Rich Glas's Comments

[tony]

WDAY's Steve Hallstrom in his segment "Further Review" was kind of interesting last night - you can watch on WDAY's internet link for about 15 more hours but to preserve it beyond then, here's the transaction:

I like Rich Glas. He's a good guy and a very good basketball coach but I think he's being kind of petty, and I told him so today. Rich doesn't want to play NDSU anymore - said if they're going division I,

[UND92,96]

I strongly disagree with Rich on this one. The difference between 10 and 13 scholarships isn't that big of a deal. In either case, all the meaningful contributors on the court will probably have a full-ride. I personally don't think the caliber of player NDSU recruits will noticeably change in basketball, and as I've stated before, dII schools actually have an advantage under current NCAA rules when it comes to recruiting some juco players, i.e. Jerome Beasley. This series would be quite competitive for the forseeable future. I think Rich is saying what he honestly thinks, but I also think he's wrong.

[lawkota]

I figured there were only three reasons that UND's AD would in the news talking about ending the rivalry: to put pressure on Kupchella to move to DI, to put pressure on the State Board of Higher Ed/Legislature to stop NDSU from going DI, or because he figured that after this year, UND can't compete with NDSU anymore. Looks like I missed the main reason though.

What is the main reason then? That's Glas talking, not Thomas.

Here's my take on what's going on. There is a strong push within UND to follow the Bison but its being driven by the football folks. That really ticks off the rest of the coaches who feel they are shut out of the process. Added to this is the perception at UND that the non football coaches at NDSU were pretty much shut out of the D-1 debate there. I don't know if this is the case or not but the perception is there. So I believe alot of this talk has less to do with the Bison then you would think, it's more of a power play within the Athletic Dept at UND.

Glas is the biggest advocate against a move up. Why? Because he can continue to recruit the guys, like Beasley, who can't get into a D-I school. This, the new REA and the fact that he's a good recruiter, gives Glas the opportunity to bring in very good talent, perhaps even better talent than the Bison might attract as D-I. Certainly enough talent to contend for D-II national championships. I might tend to agree with this line of reasoning if there were prospects of regular Elite 8 appearances. The problem is that Hallstrom is wrong, Glas is not a very good coach. His teams consistently underperform and will continue to do so. I would just as soon see him leave.

[tony]

Lawkota, I think that the primary reason for UND ending (or threatening to end) the rivalry is that UND wanted to show NDSU the iron finger inside their velvet glove. All Rich did was take the glove off.

I kind of doubt that Thomas wanted Glas to be so blunt but, for a number of reasons, I think Glas was speaking for UND on this. Even if Roger Thomas appears on tonight's news with Glas and they retract everything, I'm only going to believe them if their actions back up their words. That means never scheduling DI teams.

[ScottM]

It's pretty amusing that certain of the Blundering Turd faithful, here and in the F-M media such as it is, are blaming UND for the fact that 'SU is scrambling to fill the FloodDome and that dump of a bouncyball arena as UND remains non-committal about future games. If Chapman and the rest of the D1 boosters hadn't been smoking whatever they smoke, they might have realized that UND wasn't going to sit around and continue "the rivalry" while in D2 while the disparity in scholarships persisted in favor of 'SU. No reason to play at a disadvantage while helping 'SU meet those "conservative" revenue estimates in the Carr Report. The only pressure regarding D1 from any source is on 'SU, since it seems to have picked up its consultant's report and couldn't understand its conclusions, or any other part of it.

I'm glad "the iron finger" is no longer in the velvet glove. It's easier to stick in 'SU's myopic eyes.