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UNC-SCHEDULE THIS YEAR Greely tribune

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  • UNC-SCHEDULE THIS YEAR Greely tribune

    Here is an article about whats happen at UNC instead of playing an NCC schedule.

    Article Published January 10, 2004
    Bears freshman up to challenge

    Story by Staff Reports
    By Matt Schuman
    schuman@greeleytrib.com
    When Trei Steward decided to come to the University of Northern Colorado, he looked forward to the challenge of playing against the best Divsion I basketball had to offer.

    Little did he know how quickly that challenge would come.

    With the Bears' lineup decimated by injuries, the 6-foot-7, 265-pound freshman has been thrust into the starting role as the Bears center. He has the unenviable task

    of trying to stop one of the nation's best players at 7 tonight when the Bears (3-12) face the University of Colorado (7-4) for the first time in 26 years at the Coors Events Center in Boulder.

    Steward will face off against

    CU preseason All-American David Harrison, the 7-foot, 250-pound center who could be a future NBA first-round pick.

    While the prospect of facing a player the
    caliber of Harrison might intimidate most freshman, Steward sees it as the opportunity he's been waiting for since coming out of Natrona County High School in Casper, Wyo., where he received recruiting interest from other Division I programs, including CU.

    "I've never backed down from a challenge, and he's definitely the biggest challenge I've faced," Steward said. "So I'm really excited."

    While the game couldn't have come at a worse time for UNC, which has been decimated by injuries in its first season of reclassification to Division I, it's games like these against high-profile Division I programs that UNC coach Craig Rasmuson realizes will sell his program now and in the future.

    It's why the Bears have scheduled nine game this year against Division I schools and have already contracted to play Division I powerhouses Oklahoma and Gonzaga next season along with a verbal commitment to play CU.

    Not only do the games like CU give national exposure to UNC, but they also bring in guaranteed money to the program. UNC will get $25,000 in guaranteed money from today's game alone.

    "That's part of the dilemma of this move," Rasmuson said. "Some of our shortcomings are financial, so we're going to go ahead and play some games like this every year that will pay a healthy guarantee and give us an opportunity to put money not only into our fund, but the entire athletic program to help offset some budget woes you have when you make this big jump."

    Still, Rasmuson knows how big a recruiting tool games like CU are for his program. Rasmuson said recent recruits like Steward would not have chosen to play at UNC if the school was not playing in Division I.

    Steward agrees. And though he may have been thrown to the wolves a bit sooner than expected, he thinks there is no time like the present to face the tough challenges of playing Division I basketball.

    "It is better to do it sooner than later," Steward said. "This experience this year is definitely going to pay off down the road for a lot of us on the team."

    BEARS NOTES


    Homecoming: Saturday will be a homecoming for UNC guard Erik Olson. Olson played his high school ball at Fairview High School in Boulder. Olson will have plenty of family in attendance, including his grandparents, who are flying in from Washington for the game. Olson is excited to play against the program he grew up watching. "Watching those guys when I was little, it was a dream, so yeah, it is definitely going to be awesome going over there again."


    UNC connection: One of the reasons UNC was able to schedule a game with the Buffs was because of the school's connection with CU assistant coach Terry Dunn. Dunn is a 1977 graduate of UNC and a three-year letterwinner in both basketball and track and field.


    Next up: Following Saturday, the road does not get any easier for UNC, who will travel to Ames, Iowa, to battle another Big 12 opponent on Tuesday, this time Iowa State in a contest that will be televised on ESPN Plus.


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  • #2
    Re: UNC-SCHEDULE THIS YEAR Greely tribune

    Here is the Omaha Herald's story on the UNC-Iowa State game. Much closer than I had thought and UNC may have talent that they did not have last year.

    Published Tuesday
    January 13, 2004

    Cyclones pull away late, beat Northern Colorado

    AMES, Iowa (AP) - Jared Homan and Jackson Vroman scored 16 points apiece, and Homan added 14 rebounds and five blocks Monday night, leading Iowa State to an 89-63 victory over Northern Colorado.

    Iowa State (10-2) withstood some early torrid shooting by Northern Colorado (3-14) and finally broke the game open with a 15-2 run early in the second half.

    Northern Colorado's Michael Frazier made his first six 3-point shots and finished 7 for 12 from beyond the arc to lead the Bears with 25 points, 17 in the first half.

    With Frazier going 5 for 5, Northern Colorado made seven of its first eight 3-point shots over Iowa State's zone defense and bolted to a 23-10 lead. Iowa State stopped the outside shooting by switching to a man-to-man and ran off 16 straight points to erase the deficit, but the Bears then started breaking down the Cyclones with driving shots and layups.

    Despite a 14-2 run, Iowa State led just 44-37 at halftime and the lead was only 49-44 after Northern Colorado's Trei Steward scored inside with 17:12 remaining. Iowa State then started to assert itself at both ends and pulled away.

    Homan had six points as ISU outscored the Bears 15-2 to open a 64-46 lead, Curtis Stinson capping the burst with two nifty assists.

    He first fed Will Blalock cutting along the baseline and Blalock hit a double-pump layup that brought the crowd of 11,174 to its feet. Seconds later, Stinson flipped a soft underhanded pass to Jake Sullivan for a jumper.

    Stinson finished with 12 points and seven assists. Sullivan scored 11 points, including three 3-pointers.

    Homan matched his career high with his five blocks. It was the third time this season he has blocked five shots in a game, but he missed several close-in shots while going 6 for 16 from the field.

    ©2004 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved. Copyright | Terms of Use | Privacy Questions? Comments? Suggestions? webmaster@omaha.com


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    • #3
      Re: UNC-SCHEDULE THIS YEAR Greely tribune

      Originally posted by SDSUFAN
       Much closer than I had thought and UNC may have talent that they did not have last year.
      I don't know about that, UNC has lost to Colorado Mines this year.

      Go State!

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: UNC-SCHEDULE THIS YEAR Greely tribune

        UNC's move to DI was more about football.  There BB programs (womens and mens) have always been mediocre even at the DII level.  They can't expect (and I doubt they did) to compete at this time but I suspect they will be a much better program in the years to come.  They can handle a poor BB performance if they remain ranked in FB and I suspect we will see a top 10 DIAA FB team at UNC in 2004.
        We are here to add what we can to life, not get what we can from life. -Sir William Osler

        We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.

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        • #5
          Re: UNC-SCHEDULE THIS YEAR Greely tribune

          Top 10 might be a little ambitious, but another top 20 is very likely! I must say I was impressed that they got into the top 20 their first season in I-AA!

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          • #6
            Re: UNC-SCHEDULE THIS YEAR Greely tribune

            Its the Center, true freshman from Casper Wyo, that I am referring to and the Fraizer kid that drop the threes, I dont recall his name from last year.  Granted UNC record is not impressive nor is their loss to Colorado Mines. For the first year in D1, it got to be better for UNC than it was at D2. I think they are starting to draw better recruits and will get some more this spring, like SDSU will.

            Frankly with or with out Jones, SDSU will be okay.

             Joe Green, Ben Beran and Jake Wennig are just the beginning of good athletes.  We may not know who they are right now, but I expect to see better ones recruited this spring.

            The D1 connotation has magic and thats all I am saying not tooting the horn for UNC, its just interesting to see what they have accompolished in their first D1 season.
            I would have expected a 50 pt win by Iowa State, but at times UNC was able to play with the Cyclones. So it was closer than what I expected.

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