New Coach

[UND08]

I'll preface this by saying I went into this a huge Sather fan...and I think I still am.  If UND makes a move after the end of this season, I won't be the least bit surprised to see Coach Sather go and have success at another school.  You don't just elevate a program from nothing to National Title contender (BHSU) and then take a successful program and push it further (Northern) if you don't know how to coach.  That being said...the portal (and how we've handled/adapted to it) has been a significant detriment to this program.  I see one D1 and one D2 transfer into the roster, and a bunch of juco guys.  Compared to what's transferred out, the talent deficiency is significant.  

Of course...if you were a transfer portal D1 talent...is UND a school you'd want to play at?  It's cold, isolated, not overly successful and posessing very average facilities.  This becomes an issue of if you cut bait on Sather, who are you going to get to replace him that's any better, based on the resources being put into the program?  I wouldn't hold my breath for a miracle worker, because Sather had a pretty good resume coming into the job.  Maybe he was just a "D2 coach" as some say...but I'd argue that Northern supports basketball at a higher level than UND does.  They have a nicer arena, much better fan support, and a high-profile coach for a D2 school.

This seems to be similar to the discussion on the football side with Bubba.  Difference there in my opinion is that we support football at an average to above average rate in the FCS from an institutional level (although we lag far behind NDSU and SDSU so it doesn't feel that way).  I don't think we come close to even average at the mid major level when it comes to institutional support for basketball, and we are "getting what we paid for" at some level.  If I was evaluating our AD, this trend in perhaps the two most popular sports in this country would be a major issue.  Can it be fixed?  I don't know...hockey gets so much emphasis I'm not sure there's a stomach for anything more.  But when I see the impact that building a solid mid-major basketball program has had on other schools in this country...it sure is awfully sour tasting to see us not even attempt to get there.

[UND1983]

4 minutes ago, UND08 said:

Maybe he was just a "D2 coach" as some say...but I'd argue that Northern supports basketball at a higher level than UND does.  They have a nicer arena, much better fan support, and a high-profile coach for a D2 school.

Which tells me he had better/deeper resources than the vast majority of the teams he was coaching against at D2 level.  

[GoodGood]

2 hours ago, SD UND said:

UND needs to hire @HoopsFan03. Right person for the job, will turn this thing around in a year. College athletics is easy and anyone could do it, plus he supposedly has experience and was super successful. Put your name in pal!

You do realize this is a forum where people are allowed to give an opinion? I can or anyone else can give their opinion on the roster, scheme, coaching decisions, etc. Sather is the one getting paid to figure this stuff out. Unfortunately for UND he has been bad at his job (33% win percentage, sub 30% when the roster contained mostly his recruits). UND was a bottom 10 d1 team last year. If this conference season goes on as it projects (lost by 25 to the other worst team in conference on our home floor), then we will be bottom 10 again. Literally cannot get much worse

[SiouxFan100]

random thoughts 

More basketball money would help a lot

if you can coach you can coach - no matter the division 

Generally, Grand Forks isn’t a very attractive place to play as compared to other places

Transfer portal has changed college sports - not sure if we have adapted 

Hockey is king at UND 

we shouldn’t have to “rebuild “ every year

Tough to know how long it takes for a coach to prove themselves but …

Again. More basketball money makes UND more attractive - don’t know where it come from though

[UND08]

3 minutes ago, UND1983 said:

Which tells me he had better/deeper resources than the vast majority of the teams he was coaching against at D2 level.  

At Northern...absolutely!

At Hills I think it was a different story...If you can win there...you can win just about anywhere.  Interestingly enough their current coach Ryan Thompson has done an absolutely unreal job with the Jackets...he has them at 12-0 and #3 in D2 (after a D2 final four appearance last year).  They also draw significantly more fans than we do.  If you build it fans will show up, I guess.  And if you can do it in Spearfish, SD...then you sure as heck should be able to do it in Grand Forks imo!

[SD UND]

1 minute ago, GoodGood said:

You do realize this is a forum where people are allowed to give an opinion? I can or anyone else can give their opinion on the roster, scheme, coaching decisions, etc. Sather is the one getting paid to figure this stuff out. Unfortunately for UND he has been bad at his job (33% win percentage, sub 30% when the roster contained mostly his recruits). UND was a bottom 10 d1 team last year. If this conference season goes on as it projects (lost by 25 to the other worst team in conference on our home floor), then we will be bottom 10 again. Literally cannot get much worse

I posted my opinion on who I think should be hired as the new head coach... the title of this topic

[HoopsFan03]

10 minutes ago, SD UND said:

I posted my opinion on who I think should be hired as the new head coach... the title of this topic

Your sarcasm is laughable! Really gets me every time  We didn't mean to hurt your feelings Mrs. Sather!!

[Kab]

GF is tough to recruit to

with NIL the good players will sit 0n the bench at other schools first, would like to see the ROI that nil gets, I’m not buying something because player x says it’s good, I’m smart enough to know better 

need some high level talent that want to be here because of their major, should be able to get some aviation players that are good 

[nodak651]

22 minutes ago, Kab said:

GF is tough to recruit to

with NIL the good players will sit 0n the bench at other schools first, would like to see the ROI that nil gets, I’m not buying something because player x says it’s good, I’m smart enough to know better 

need some high level talent that want to be here because of their major, should be able to get some aviation players that are good 

Weak argument.  Blame weather all you want but other programs (at UND) don't have an issue recruiting players who have other offers in better climates, and despite the hockey argument and the basketball team losing nearly every game, UND still has better attendance and fan support than 100 plus other programs in the country.  No legit reason for UND to be a bottom 300 team.  Yes they need better funding, but with the goal being Summit League Championships.  Prior to the transfer portal rule change, other teams played by the same rules as we did and they were also able to keep players around longer, as well.  UND isn't the only team to have more guys transfer out after the rule change - biggest difference is that we have a coach that hasn't seemed to adapt... with all the D1 guys in the transfer portal it's pretty crazy to see Sather start the same DII talent year after year.

[NewUndFan]

1 hour ago, SiouxFan100 said:

random thoughts 

More basketball money would help a lot

if you can coach you can coach - no matter the division 

Generally, Grand Forks isn’t a very attractive place to play as compared to other places

Transfer portal has changed college sports - not sure if we have adapted 

Hockey is king at UND 

we shouldn’t have to “rebuild “ every year

Tough to know how long it takes for a coach to prove themselves but …

Again. More basketball money makes UND more attractive - don’t know where it come from though

You feel that Vermillion SD and Brookings SD is easier to recruit to?  That's were our top 3 teams are in the summit.  I hate the excuse Grand Forks isnt the place to recruit to.  We have a great University and a much larger city then Brookings or Vermillion.  We have had other successful teams in the past at UND why now is it so hard to recruit to? We won the Big Sky a few years ago and went to the big dance.  Was it hard to recruit those players?   At some point we need stop blaming everything but the true reason why we are where we are at.  The coach and the AD for hiring him.  

[Kab]

7 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

Weak argument.  Blame weather all you want but other programs (at UND) don't have an issue recruiting players who have other offers in better climates, and despite the hockey argument and the basketball team losing nearly every game, UND still has better attendance and fan support than 100 plus other programs in the country.  No legit reason for UND to be a bottom 300 team.  Yes they need better funding, but with the goal being Summit League Championships.  Prior to the transfer portal rule change, other teams played by the same rules as we did and they were also able to keep players around longer, as well.  UND isn't the only team to have more guys transfer out after the rule change - biggest difference is that we have a coach that hasn't seemed to adapt... with all the D1 guys in the transfer portal it's pretty crazy to see Sather start the same DII talent year after year.

Have you asked players that left why they left

not arguing, just my opinion that apparently you can’t handle

you will see hockey will have problems too as warm weather metro areas continue to build nice facilities 

play basketball or hockey in Arizona or Grand Forks, what would you do ?

[NewUndFan]

14 minutes ago, Kab said:

Have you asked players that left why they left

not arguing, just my opinion that apparently you can’t handle

you will see hockey will have problems too as warm weather metro areas continue to build nice facilities 

play basketball or hockey in Arizona or Grand Forks, what would you do ?

Again our players are not choosing Arizona or Grand Forks.  We are competing with Brookings SD, Vermillion SD, Mcomb IL, All three of those schools have better teams then us.  Well I guess everyone has a better team then us.  I havent heard of any summit league teams in Arizona.  

[nodak651]

8 minutes ago, Kab said:

Have you asked players that left why they left

not arguing, just my opinion that apparently you can’t handle

you will see hockey will have problems too as warm weather metro areas continue to build nice facilities 

play basketball or hockey in Arizona or Grand Forks, what would you do ?

Umm, not only hockey.  Pretty sure the women's basketball team just signed 3 and 4 star recruits who had other options in warmer climates.  Football beats out Southern teams all the time.  UND volleyball has historically recruited well enough to be a strong team, despite the weather.  Actually, come to think of it, it's pretty amazing that UND has the enrollment it does when pretty much anyone can choose to go to a school in a warmer climate.  

[HoopsFan03]

13 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

Umm, not only hockey.  Pretty sure the women's basketball team just signed 3 and 4 star recruits who had other options in warmer climates.  Football beats out Southern teams all the time.  UND volleyball has historically recruited well enough to be a strong team, despite the weather.  Actually, come to think of it, it's pretty amazing that UND has the enrollment it does when pretty much anyone can choose to go to a school in a warmer climate.  

They will find as many excuses as they can to fit their narrative other than to face the fact at what got UND men's basketball into the mess that it is now. It is truly sad!

[SWSiouxMN]

4 hours ago, UND1983 said:

I think we all know how this year is going to turn out. This roster is too limited to win a Summit title, IMO.  But they can win some games.  

Are next years recruits any better than the guys we got now?  Any insight would be appreciated

I like the stretch 4 they are brining in from St. Francis.  One of the better shooters in the state. 

[jdub27]

19 minutes ago, HoopsFan03 said:

They will find as many excuses as they can to fit their narrative other than to face the fact at what got UND men's basketball into the mess that it is now. It is truly sad!

The program was having pretty severe issues before Paul Sather ever submitted an application.

 

  

11 minutes ago, SWSiouxMN said:

I like the stretch 4 they are brining in from St. Francis.  One of the better shooters in the state. 

Is Ndoukou expected to be here next year now?
For some reason I thought there was talk of him joining the team in the 2nd half of this year but assuming I'm incorrect on that.

[nodak651]

2 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

The program was having pretty severe issues before Paul Sather ever submitted an application.

Gonna guess they weren't weather related.

[HoopsFan03]

5 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

The program was having pretty severe issues before Paul Sather ever submitted an application.

 

 

Are you able to elaborate? 

[SD UND]

4 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

The program was having pretty severe issues before Paul Sather ever submitted an application.

 

  

Is Ndoukou expected to be here next year now?
For some reason I thought there was talk of him joining the team in the 2nd half of this year but assuming I'm incorrect on that.

He will not be coming to Grand Forks. I believe there is some issues with his eligibility status and NCAA won't allow him to compete.

 

Coach Sather should be immediately reprimanded for this.

[SWSiouxMN]

1 minute ago, SD UND said:

He will not be coming to Grand Forks. I believe there is some issues with his eligibility status and NCAA won't allow him to compete.

 

Coach Sather should be immediately reprimanded for this.

Well that stinks.

 

[jdub27]

7 minutes ago, HoopsFan03 said:

Are you able to elaborate? 

The previous coach was bought out of the final year of his contract. He didn't exactly leave a full cupboard on his way out.

[GoodGood]

6 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

The previous coach was bought out of the final year of his contract. He didn't exactly leave a full cupboard on his way out.

Yet somehow that’s the most talent we’ve had on the roster in the last 4 years. Not good

[SiouxFan100]

I love grand forks- had a blast there in college- I meant the location isn’t ideal for many

[Kab]

49 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

Umm, not only hockey.  Pretty sure the women's basketball team just signed 3 and 4 star recruits who had other options in warmer climates.  Football beats out Southern teams all the time.  UND volleyball has historically recruited well enough to be a strong team, despite the weather.  Actually, come to think of it, it's pretty amazing that UND has the enrollment it does when pretty much anyone can choose to go to a school in a warmer climate.  

Didn’t say it’s all weather related, look at where our soccer players and softball players are coming from but maybe they didn’t have d1 offers from home 

one player left I think last year and it was cultural

many factors 

im not saying sather is the answer but you want players that want to be here, I think eaglestaff is one of those, not sure about omot.

I don’t dig into how many other offers kids have, it seems like kids don’t want to take the time to develope before they play.

‘I have to hand it to ndsu, they seem to get buy-in on working their way up to playing time

heres hoping for a respectable game tomorrow, but I’m sure we will find fault no matter how the game plays out 

 

[NewUndFan]

11 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

The previous coach was bought out of the final year of his contract. He didn't exactly leave a full cupboard on his way out.

Sather took that team to the finals the next year .  What have we done since then with his players?  We went from bad to worse in opinion.  Can we get a up and coming coach for once?