South Dakota DI players

[JACKGUYII]

It seems the Jacks got two of the best girls basketball players in the state to sign yesterday. On the boys side are there any other DI calibre players in the state other than Joe Krabenhoft of Sioux Falls who is headed for Wisconsin. We have discussed Mitch Begeman of O'Gorman who both UNI and the Jacks have had interest in. Blake Yackley 6'5 senior out of Oneida was mentioned and 6'7 Junior Michael Tveidt of Pierre. I looked at the Dakota Schoolers roster and recognized Rane Mergan of Del Rapids who is 6'7 (believe his older brother went to Mankato and also recognized Ross Ver Heul 6'8 of Viborg. Are there other preps that have DI talent? I frankly don't care how many South Dakotan's are on the roster however if there is a kid good enough to play at that level it would be nice to keep them at SDSU.

[Jack]

Re: South Dakota DI players

My opinion is that none of remaining possibilities mentioned is DI material. I'd hate to stick a SD on the roster just for the sake of having a SD guy on the roster. We did that in the late 1980s. Do you know what happened? We had horrible seasons and nobody came to the games!

[JackJD]

Re: South Dakota DI players

I think you find the best athletes you can, irrespective of where they live. I suppose one must take into account the student's residence because that can dramatically affect the cost of the scholarship. But, we shouldn't be married to the notion of trying to have SD kids on the roster simply for the sake of having bragging rights to having local kids.

Let's look at it like economic development: bring them to SD and educate them and a few will stick around.

Couple years ago some friends at Northern State U were giving me a bad time about SDSU not having many SD kids on the roster. The truth was, we had one more South Dakotan than Northern had on theirs!

I think Nagy knows exactly what he's doing with recruiting. Same with Aaron Johnson.

Go Jacks.

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: South Dakota DI players

Having SD kids on our basketball rosters is less important than having winning teams. I think everyone would agree with that. I don't think coach K worries about recruiting a certain amount of NC kids just to keep the locals happy. He recruits the best kids possible so he can win year after year. That should be our goal.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: South Dakota DI players

I think my point was missed based on the postings that followed. I also don't care how many South Dakota kids are on the roster. What I was speculating was are there any kids in the state that are good enough to play for the Jacks or any other DI program. I hope we get to the point where a Steve Smith from O'Gorman who is playing for Creighton or Matt Martin from Spearfish who is playing at Montana State stay home. If they dont I guess that's there loss. I think it will be a while before we can convince the blue chip players like a Mike Miller or a Krabenhoft to stay and play for the Jacks. The two kids from Minnesota who are coming next year at 6'10 and 200lbs are clearly projects who we feel have the potential to be good players. Nagy has said repeatedly the toughest job they have had recruiting is in South Dakota because of all the negativity. My only point was to get a discussion going about who is the next potential DI player in South Dakota that may be a freshman, sophmore or junior.    

[Jacks-D1]

Re: South Dakota DI players

I agree. Back when I was in school in the early 90s the most popular player was Chris White, who everybody wanted to watch play. He was from the Chicago area. USD's best player was Tim Hatchette, who was from Iowa (Sioux City) and everybody wanted to watch him play. So it doesn't matter where they are from, just whether or not they are a great player.

[Jacks-D1]

Re: South Dakota DI players

I meant I agree with Milwaukee, but I also agree that it is important to keep SD kids that are Division I material here and going to SDSU.

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: South Dakota DI players

Is the negativity Nagy hears about the school or about the level or play? Just curious, if you know.

[jackrabbit1979]

Re: South Dakota DI players

The negativity has been mainly towards the DI move in SD. A lot of kids that here from old timers and their folks about SDSU getting to big for their britches. To me it seems there is more negativety about the move from the older generations than the students within the state. The students are just influenced pretty easily.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: South Dakota DI players

Yes the negativity is directed at the move in general. Change intimidates some of the old guard in the state and it's easier to attack it rather than embrace it. It's the old inferiority complex that we have discussed numerous times on this board.

[SDSUFAN]

Re: South Dakota DI players

The negativity has been mainly towards the DI move in SD.  A lot of kids that here from old timers and their folks about SDSU getting to big for their britches.  To me it seems there is more negativety about the move from the older generations than the students within the state.  The students are just influenced pretty easily.  

I think jackrabbit 1979 has summed up the reasons for negativity to a certain degree. I am 63 and not with the older bunch at all. There are a few others who have seen this move as a good thing from Day 1. By and large the oldesters are stilling questioning what is going on. Some are coming around to giving the move their personal approval. The more wins and showing our ability to compete will win more over. Some though are hopeless.

 I think too, there has been this noise about the reclassification period and not being able to play for a National championship. USD has exploited this point for all its worth.

Another factor that I see that has influenced the negativity is that some view the D1 move as being a tax issue which they feel they should have the right to vote on.  The sad story about South Dakota in general is they are so fearful of progress and whats it going to cost me when I pay my property taxes.

 Some can not understand why the D1 move was an administrative decision, needing only approval by the board of regents.

Enter Senator Frank and Clarence Kooistra, with their legislative powers and we find them put in their place.
There are so many bad tastes.

Being Coach Nagy cant be fun, when he sees a kid who can play ball, but has a most uncomfortable home visit with Grandma and Grandma talking about the cost of D1 and the affect on the north forty.

[Mike_H]

Re: South Dakota DI players

Begeman and Rane Mergan both signed with USD this weekend. It will be interesting to see what kind of senior years they both have. Not sure SDSU had shown any interest in Mergan. He is a good high school big man, but I think that is about it. Of course, I have been wrong before! Mitch was looking at Air Force, SDSU, Northern, and a couple of other D1's that escape me now.

[jackrabbit1979]

Re: South Dakota DI players

I know Mitch was on campus a number of times, i wonder if he chose USD or wasn't offered what he wanted at the D1's. There was some talk earlier about him being to slow to play the point and too small to play the 2. Has anyone heard anything else.

[Jacks99]

Re: South Dakota DI players

They just had him on the Craig and Mike show, it sounded like his main reason for joining the yotes was a number of players that he knows there and has played summer ball with.

[TK22867]

Re: South Dakota DI players

As an O'Gorman and SDSU grad, I must say I am disappointed with Mitch's decision. That's just me being greedy though, so I wish him the best of luck in his career. We'll really find out how good he is this year when he doesn't have Steve Smith in the paint to take all of the double teams from him.