Maybe another player?

The departure of Jordan May from the UND men's basketball team may result in the Sioux bringing in another player for next season.

May, a freshman who sat out the season, recently left the team. He's expected to play at Minnesota State-Moorhead next season.

UND coach Brian Jones said he's considering the addition of another player, perhaps a Division I transfer.

But nothing is imminent as far as adding another player for the 2009-10 season.

The coaching staff is just keeping its options open.

Posted by: Wayne Nelson on 4/30/2009 at 4:20 PM | Comments (10) | Permalink

Some baseball recognition

Of all UND sports that moved to Division I this season, baseball perhaps faced the biggest challenge.

The Sioux have been on the road constantly. They have a new coach. And they've played a challenging schedule. 

Heading into Wednesday night's game at No. 16 Kansas State, the Sioux are 10-24. But the Sioux have been competitive against nearly every Division I program they've faced this season.

The Sioux program recently was featured by thecollegebaseballblog.com

The Website did a question-and-answer session with first-year coach Jeff Dodson.

Here's the link:

http://thecollegebaseballblog.com/2009/04/14/cbb-interview-jeff-dodson-north-dakota/

Posted by: Wayne Nelson on 4/29/2009 at 3:08 PM | Comments (9) | Permalink

Sioux football depth chart, other notes

In about three months, UND will open its fall camp for the 2009 football season.

A lot can happen between now and fall camp since there were a couple of players who sat out spring ball because of injuries or academic reasons. And there may be new players in the system by then, too.

With those factors in mind, here is UND's depth chart as of Saturday's spring game:

Offense

Left Tackle - Emmett Lynch

Left guard - Keith Queoff

Center - David Koelln, Ian McGurran

Right guard - Zach Keller, Brandon Quesenberry

Right tackle - Connor McKendry/Caleb Gilson

Quarterback - Jake Landry, Brent Goska, Marcus Hendrickson, Seth Nichols

X receiver - Kellen Luepp, Matt Cole, Ismael Bamba, Drew Daggett

Z receiver - Ryan Konrath, Chris Anderson/Ryan Dressler, John Heimler

Y receiver - Noah Dombrovski, Seth Wisthoff, Nick Long, Michael Gowan

Fullback - Marcus Tibesar, Ethan Magstadt

Tailback - Catlin Solum, Steven Battle, Mitch Sutton, Ethan Magstadt

SPECIAL TEAMS

Punter - Brett Cameron, Brandon Hellevang

Kicker - Brandon Hellevang, Brett Cameron

Snapper - Jeff Tescher, Seth Wisthoff, Jay Nelson

DEFENSE

Outside linebacker - Jeff Tescher, Ross Cochran, Jay Nelson, Ben Hicks

Left end - Link Gottbeheat, Nathan Wayne

Noseguard - Ty Boyle, Broc Bellmore, Devin Benjamin

Right end - Nick Nolte, Ross Brenneman, Nick Farstveet

Outside linebacker - Ryan Kasowski, Clayton Leith, Matt Moody

Inside linebacker - Ryan Pollow, Curtis Dublanko, Mitch Goertz

Inside linebacker - Paul German, Dan Hendrickson, Steven Morris

Left cornerback - Dominique Hawkins, Carl Hanson, Mitch Kudrna, Erik Mersereau

Right cornerback - Delano Saporu, Ben Buchl, Kenny Watkins

Safety - Kris Ankenbauer, Jamie Sigl, Alex Provo, Justin Bellotti

Safety - Joel Schwenzfeier, Tyson Heiser, Mitch Kudrna, Erik Mersereau

Saturday's spring game was promoted much better by UND and it paid off, with more than 1,000 fans turning out.

UND also used the event to bring in recruits. There were 27 recruits at the game. Recruits from North Dakota, Kansas City, Iowa, Wisconsin and Winnipeg were at the game. Reportedly, UND offered four of the players scholarships.

Also, there are rumblings that an offensive lineman from a Division I program may transfer to UND. Don't know the name, school or other particulars. If true, we'll likely find out by the end of the semester.

Elsewhere, South Dakota is still trying to find an 11th game for the 2009 season. It doesn't look like it will happen. However, South Dakota recently announced that it will play both Minnesota and Central Florida in 2010. The fact that South Dakota will play two money games isn't surprising. South Dakota reportedly will receive $250,000 to play at Central Florida.

Makes one wonder if UND will head down the two-money-games-a-year road in the next few seasons. With no playoff possibility until 2012, more than one money game a year certainly is a possibility.

And, South Dakota and South Dakota State both have the same open date in 2010. Both schools are looking for a game on Nov. 20, 2010. If the schools agree to play, how long will it be before UND and NDSU play?

Regardless of what's happenend at UND and NDSU since 2003, it's time to put this silly pettiness to rest and get on with the game.

Posted by: Wayne Nelson on 4/28/2009 at 3:03 PM | Comments (29) | Permalink

Sioux women's bb lands transfer

The UND women's basketball program has had a lot of success recruiting players from Lake Region State College over the years.

The Sioux landed another Lake Region player Monday when they announced the signing of 6-foot-5 sophomore Kate Sharkova, who is from Minsk, Belarus.

Sharkova averaged 16 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3 blocks per game last season in leading the Royals to a 29-3 record.

Sharkova received a lot of recruiting interest, according to Lake Region coach Duane Schwab.

UND's big need heading into next season focused on finding an inside player to replace Kierah Kimbrough.

Sharkova is an athletic player who runs the floor well, according to Sioux coach Gene Roebuck.

Posted by: Wayne Nelson on 4/27/2009 at 2:14 PM | Comments (10) | Permalink

Sioux spring season is over

UND wrapped up its spring football season Saturday in the Alerus Center with its annual Green-White game.

No major surprises came out of spring ball. The Sioux came out of their 15 practices healthy and it appears UND's strength to start the 2009 season will be its defense, which did dominate the offense early during the spring game.

UND appears to have great depth on the defensive line and at cornerback.

Noseguard Ty Boyle has been esepecially impressive. Cornerback Delano Saporu also had a good spring. UND's starting cornerbacks - Saporu and Dominique Hawkins - are as athletic as any starting corners in recent Sioux history.

And it appears the two high school freshmen cornerbacks from Florida recruited by the Sioux may not redshirt, which shouldgive UND considerable depth in the secondary.

It was tough to judge the Sioux offense, mainly because its top running back - Josh Murray - sat out the spring season for academic reasons. And its top returning lineman, Kyle Bondy, missed spring drills because of a knee injury.

The Sioux offensive line, however, will be the team's big question mark when fall camp opens.

If the season started today, UND's line would consist of Emmett Lynch at left tackle, Keith Queoff at left guard, David Koelln at center, Zach Keller at right guard and junior college transfer Connor McKendry at right tackle.

At quarterback, Jake Landry is No. 1 on the depth chart. But his backups, Brent Goska and Marcus Hendrickson, both showed mobility in the spring game. And both took some hard hits.

While UND quarterbacks don't have much experience, this group may be the most physical bunch of QBs the Sioux have had in recent years.

Sioux coaches left the Alerus Center on Saturday pleased with the scrimmage as well as the entire spring season.

It's a good jump start to UND's 2009 season, which will be the most challenging in school history.

Posted by: Wayne Nelson on 4/25/2009 at 4:03 PM | Comments (23) | Permalink