams listed (no Northern Colorado no UC Davis, no Utah Valley), or if you have a past issue of Blue Ribbon (which is bar none the greatest preview magazine, or book in this case, of any sport at any level) simply look at one of the teams were provisional and now aren't. In their past 5 years RPI that is listed for every team, teams that were provisional are given an NA (not applicable), they are not ranked at all in the 300 whatever teams. The one new wrinkle here is that teams will be ranked by the PRI if they play what is considered a full D1 schedule, which is defined by playing all but 4 games against D1 competition, but that is something that the SU's will not be able to accomplish for 3-4 years IMO, because why would another D1 school schedule a game that has very good potential to, in the NCAA's eyes, go towards absolutely nothing because the team cannot fill a full D1 schedule? This makes the likelyhood of finding a conference in 2-3 years very unlikely.

Here is, in a nutshell, what SDSU and NDSU's RPI would do to the Mid-Con. Being provisional teams, having each team in the conference play them 1 and in most cases 2 times it would be like shortening each teams regular season schedule from 28 to 26-24 games. That is the very effect it would have to Mid-Con teams. Why would the conference risk, in the NCAA's eyes, cutting each team in the league's schedule by at the least 2 games, and in some cases 4 games by bringing in 2 teams to an established conference when they are in NCAA and RPI pergatory? From the conferrence's perspective, being a basketball 1st conference (as opposed to the Big Sky which is football 1st) take huge step backwards for a conference which is no better then the low half of the middle of the pack (20-23) nationally anyway, not to mention severely altering its geographical landscape? It doesn't make much sense from the Mid-Con's end of it.

My take on the issue, The Mid-Con not being a football conference hurts NDSU and SDSU's chances of gettting in there while being provisional teams, which ends 08-09 as someone said. Why, the Mid-Con's sport is obviously basketball, even though they as a conference aren't too good at as is. It's beyond me why any conference that doesn't have football attached to its name would want provisional teams. According to the RPI, which the NCAA selection committee says they pay no attention to but every year they seem to seed accord to what the RPI says, a D1 team is better off playing non-D1 teams then playing a provisional team. It would absolutely murder their conference power rankings, thus killing the conference's representative(s) in the Big Dance when seeding comes around. A 14 seed would be about the high that could be possible for a team going into the Big Dance from a conference with 2 provisional teams. No conference is going to do this to themselves, adding provisional teams would only hurt the conference. If the Mid-Con offerred football, I could certainly see them adding a team like NDSU and forcing the other sports the league offers to take it in the shorts for a few years for the betterment of football, but them not offering football just makes the scenario unlikely. Conference's names and reputations would take a big hit, and I can't see officials taking a chance. Not a dig at NDSU and SDSU, just the facts that they and hopefully UND in the near future are faced with.

Assuming Baagason gets her game back to where it was, she is a good pick-up. She and Kimbrough were the Sioux's top 2 '05 prospects prior to the injury, not sure if that changed afterwards, but it doesn't seem that way. She'll no doubt come with a real good understanding of the game, Fosston players are very well schooled. As far as Kimbrough goes, there was the story in the Herald a few months back about Colorado St, Iowa St, a few other Mountain West and MAC teams showing real strong interest in her, and I believe that story would have ran in Feb, so the schools have no doubt changed since then. She would be huge because I can't say I am too enthusiastic about what the Sioux return inside other then Boese for the next 2 years, quite a few unknowns/unprovens.

LIke usual, the ND all-stars lose to Montana in the Mon-Dak game, but this time it was 55-7!! OUCH. Weston Dressler set a game record with 153 yards on 22 carries though, a pretty impressive total.Mon-Dak game The more I read of Dressler, the more convinced I am that he will be one of the most exciting players to ever put on shoulder pads at UND.

There was a large 2 part (day) article in the Herald about him earlier in the year, February maybe?? The Heat sounded like they really like him, then again I doubt they would come out and say if they actually felt he never has a chance. In all honesty, them doing as well as they have may have hurt his development. There was talk in the article about him being a contributer at the end of this season, but then the Heat started winning and Beasley stayed on the IR. About the only way you can gauge what the Heat feel about him is the fact that they gave him a 2 year guaranteed contract. For a second round pick, that simply does not happen, they either get cut or get a 1 year contract. Hopefully he can learn a bit, and being in the East, he has a better shot, them being so strapped for big men. I was told he is well-liked by his teammates, which is not a surprise knowing his infectios personality. With the shot he has, he should stick around for a while IMO.

They reported on the Fox last night that he is expected to make a full recovery, so at least that is good news.

I found this graphic extremely interesting in the Forum today. NDSU v SDSU scholarships I feel that the way NDSU is going about their distribution of scholarships is much better then what SDSU is doing. NDSU seems to be taking the "win now" attitude to the move. SDSU seems to be taking their time, which will lead to more losses in the "big 3" sports of football, and the 2 basketballs. Having more scholarships available makes every team better. Look at the Gophers this year. They were strapped for schollies and it showed on the court. By NDSU taking the "win now" approach, with it will come more wins because they simply have more able bodies with the move then do the Bunnies. Obviously the Bunnies are not going to be any good on the football side, but only adding 2 scholarships there? A team that is not too competitive on the D2 side is not going to do anything on the 1AA level by simply moving up a class, which is what they are basically doing next year. This lack of scholly money and lack of wins will definately hurt them on the football side. In hoops, the Bunnies losing Andy Moeller is gigantic. The Bison have closed the perceived gap between the 2 schools in men's basketball big-time, and being fully funded right away puts them ahead of the Bunnies. To me, the path NDSU is taking out of the gates is the right one, the one I hope UND will take if and when it jumps. Nothing helps more then wins, and doing that immediately more then your new rival is something that should pay long-term dividends.

Rumors have been swirling for a while on this, but it is aparently done according to someone in the know, SDSU's Andy Moeller is transferring to Mankato. Mankato is going to be darn near impossible to defend next year with 15-20ppg scorers at the 2 (Moeller), 3 (Anderson), and those 2 both being great shooters, and Jamal Staten going inside and out at the 4. That will be one fun team to watch. If they can find a point guard they have a legit shot at playing in the Ralph come Elite Eight time with that much punch in the lineup. I'm sure we are going to be told otherwise, but this has to kill SDSU for next year and isn't a good sign.

All-NCC Teams Good to see Ziegler got the COY that he deserved this year. Scheving Pitcher of the Year, Waslowski, Mileski, Koehn, and Sukut also make the teams. Tough to see Mark Olson not on either team, he may be the team MVP, but NDSU's and Mankato's SS put up some impressive offensive numbers in the power categories.

The Blue Jays and the Red Sox have been in to see JJ Scheving pitch as of late, maybe more but those teams have been for sure. With his history of arm injuries he would be a tough player for a team to draft, but his stats this year warrant consideration without a doubt. Anyway, the owner and sportcaster of KROX-AM in Crookston, Frank Fee, writes a weekly sports column on the KROX radio website, and it is actually pretty good. This week there was some things about JJ, and one section of it really caught my eye: This should be another great opportunity for J.J. to show his stuff. I would be VERY SHOCKED if J.J. wasn

There are a couple of other interesting things about Central Missouri. The Steve Sharpe kid who is their ace and supposedly starting on Thurs was Iowa's ace as a SO. He will consistently throw in the low 90's. Their 2B and #3 hitter Ellante (sp?) started at Baylor, which has one of the top programs in the country, as a true FR. Joe Guillon transferred there from Nebraska this year, and he played in about 1/2 the games for the Huskers last year. They have very few players who went there straight out of high school, almost all transfering from a D1 school or from a juco. They only have 10 players who have at-bats this year, something that is almost hard to believe. Also, former Jamestown pitcher Jason Schutt, who is now at Des Moines Area Community College and has a pretty good chance at getting drafted this year, signed with CMSU in the early period this year. They have a program that would make a good run in the D1 NCAA tournament. It will not be easy.

Wayne was #4 last week, they moved p to #2. I guess I cannot see a problem with that, but if the NCAA's rationale is trying to avoid a like-conference first round matchup that is a joke, and is doing these teams a disservice by doing so. They did it in the Women's hoops regional this year, granted it is 6 teams, but that is ridiculous.

Wayne St is #2 and Emporia is #3.

That seeding doesn't make any sense either. Sioux go into the week at #2, ahead of #3 Emporia. Sioux go 1-2 in the conference tourney, losing to #5 Mankato and #7 NDSU. Emporia goes 0-2 and loses to 2 teams not ranked in the region. The Sioux then drop below Emporia?? The NCAA at its finest.

The Sioux are in as the 4 seed. They play Central Missouri State .

It was supposed to be out at around 6 pm, but still no word. As soon as it comes out I will post it.