2025-2026 Recruiting

[EternalOptimist]

14 minutes ago, GoodGood said:

Not sure why the talent level would be expected to fall off. Look at last years all conference team and where they started their careers at. 10 out of the 11 were transfers into the Summit League. They came from JUCO, D3, D2, D1 mid major, and D1 high major. The transfer portal goes both ways 

Teams with NIL $ may not fall off that much, but there are a lot of lower D1 teams out there that don't have the NIL $ - or they may choose to spend it on a different sports (Hockey/Football). Many of the Summit League teams will fall into this category. Those teams will inevitably loose their best players every year and won't have a shot at the best portal players because they will be leaning towards $$$. Most of the transfers out of UND last year are making over $10k (and several significantly more), and they didn't move to bigtime programs (Eaglestaff is the exception).  Heck we lost one to Omaha - who is now getting $30k or so. There will be exceptions of course, but overall those that put the $$ out there will get the higher quality. It's not easy to put out the $$ for all the sports - Hockey, football, Basketball, or any other sport.

[MoSiouxFan]

2 hours ago, sioux24/7 said:

They’re here. 

Thanks.  Looking forward to seeing if one or both can crack the starting lineup this year.  What do you think?

[EternalOptimist]

36 minutes ago, MoSiouxFan said:

Thanks.  Looking forward to seeing if one or both can crack the starting lineup this year.  What do you think?

It will be interesting to see, I don't think they hit the starting lineup, but possibly get some time in the rotation. A redshirt year would actually be the best thing for them, but I'm sure they would disagree.  Athletically, they can jump out of the gym.  I've seen a lot of dunk highlights and a few 3s, but they are highlights, anyone can put a good highlight reel together. It will really depend on where their heads are at, if they can adjust to the speed of the D1 game, and if they can play defense at all. 

[UND92,96]

20 hours ago, EternalOptimist said:

It will be interesting to see, I don't think they hit the starting lineup, but possibly get some time in the rotation. A redshirt year would actually be the best thing for them, but I'm sure they would disagree.  Athletically, they can jump out of the gym.  I've seen a lot of dunk highlights and a few 3s, but they are highlights, anyone can put a good highlight reel together. It will really depend on where their heads are at, if they can adjust to the speed of the D1 game, and if they can play defense at all. 

I would be shocked if both aren't in the rotation, and I would guess that Micah will be in the starting lineup by the time conference play starts, if not sooner. Considering all the front court minutes gone from last year between Kuljohovic, Woodson, Mayar, Mara and Mathews, and with Natsvishvili being in all likelihood the only returnee with much of a chance of getting serious front court minutes, by process of elimination you almost have to assume both Curtises will play a lot.

[HoopsFan03]

57 minutes ago, UND92,96 said:

I would be shocked if both aren't in the rotation, and I would guess that Micah will be in the starting lineup by the time conference play starts, if not sooner. Considering all the front court minutes gone from last year between Kuljohovic, Woodson, Mayar, Mara and Mathews, and with Natsvishvili being in all likelihood the only returnee with much of a chance of getting serious front court minutes, by process of elimination you almost have to assume both Curtises will play a lot.

If both of them aren't playing heavy minutes, especially Micah, then we are even more screwed than we already are. 

[McBuckets]

And if both Curtis aren’t in the rotation next year I would imagine they are playing somewhere else their sophomore year 

[F'n Hawks]

5 hours ago, McBuckets said:

And if both Curtis aren’t in the rotation next year I would imagine they are playing somewhere else their sophomore year 

Likely won’t be playing here next year either way. Sather has to be gone right?

[HoopsFan03]

1 hour ago, F'n Hawks said:

Likely won’t be playing here next year either way. Sather has to be gone right?

Never know with our AD unfortunately 

[UND1983]

UND likes to make sure programs are COMPLETELY stuck in the mud before they think about making a change.  Even then its tough

[UND92,96]

On 7/25/2025 at 10:02 AM, EternalOptimist said:

I'm going to try and put a little silver in the lining.  I think with the advent of NIL and unlimited ability to hop around, the Summit league and most of the lower D1 programs are going to have to understand the talent level is going to diminish from what we are used to.  So, it will be interesting to see the product of UND and the rest of the Summit, it may not be as bad as you think?  I could be wrong, but I have some hope.  That's the good news, the bad news is, any good or even OK player is going to want to leave for $$$.  Obviously, the teams that can give NIL $ will be better off than those who don't/can't.  Every player on the St Thomas team gets NIL $$ (and it's in the thousands at the lowest).  Most do in Omaha, and SDSU. Unfortunately, there is only $$ for a couple players at UND, and it's a very small amount.  Tough to keep good players around now days when there isn't any $$.  The ones that do stay, may know they can't get it elsewhere and are content with free education.

 

I realize St. Thomas has pretty deep pockets, and SDSU historically draws very well for basketball and probably gets a fair amount of money from Sioux Falls businesses, but where does Omaha get its NIL money? They are literally the third-most popular division I program in their own city.