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We are still early in the Summit season, but in my opinion two surprise teams have emerged so far. Oakland has fallen more than expected and the Bison are winning with sophomores and freshmen. While I would not trade our roster for the neighbors to the north, that team is going to be tough to beat in the next few years.
When you look at their statistics thus far, their top 8 scorers are made up of 6 sophomores and 2 freshmen. Some of the sophomores are either redshirts or have received hardship status that gives them two more years of eligibility after this year. Their two seniors log a combined 14.2 minutes per game and produce a combined average of 4.2 pts, 3.5 rebs, 0.3 assits, and 0 blocks per game. Even more surprising is that their two rostered juniors are hardly making a blip on the stat sheet. While the rabbits are a young team, we are going to miss Callahan's impact on our game. I can't say that the Bison are really going to miss Carlson and Lundberg that much.
Taylor Braun (soph) leads the Bison with 14.9 pts/game and is second with 6.5 rebs/game. He was one of the better players in Oregon his senior year, yet only received walk-on interest from Pac-10 schools. Freshmen, Lawrence Alexander is second on the team in scoring at 12.6 pts/game and leads the team in assists at 5.6/game. His 4 rebs/game also contribute to his team's success. While he is showing his youth with over 3.1 turnovers per game, his 1.77 assists/turnovers is not out of line for a young point guard in a league filled with outstanding guards. Bjorkland is a legit bigman that many rabbit fans were interested in while being recruited. He has thus far lived up to that billing and will be one of the better posts in the next couple of years, if he has not already filled that bill this season.
Two years ago, many of us felt that SDSU and NDSU had some of the best recuits coming in. But I thought NDSU's years of competing for a Summit championship would begin next year, not this year.
It feels surreal and awkward to give this much love to the Bison, but they've earned it. Maybe someone should pinch me, or slug me hard so that I can wake up and find out that this was just a weird dream.
When you look at their statistics thus far, their top 8 scorers are made up of 6 sophomores and 2 freshmen. Some of the sophomores are either redshirts or have received hardship status that gives them two more years of eligibility after this year. Their two seniors log a combined 14.2 minutes per game and produce a combined average of 4.2 pts, 3.5 rebs, 0.3 assits, and 0 blocks per game. Even more surprising is that their two rostered juniors are hardly making a blip on the stat sheet. While the rabbits are a young team, we are going to miss Callahan's impact on our game. I can't say that the Bison are really going to miss Carlson and Lundberg that much.
Taylor Braun (soph) leads the Bison with 14.9 pts/game and is second with 6.5 rebs/game. He was one of the better players in Oregon his senior year, yet only received walk-on interest from Pac-10 schools. Freshmen, Lawrence Alexander is second on the team in scoring at 12.6 pts/game and leads the team in assists at 5.6/game. His 4 rebs/game also contribute to his team's success. While he is showing his youth with over 3.1 turnovers per game, his 1.77 assists/turnovers is not out of line for a young point guard in a league filled with outstanding guards. Bjorkland is a legit bigman that many rabbit fans were interested in while being recruited. He has thus far lived up to that billing and will be one of the better posts in the next couple of years, if he has not already filled that bill this season.
Two years ago, many of us felt that SDSU and NDSU had some of the best recuits coming in. But I thought NDSU's years of competing for a Summit championship would begin next year, not this year.
It feels surreal and awkward to give this much love to the Bison, but they've earned it. Maybe someone should pinch me, or slug me hard so that I can wake up and find out that this was just a weird dream.
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