Ben Jacobson

[UND92,96]

I like Tubby Smith, but in a way it could be a good thing for Minnesota if he moves on to Auburn or Oregon or wherever, because he's probably not worth the $1.8 million per year he's being paid. Minnesota could hire Ben Jacobson for what, $700k to $900k per year? And Ben could potentially stick around for a long, long time, whereas Tubby is almost certainly not the long-term answer at his age.

[star2city]

It's called interest, and there is a lot of it with NCAA basketball, whether there are people in those seats watching Oakland & Pitt or not. Also, keep this in mind, this is not anti-hockey as it is a fact for the hockey only fans out there. The NCAA has an opt out with CBS this year(drop date Aug. 31st). It is no secret that Disney Corp, (ESPN & ABC) want it because they can use all their channels to cover every minute of every game of basketball, if the NCAA moves to Disney Corp, where will they put NCAA hockey? It already is getting bumped to the ESPN 360's of the world. That would not bode well for NCAA televised hockey.

What's going to be hurt is women's basketball, as it won't have the ESPN channels. NCAA hockey is the weekend of the Elite Eight, so there aren't even that many games that weekend to televise. They could even push back the NCAA hockey regionals a week (to the basketball Final Four weekend), as the Frozen Four is one week later.

If they go to 96, the 33-96 teams would play on Thursday/Friday (16 games day), the remaining 64 on Saturday/Sunday (16 games/day), and the playdown to 16 would be Monday/Tuesday.

Again this is not anti-hockey, but this is the situation that could impact hockey, and should concern hockey fans. But to point out that because you saw empty seats of the Oakland/Pitt game at the NCAA tournament is an indicator that we shouldn't pursue the Summit league is astonishingly absurd.

What is interesting about Summit schools is that Fort Wayne is hosting an NCAA regional for the first time and are very excited about it. Schools like Oakland, IPFW, and IUPUI could be natural hockey schools: football just wouldn't fit their profiles considering the local FBS competition they'd be up against. Better to carve their own niche. Add Grand Valley and Nebraska-Omaha and the Summit would have a number of UND rivals (not that I'm betting IPWF, IUPUI, or Oakland will stay around the Summit).

This post has little to do with this thread but I had to respond due to Ole's comment.

Ben & his wife Dawn are 2 of the nicest people you ever could meet. It's truly fantastic to see them have the success that they are enjoying right now. Ben's going to have a lot of opportunities elsewhere.

Agree this is huge for Ben and UNI: they could make an even further run. It doesn't hurt either to have what will be a very distinguished coach who is a UND alum and remembers his roots.

All it takes is a few key pieces surrounded by a good supporting cast and you can create some special stories at the tournament. We have a long ways to go, A LONG LONG, way to go, but at least we have something to shoot for.

Have to believe that Jones has one year to show the spark of a promising team.

[the green team]

Star,

Agree completely about how it could definitely adversly effect coverage of the Women's Basketball tournament, way more so than hockey. But I used hockey because it seemed I needed to use that in order to make an impact to my argument with some on here. If Disney Corp gets the rights, hockey will have obstacles but Women's Basketball might see all of it's gains in recent years go the opposite direction, my hope is not, but you're right... that is a distinct possibility.

[Ole in MSP]

There will be empty seats at the hockey regionals too, this week. Or is that just not possible, because its hockey? I hate to tell you this, but there is a reason why CBS pays just over 500 million a year to the NCAA for the broadcast rights for that tournament. It's called interest, and there is a lot of it with NCAA basketball, whether there are people in those seats watching Oakland & Pitt or not. Also, keep this in mind, this is not anti-hockey as it is a fact for the hockey only fans out there. The NCAA has an opt out with CBS this year(drop date Aug. 31st). It is no secret that Disney Corp, (ESPN & ABC) want it because they can use all their channels to cover every minute of every game of basketball, if the NCAA moves to Disney Corp, where will they put NCAA hockey? It already is getting bumped to the ESPN 360's of the world. That would not bode well for NCAA televised hockey. I guarantee just because CBS would lose basketball they would not be looking to replace it with hockey. They can tell by who is buying the advertising now that there isn't any revenue there. Look at the televised broadcasts of the regional NCAA hockey tournaments and tell me where the national sponsorship $$$'s is coming from. Then look at the basketball coverage and look at which advertisers are spending their money there. If Disney Corp gets the tournament I guarantee those sponsors are going to go to who ever has the tournament.

Again this is not anti-hockey, but this is the situation that could impact hockey, and should concern hockey fans. But to point out that because you saw empty seats of the Oakland/Pitt game at the NCAA tournament is an indicator that we shouldn't pursue the Summit league is astonishingly absurd.

This post has little to do with this thread but I had to respond due to Ole's comment.

Ben & his wife Dawn are 2 of the nicest people you ever could meet. It's truly fantastic to see them have the success that they are enjoying right now. Ben's going to have a lot of opportunities elsewhere. I know the people of N. Iowa would love to keep him, but at the same time Ben's going to have to do what's right for his family and in the end the contracts that will be presented would provide for his family for a very long time. Whatever they choose I support, and I hope this run can continue for at least a few more games.

Lastly you look and see what the mid majors have been able to accomplish during this tournament, and it gives me hope. I realize we are so far away as far as talent is concerned right now, but maybe by the time we are elgible we will be closer. All it takes is a few key pieces surrounded by a good supporting cast and you can create some special stories at the tournament. We have a long ways to go, A LONG LONG, way to go, but at least we have something to shoot for.

Love Ben. Represents UND as an alum as well as anyone. Target with my comment was NDSU folks who think the sun rises and shines on NCAA tourney BB. Milwaukee is a BB hotbed, yet the stands were empty. If the Gophers weren't there the place would have been a morgue. NCAA BB is overrated and over publicized. I enjoy the games where an underdog beats a big time school as much as anyone and was on the edge watching UNI against KU. Loved the outcome, but other than betting on how much snow will fall during the next storm in Philadelphia, college BB is just a passing fancy as are all NCAA sports. People who cannot spell basketball get excited. Not a negative on hockey or anything else. Just reality. Over hyped just like everyother seasonal pastime.

[UND92,96]

Ben is getting a nice raise at UNI: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/273289/group/home/

[dakotadan]

I was just watching SportsNation on ESPN and they mentioned that he had just signed a new contract with UNI. I bet the first thing he asked for was an out clause.

[dmksioux]

I was just watching SportsNation on ESPN and they mentioned that he had just signed a new contract with UNI. I bet the first thing he asked for was an out clause.

Just in case his Alma maters job becomes available!

[Ole in MSP]

Just in case his Alma maters job becomes available!

Noticed that NDSU is now claiming Jake cuz he stopped there for a cup of coffee!

[Tsiouxnami]

Ben is getting a nice raise at UNI: http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/273289/group/home/

Nicely done!

[Shawn-O]

Noticed that NDSU is now claiming Jake cuz he stopped there for a cup of coffee!

:D

[Bison Dan]

Noticed that NDSU is now claiming Jake cuz he stopped there for a cup of coffee!

Grand Forks is the only city that does that. Ben J. was an assistance coach for 1 year at NDSU. He did leave UND to go to NDSU.

[sioux2013]

Star2City, Who sais Jones only has one year to prove this team? Its going to take more than 1 more year. Until UND has a league and can actually go into someones living room with the hopes of the NCAA , any coach will struggle with the transition.

[UND92,96]

Star2City, Who sais Jones only has one year to prove this team? Its going to take more than 1 more year. Until UND has a league and can actually go into someones living room with the hopes of the NCAA , any coach will struggle with the transition.

I have to ask--what exactly is it about Jones that makes you think that the only thing(s) holding him back are the transition and/or the lack of an autobid conference?

The transition excuse can only go so far when a coach has no real track record of success. Had Jones stepped in and clearly done better than Rich Glas in our last two seasons as a dII program, or had he been a head coach before at any level with a good deal of success, then maybe he could be cut more slack now.

And I kind of hate to even bring this up now, but I don't think we can just ignore the fact that Jones was hired by Tom Buning. Remember him? Look at the respective volleyball coaching hires of Buning and Faison, and the results speak for themselves.

[sioux2013]

Automatic bid and a conference is huge. All I am saying is Jones deserves more time and once in a league where he can recruit on a semi level playing field with other mid major schools, then decide. I am sure he is getting the best players he can for the situation. Are these all the exact players he was going for, probably not. Im sure he was recruiting much better players but they opted to go elsewhere because of the transition,bid and conference. Has every recruit been a success, NO. You have to start somewhere and build with the successes and failures. The failures are with every college and every pro team. High expectations are seldon met from players. UND will have several solid players to build on these next several years. It only takes a couple of solid recruiting years to be on top and in some cases (kentucky) one year. Couple descent players from this years red shirt that played and hopefully one from the two that red shirted this year can make a difference. I really dont think any other coach in this situation could have done any better. Thats why I say give Jones more time and lets not start all over again for now.

[UND92,96]

Automatic bid and a conference is huge. All I am saying is Jones deserves more time and once in a league where he can recruit on a semi level playing field with other mid major schools, then decide. I am sure he is getting the best players he can for the situation. Are these all the exact players he was going for, probably not. Im sure he was recruiting much better players but they opted to go elsewhere because of the transition,bid and conference. Has every recruit been a success, NO. You have to start somewhere and build with the successes and failures. The failures are with every college and every pro team. High expectations are seldon met from players. UND will have several solid players to build on these next several years. It only takes a couple of solid recruiting years to be on top and in some cases (kentucky) one year. Couple descent players from this years red shirt that played and hopefully one from the two that red shirted this year can make a difference. I really dont think any other coach in this situation could have done any better. Thats why I say give Jones more time and lets not start all over again for now.

I think everybody understands that recruiting is a challenge during the transition. But what bothers me is how far behind USD we are right now. We're better than them in football. We're better than them in women's basketball. So why are they so much better than us in men's basketball? That's not a transition issue. Is it a coaching issue? Perhaps.

USD loses a ton from this year's team. If they're still clearly better than us next year, it will be very telling.

[fgoSioux]

Automatic bid and a conference is huge. All I am saying is Jones deserves more time and once in a league where he can recruit on a semi level playing field with other mid major schools, then decide. I am sure he is getting the best players he can for the situation. Are these all the exact players he was going for, probably not. Im sure he was recruiting much better players but they opted to go elsewhere because of the transition,bid and conference. Has every recruit been a success, NO. You have to start somewhere and build with the successes and failures. The failures are with every college and every pro team. High expectations are seldon met from players. UND will have several solid players to build on these next several years. It only takes a couple of solid recruiting years to be on top and in some cases (kentucky) one year. Couple descent players from this years red shirt that played and hopefully one from the two that red shirted this year can make a difference. I really dont think any other coach in this situation could have done any better. Thats why I say give Jones more time and lets not start all over again for now.

Several solid players? You must be watching a different team than I did the past few years. Why people want to continue to give this guy the benefit of the doubt I will never understand

[Ole in MSP]

I think everybody understands that recruiting is a challenge during the transition. But what bothers me is how far behind USD we are right now. We're better than them in football. We're better than them in women's basketball. So why are they so much better than us in men's basketball? That's not a transition issue. Is it a coaching issue? Perhaps.

USD loses a ton from this year's team. If they're still clearly better than us next year, it will be very telling.

I think USD went out after several transfers where UND went for youth.

[UND92,96]

I think USD went out after several transfers where UND went for youth.

Three of USD's four leading scorers were high school recruits (Cain, Krogman and Thomas), and the fourth was a dI transfer from a few years ago (Gentry). UND has been red-shirting pretty much everybody, whereas USD hasn't. Other than that, the approaches are basically the same.

[summitfever]

i am somewhat surprised by Ben's rise. (didnt mcdermott recruit these uni kids?) congrats are in order for him.

I look for him to continue UP the ladder by taking better jobs each time.

und to a better ndsu to a better uni to a better iowa?

[the green team]

Thomas can flat out play, but he was being recruited by a number of larger mid majors but broke his hand prior to his senior year, all that interest dried up except basically USD...as much as it pains me to say it--credit to them on that one. Krogman is merely servicable at the D1 level. Cain with his body and athleticism was a game changer-- Smith was a pussy, and Gentry was exactly what made the whole show go round. If they can't find something similar of a presence to Cain, where he drew a tremendous amount of respect on the interior-- that changes the way you can guard their guys out on the perimeter who's to say their guys won't play differently without Cain & Gentry around anymore? Thomas is going to lead them in scoring next year no matter what, but even he will have to work harder to get his points by not having those 2 previosly mentioned names around. I'm very interested to see what USD brings to the table next year.. imho...it may not be so rosey for the yotes.

[UND92,96]

Thomas can flat out play, but he was being recruited by a number of larger mid majors but broke his hand prior to his senior year, all that interest dried up except basically USD...as much as it pains me to say it--credit to them on that one. Krogman is merely servicable at the D1 level. Cain with his body and athleticism was a game changer-- Smith was a pussy, and Gentry was exactly what made the whole show go round. If they can't find something similar of a presence to Cain, where he drew a tremendous amount of respect on the interior-- that changes the way you can guard their guys out on the perimeter who's to say their guys won't play differently without Cain & Gentry around anymore? Thomas is going to lead them in scoring next year no matter what, but even he will have to work harder to get his points by not having those 2 previosly mentioned names around. I'm very interested to see what USD brings to the table next year.. imho...it may not be so rosey for the yotes.

I agree--USD should be a bit down next year. Which is why we as fans should be upset if we aren't as good or better than them next season.

It's kind of the opposite on the women's side--we should be down next year, whereas USD returns most of their team. If we're still better than them next year, it doesn't speak well for their coach.

[UND1983]

Grand Forks is the only city that does that. Ben J. was an assistance coach for 1 year at NDSU. He did leave UND to go to NDSU.

http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/155609/

Still waiting for that article about his fond memories of his time in Fargo and his emotional ties to NDSU.

[Let'sGoHawks!]

Ben's North Dakota career was mentioned last night, Rich Glas even got a mention as his former University of North Dakota coach. Was also mentioned he coached at Concordia currently.

Nice publicity for our state. (and Concordia)

[coachdags]

Congrats to Jake and the boys, bringing home a ESPY....

[UND92,96]

Jake was talking to Texas A & M, but will stay at UNI: http://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/203527/group/homepage/