Bison Illustrated March 2014

Where it all began The Incredible Recruiting Stories Behind Your Favorite Bison Athletes

MEET THE

LAST STARS BISON SPORTS ARENA OF THE

March ‘14

(from left) Steven Monk TrayVonn Wright Deborah John

p.28

Bob

Leo

MARCH 2014

MARCH 2014 | VOLUME 8 ISSUE 8 Bison Illustrated is a free publication distributed monthly (9 times a year).Our mission is to help promote North Dakota State University Athletics, provide a quality and fun reading experience and to improve the way of life in our community. The publication is mailed to homes across the US and has stand distribution throughout North Dakota and Minnesota.

PUBLISHER

Spotlight Media

PRESIDENT

Mike Dragosavich

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR ART DIRECTOR EDITOR

28

Get to know the story behind three athletes’ incredible journeys to winter sport stardom at NDSU.

RESEARCHERS/ CONTRIBUTORS

Josh Swanson, Joe Kerlin, Madalyn Laske, Terry Ludlum, Brian Shawn, Sarah Tyre

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With BRIAN SHAWN 40 INTRODUCING David Richman 4

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SPECIAL THANKS

Ryan Perreault, Wes Offerman, Ryan Anderson, NDSU Athletic Media Relations, Colle en Heimstead

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Nick Schommer Nathan Anderson, Jake Schaffer Chris Larson, George Stack, Matt Johnson

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CONTENTS 6 Editor’s Note 6 Meet the team 10 DID YOU KNOW?

Scott Eickschen

Erika Olson

WEB DEVELOPERS

We attempt to break down the madness that is college recruiting with interviews from top Bison athletes and coaches.

Joe Kerlin, Madalyn Laske, Andrew Jason, Lisa Marchand, Alexis Klemetson, Josie Eyers

ADMINISTRATION

SENIOR WEB DEVELOPER

RECRUITING 101

Joe Kerlin Andy Neidt, Sarah Geiger, George Stack, Paige Mauch

MARKETING/SALES

12

Andy Neidt

DESIGN/LAYOUT

COPY EDITORS

THE LAST STARS OF THE BSA

Andrew Jason

46 HOW WELL DO YOU 49 58 60 62

KNOW Bjorklund?

THEN VS NOW TEAM MAKERS SWANY SAYS POP QUIZ

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

Bison Illustrated is published monthly by Spotlight Media LLC. Print quantity exceeds 20,000 per issue. Printed in the U.S.A. Bison Illustrated does not necessarily endorse or agree with content of articles or advertising presented. Bison Illustrated assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Bison Illustrated is NOT an official publication of North Dakota State University.

Send change of address information and other correspondence to: Spotlight Media LLC. 502 1st Ave N. First Floor Fargo ND, 58102 or info@spotlightmediafargo.com

NOTE

What’s Not To Love?

FROM THE EDITOR

I have said it before and I will say it again. We are a spoiled fanbase at NDSU. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Joe Kerlin

Editor, Bison Illustrated C O N TA C T M E

joe@bisonillustrated.com

@bisonmag

facebook.com/bisonillustrated

@j_kerlin

When did Saul Phillips

and Taylor Braun steal the torch out of Chris Klieman and Brock Jensen’s hands as the most popular figures on campus?

The football offseason has undoubtedly helped swing the momentum in the basketball team’s favor. It’s also tough to argue with the miraculous and dramatic performances the basketball team has performed this winter in the BSA’s final season, including the Summit League regular season championship.

It has been a seamless transition from one great Bison team to another in 2014.

I don’t know what’s going on behind the walls of Gene Taylor’s office, but I can guarantee every athletic director in the nation would kill to peak his or her head through the door.

When is the last time both the men’s basketball team and the football teams have been this dominant in the same calendar year?

Last year? 2009? Had to be some time in the ‘90s, right? According to records and longevity in end of the year tournaments, you would have to dig back to 1983.

In the spring of ’83, Jeff Askew led an Erv Inniger Bison men’s basketball team to their first Division II North Central 6

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

Region Semi-final victory. Askew scored 26 points against Ferris State, leading the Bison to a 71-68 victory.

Later that winter, Don Morton solidified his spot on the Bison head coaching Mt. Rushmore, blowing out Central State 41-21 in the Palm Bowl, claiming the Bison’s first national championship since 1969.

MEET THE TEAM

EDITOR’S

MIKE

Madalyn

Michael

NATE

Tracy

Sarah

ALEXIS

NICK

Erika

Who knows where the run will end for the 2014 Bison basketball team, but something tells me 2014 has already been a special year.

On an unrelated note, I would like to congratulate Mr. Steve Walker on his climb up the corporate ladder. Steve will be unable to contribute his elite college football knowledge to the magazine with his new responsibilities.

Thank you, Steve, for all the great work you have done for Bison Illustrated over the past two years. And thank you for the lasting memories of dropping numerous touchdown passes in the FargoDome. You will be missed.

Go Bison,

Joe Kerlin

Brent

Andy

Andrew

Congratulations On a Season of

Pure Dominance!

Proud to call ourselves Bison Faithful!

Joe

PAIGE

NICK

BOUGIE

CODEY

LISA

Aaron Greterman

701-200-1909 4342 15th Ave S, Ste 105 | Fargo, ND 58103

Dennis

Meagan

George

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JAKE

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Scott

To learn more about the team at Spotlight Media and our four magazines, go to spotlightmedia fargo.com.

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BRIAN

SHAWN

DID YOU

Photo By J. Alan Paul Photography

?

W O KN

with BRIAN

SHAWN

Recruiting never stops… Never.

It can get heated and it can get ugly, especially at the Division I level. I still think it is one of the most difficult tasks as a coach, no matter what the sport.

I

t is simply amazing how National Signing Day has turned into such an event. S o much work goes into trying to project what an athlete will do in five years with your program. Coaches have to ask themselves what they value most. Is it athleticism?

Character? Durability? Size?

Speed? Attitude? Strength?

Work ethic? Leadership?

Intangibles? Most coaches would say “All of the above,” but it’s just not that simple.

The evaluation process is 10

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

To b e a go od c you have to b oach, re c r uite r. It’s r e a go od e all blo od of a pro y the life g ram. extensive and exhausting and even after all the hours put in, there are no guarantees. As soon as you go through the whole process and announce a signing class, it’s already time to recruit for next year. There’s a lot of

pressure for the coaches.

I look at what coaches at NDSU have to deal with when it comes to stocking up talent for the future and would love to know how many miles are traveled by the entire

athletic department in a calendar year, specifically for recruiting. My guess is hundreds of thousands.

The challenge can be geography. And although most of the athletes at NDSU are from North Dakota and Minnesota, recruiting nationally to remain competitive is critical.

Nick Goeser is the Recruiting Coordinator for Bison football and got the job in mid-December with the coaching shakeup. After winning the national championship in early January, Goeser and the remaining coaches on the Bison staff spent every single weekday that month on the road recruiting and every single weekend hosting recruits. That’s what it takes. You have to be relentless.

I spent one day just looking through the team rosters of every sport at NDSU. There are student-athletes from 20 different states.

The NDSU softball staff should have plenty of frequent flyer miles from all the trips to California with over half the roster hailing from the Sunshine State.

There is also plenty of international flavor as well. Baseball, soccer and track have athletes from Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Women’s basketball has a pair of Australians; women’s track has a sprinter from Trinidad & Tobago and men’s golf even has a guy from Spain. (I’d be happy to take the next recruiting trip there.)

To be a good coach, you have to be a good recruiter. It’s really the life blood of a program.

But it’s not a perfect process and developing the talent you have is equally as important.

We’ve seen highlytouted recruits wash out and walk-ons become All-Americans. My hat’s off to collegiate coaches, there is no way I could do your jobs.

RECRUITING 101

Recruiting 1 01 WA

1

By Joe Kerlin and Madalyn Laske | Photos by J. Alan Paul Photography and Ben Gumeringer

There's a method to the madness when examining the success of the Bison Athletic Department. Where are these athletes coming from and how does North Dakota State snatch them up before other schools do?

OR 1 CA

Elite programs often speak for themselves, but all of these athletes hailing from different backgrounds and different parts of the country see NDSU as a common denominator for a new home. The recruiting process never ends, and NDSU seems to have mastered the process. The long hours, the tedious preparation and the dedication form the backbone to the Bison's success. We talked with the coaches responsible for bringing in the athletes and asked some players about their take on the recruiting process.

NDSU RECRUITING KEY

15 AZ

5 HI 1

PIpeLine State

35+ athletes

VALUED State

5 to 9 athletes

AK 2

important State

10 to 34 athletes

12

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coincidental State 1 to 4 athletes

MT

1 2

SPAIN

12

AUSTRALIA CANADA Trinidad & Tobago

ND

1

MN

4

82 WI

165

SD

MI

35

17

1 IA

NE

4

PA

IL

CO

9

MO

KS

1

5

1

OH

12

2

3

TX

389

22

1

Athletes

States

1

FL

School

6

5

Countries

14

Sports

13

RECRUITING 101

Verbally Commit

Terms

If a player says he/ she commits, NDSU believes he/she will, and NDSU stops recruiting anther kid for that position. But, a player can walk away until they sign their letter of intent.

Medical Hardship If a player is unable

to play because of an injury, they can apply to get that year of playing time back. There’s a cut off point for playing time that needs to be met for this to be granted.

Redshirt

A player can sit out for an entire year without playing to have time to grow and develop.

The second they notch playing time, though, the redshirt is eliminated.

COACHeS’ thoughts

>>

We sat down with a few coaches who have firsthand experience in recruiting the best.

Nick Goeser Football

Defensive Tackles Coach and Recruiting Coordinator

What is the general process of recruiting?

“Well the process really never ends.

But, the process is collecting data, to start getting those kids’ names, numbers and emails. And then going out on the road recruiting and meeting those kids and seeing them workout, and seeing what kind of kids they are, and the big thing is getting them up here to camp and see them perform.”

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Do you like to go anywhere specific for different types of positions?

“Yeah. I would say certainly the bigger linemen are lot of the times the kids you find in the Midwest. Then down South sometimes in some of the bigger cities you find more of your skilled players and stuff like that. Certainly, you can find certain kids in certain areas so that’s not always true.”

How much do you talk with Coach Jim Kramer about these kids through the recruiting process?

“Coach Kramer meets with each kid individually... we always look for feedback from him. What kind of frame does this kid have, where do you see him going in the future — so he certainly has a big input on kids that we recruit and kids we bring in here.”

Transfer Rules

If a player transfers from a FBS school to a FCS school, they can play right away.

David Richman Men’s Basketball Associate Head Coach

What’s the biggest challenge for recruiting at NDSU? “I think you look at the demographics and the population. Not necessarily in Fargo, but the areas around here.

The metropolitan, Twin Cities area is over three hours away and that’s our closest area.”

How do you think the new BSA will help out along the lines of recruiting?

“I think it will be tremendous. I can honestly tell you there has been one or two kids we have lost in the past because of our facilities. And with that being said, we don’t want kids simply because we have a new arena. We want what’s on the front of your jersey.”

Have you come across recruits that you think might have too big of an ego to play for NDSU? “There’s no question... There’s a lot of talent out there while you’re out recruiting, but, particular to Fargo, you go back to fit. People that are humble, have some humility to them, come in here and are willing to learn and are team-first guys.”

Recruiting Windows

Recruiting never ends, but for NDSU football, the summer after a high school player’s junior year is when they can contact them and the process continues until signing day.

Preferred Walk-on

At NDSU they keep the difference between a walk-on and a preferred walk-on minimal. If a player gets hurt, they will take the next player in line, whether they’re on scholarship or a walk-on.

TOD BROWN BASEBALL Head Coach

How do you go about redshirting players?

“We try not to redshirt anybody. We want guys to come in... and play. It comes down to the player and how they stack up against their teammates. We have a walk-on freshman pitcher that we think is going to play a lot for us. We also have some first year guys that are on scholarship that are not going to play simply because it comes down to the players and their performances.”

Baseball is a unique sport to recruit for because you’re in season so late in the school year. When do you do the bulk of your recruiting?

“June, July and August is by far our biggest recruiting season. The majority of the guys we are recruiting are going to be seniors in high school or sophomores at their junior colleges.

Body size and height

don’t come in as much as football and basketball, and baseball players really do develop late in their high school careers and junior college careers, so we are constantly trying to fill spots with guys and we’re never too late to recruit players.”

When is the earliest you can contact recruits you are going after?

“July 1 after their junior year and there’s a time during the winter when we’re not allowed off-campus from the signing date in November to March 1 we’re not allowed to recruit.”

Is contacting highlytouted recruits a priority for the program?

“No doubt. A lot of it is generated through camps and that interest at a younger age. A lot of those things are we see them play during their sophomore or junior years, but we can’t call them until July 1.”

?

RECRUITING 101

Second Chance

did you WHY choose NDSU?

Tradition MIKE HARDie Sioux Falls, S.D. Defensive End - Senior

Why did you choose to come to NDSU and play for the Bison?

"NDSU has had more of a football history than any of the schools in South Dakota so for me it was just appealing right away.

I knew this was the kind of the place I wanted to be. ... I grew up going to USD games all the time. ... I remember I went to probably a couple USD/NDSU games when I was younger. So yeah (NSDU has) always kind of had that history going for them."

What was it like being recruited by NDSU’s coaches?

"I came to camp up here and they knew who I was and I was like, 'Holy crap. I didn’t even know I was getting recruited.' And then I ended up having a really good camp that summer and they offered me right at camp. A couple weeks later, I took it."

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Brooke Lemar Canyon Country, Calif.

Guard - Junior

What did you do after you left your old school?

“At the time, I was at home because I still had no idea where I was going and my dad actually just contacted NDSU. … Coach DeHoff called me and asked for me to come on a visit.”

What was different about being recruited the second time around compared to the first?

Camaraderie WES Satzinger

“The second time around I knew what I was looking for compared to the first time around I didn’t know what to expect. But the second time around I knew this was exactly the school I wanted to be at.”

Andover, Minn.

Infielder - Senior

What did you enjoy most about your visit to NDSU?

Was there a special connection you felt with the guys at NDSU compared to other places?

“It felt like I had known the players forever. I just felt so comfortable around them and they were just easy to get along with.”

“I was fortunate enough to have Zach Wentz and John Straka as hosts and I just remember being as nervous as can be because I was a pretty introverted kid. They brought me to the dorm room...we just hung out, and everyone was joking around, having a good time... I didn’t get the sense that anyone thought they were better than anyone else.”

Now that you’re the upperclassman, what’s it like showing recruits around?

“I think pitching the program is the biggest thing for me and to make the guys comfortable... I just want to give them honest answers about how NDSU is. ... I just want to give them my honest opinion on questions they have and give them my true feelings of how everyone is.”

COACHES DEBORAH JOHN Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago Hurdles/Sprints - Graduate Student

Why did you come to NDSU? "The coaches are very understanding. I love Stevie (Keller). I love working with him, he understands me when I come to practice he asked how I feel and based on that he structures the workout to suit me."

RECRUITING 101

Chase Morlock

>>

Local boys >>

Moorhead, Minn.

Running Back - Sophomore

In high school, Chase Morlock never thought he’d choose a local college but that didn’t stop Coach Brent Vigen from pursuing him his senior year. “They just told me, ‘We win championships here.’ I thought that this program would make me the best football player that I can be,” Morlock said. “Because they knew I kind of wanted to be away but they made sure I knew that you can make it as far as you want from home.” Eventually it came down to South Dakota State University and NDSU, but on his visit and meeting the team, the location didn’t matter.

The school and the program had everything he needed to call home.

Jack Plankers

Leonard, N.D. Offensive Line - Sophomore

Jack Plankers began attending Bison football camps since he was 12 years old, but it wasn’t until his junior year of high school he realized NDSU was noticing him. “My first drill I ever did here was a quarterback drill with Brent Vigen when I was 12. And you could definitely tell I wasn’t a quarterback right away.

Even then,” Plankers said. After ruling out numerous Division II schools and a couple other Division I offers, his final decision came down to the University of Wisconsin and NDSU. For Plankers, the decision was a no-brainer. “A program like this kind of does a lot of recruiting for itself, you know?” Plankers said.

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Why did you decide to come to NDSU? “It came down to NDSU and SDSU and I took visits to both and it was just a clear deciding factor that I wanted to come to NDSU... I knew this was the program I wanted to be a part of. I could tell.”

What was the determining factor for you?

their goal is. They want to win championships and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Did you have a notable freshman eye-opening experience?

“Walking into the K-State stadium was just a wild moment. But it was another football game. I was excited for it.”

“Just being around the guys — what they want to do and what

What was it like being recruited

by NDSU? “I’m not going to lie, the first time Coach Vigen called me, I was like ‘You sure you got the right number?

Who are you trying to get a hold of?’ I mean I had no idea.”

What does it mean to be representing your home state?

“It means a ton. Because North Dakota, up until recently, hasn’t

really been known as a football state.

And now with these three national championships it’s starting to really come into its own that way.”

Did you have a notable freshman eye-opening experience?

“Carlton Littlejohn lit me up my first half-padded practice. And that was the first time I had ever been knocked down in football in my life. That was a big shock.”

RECRUITING 101

Early

ENROLLMENT Unlike any other Bison athlete, Marcus Collins graduated high school in December 2013. During his freshman year of high school, he knew he wanted to play college football and decided early enrollment would benefit him the best; he was right. “It’s definitely given me an advantage,” Collins said. “It’s given me an opportunity to meet the guys before summertime or fall camp. I really get to get acclimated before rush time. I can take what I learn now and introduce it to my class that comes in.” Collins loaded up his class schedule toward the beginning of his high school career while loading up with college football offers.

“I was in the teens for scholarship offers, but ultimately it was a pretty easy decision.”

Why did you decide to come to NDSU? “Basically I wanted to win.

All the coaches when they are recruiting, you talk about how they are going to do this and do that and it’s all going to result in winning. But here they are actually doing it, where as other places are just talking about it.”

What would you say about the NDSU recruiting process?

Marcus Collins 20

Madison, Wis. Tight End - Freshman

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

“I was originally committed to Pittsburgh back during the summer.

Coach Goeser, the best recruiting coach, stayed with me. From the time I started talking to him back in January last year, he was constantly talking to me, all the way up until I committed. ...

He was always saying there’s a place for me at NDSU. Once I gave my commitment to Pittsburgh, all other schools fell off and they just gave up on me. But Coach Goeser never did.”

Did you have a notable freshman eye-opening experience?

“Well I had my expectations up when it comes to the workouts, when it comes to the class work. Everything was easier because my expectations were so much higher, like thinking it’s going to be so hard.

So when I don’t end up puking after a workout it’s a success (laughs). So it’s living up to what I thought it would be.”

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RECRUITING 101

In the

KNICK OF TIME Pierre Gee-Tucker had schools calling him every day in high school. “To be honest I would never go through the process again,” he said. His long recruiting process ultimately came down to the last second. Tucker was going to the University of Northern Iowa until 2 a.m., on signing day. He even told Coach Klieman the night before he wasn’t coming to NDSU. “Klieman had got really emotional and I could tell he really cared about me and that’s when I started thinking about everything. I texted Coach Bohl at two in the morning telling him I wanted to be a Bison. He couldn’t text me because of NCAA rules, but the next morning, I called him and he said, ‘Pierre, is this for real?’”

What was the revelation in your decision process to decide for sure to come to NDSU?

“I was thinking, what if they have all this success that they have been having and what if they are doing the same thing and I’m just at another school just watching? I was just thinking how much things could go well for me if I came here.”

How did NDSU find out about you?

Pierre Gee-Tucker

Belleville, Ill. Linebacker - Sophomore

“My older cousin actually played for Coach Klieman at Western Illinois and they got in contact and found out about me because I didn’t go to any camps.”

Did you have a notable freshman eye-opening experience?

“At fall camp when I went 22

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

against Billy Turner for the first time. That’s probably the first time I was lifted off my feet like that.”

Why did you ultimately choose NDSU?

“I saw those two rings coach had on his fingers I was like, ‘That’s got to be me.’ I had never had a ring in my life and I was just thinking how sweet that could be.”

How did NDSU get you into the DI mindset for workouts?

“Fall camp really got me like, ‘I’m really playing college football because of the grind.’ It’s a mental thing than more-so physical, but after a while my body got programmed and I got used to everything; making sure I was on task not doing things I’m not supposed to be doing.”

RECRUITING 101

Big Ten

TRANSFER NDSU recruited King Frazier his junior year of high school, but the University of Nebraska got him first.

After spending a year at Nebraska, Frazier made the switch to NDSU because of its style of offense and playing time. “Coach Klieman just kept hammering at me, kept recruiting me hard,” Frazier said. In October with the help of his high school coach he got a hold of Coach Klieman and withdrew from Nebraska.

“Even without the three rings, I still probably would have came here just because of the program and Coach Klieman. He’s a great guy, a guy I can tip my hat to. He really is a good leader for me,” Frazier said.

Did NDSU contact you or did you approach them?

“They contacted me. We joke around because (Klieman) always said ‘You’ve been number one on my recruiting board for the last three of four years and now we finally got you.’ Coach Polasek is funny because he goes, ‘You should have gotten him a long time ago,’ teasing Coach Klieman about it.”

King Frazier

What would you say about the NDSU recruiting process?”

Greenwood, Mo. Running Back - Sophomore

“They hit you hard. I like how they stick with you forever. Even if you do commit elsewhere, they’re still there. No matter what. Just in case

something goes wrong, or like my situation, they still are there for you.

So you have more of a connection with that school than you would anywhere else. So you feel like, ‘Okay. I trust this school more, because they have been with me since the beginning.’

And that’s what they do different from other schools.”

What is the difference between NDSU and Nebraska?

“When it comes to the football aspect of things, the coaches and stuff like that, it’s not really much different. If anything I like the coaches here better than I will say for Nebraska coaches.”

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RECRUITING 101

Full Scholarships

These cover the entire realm of academic and living needs for the athletes. Among the expenses full scholarships cover are room, board, tuition and textbooks.

SCHOLARSHIP

FACTS

Awarded

Baseball, men's golf and men's track scholarships are not fully funded by the NCAA.

Equivalency Sports

These sports have the flexibility of handing out partial scholarships to their athletes.

Example: Bernie Bison’s scholarship covers his tuition, but he still has to pay to live in the dorms and for his Psychology 115 textbook.

quickness. So it’s not always about getting bigger, it might be getting smaller. It’s about increasing your flexibility and your way to bend and change levels. Then I sum that up by saying we can’t develop you unless you’re eating correctly.”

Kramer

In what ways is nutrition important for the athletes?

knows best

Football

Director of Athletic Performance

Jim Kramer joined the Bison staff during the 2003-04 season and quickly became one of the most revered coaches on the football staff. Kramer has trained Bison football players for the past ten years, preaching hard work and discipline. Everything has come full circle since Kramer was acknowledged as one of the Samson Equipment/ American Football Monthly Strength and Conditioning Coaches of the Year last month as the top strength coach in the FCS. Today, he helps us understand his role in recruiting and what it takes to develop the top athletes in the country.

How involved are you in the recruiting of the football players?

“During the recruiting visits and official visits, I meet with each of the recruits.

I give a presentation personally in the weight room.”

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NDSU Equivalency Sports

Baseball: 11.7 Football: 63.0 Men's Golf: 4.5 Men's Track: 12.6 Wrestling: 9.9 Women's Golf: 6.0 Soccer: 14.0 Softball: 12.0 Women's Track and Field: 18.0

Jim Kramer What do you guys talk about?

"There are three main areas I go over with them. There are coaches here working with them in the weight room. The next thing I talk about with them is position specific. A defensive back spends half his life going backwards and receiver spends most of his life going forwards, so we’re going to train them that way.

Lifting is pretty similar for just about every position. And then the last area I get into is development."

How do you go about developing these young men into football players?

"The coaches develop you as a football player and you gain knowledge about the game... It’s my job to develop them physically. Now, that’s not always gaining or losing weight; that might mean maybe they gain strength and they gain

"Nutrition is important for the physical development in those four or five years they are here. It’s about the ability to recover from a workout. It’s not just ice, saunas and massages and stuff like that. That helps, but nutrition helps in fueling the body. It’s the best way to recover, come back the next day and train hard and not getting hurt and missing any days.”

Do you evaluate the recruits before they sign with NDSU? “No, we can’t evaluate them. Back in the Division II days, yeah, we could test them on vertical jump, their 40...but at this level you can’t do any evaluation.

The evaluation occurs on the football field with the coaches watching either at the camps or maybe at another school’s camp or off film.”

Can you even go to the high school games and just see how they look?

“No, I can’t. For me, I always kid with the coaches and tell them to work on the incoming kids and I’m going to worry about winning the next game next season (laughs). The coaches may ask me when the kids come in on their recruiting visits, ‘Hey, what do you think about his frame?' And all I can do is eye-ball him. But when they come here in the fall we have our nutrition consultant come in and consult with us on his frame measurements and

Head Count Sports These three sports can only give full scholarships. Example: Bernie Bison was fortunate enough to get his class credits, dorm and textbooks paid for while he participates in NDSU athletics.

NDSU Head Count Sports

Men's Basketball: 13.0 Women's Basketball: 15.0 Volleyball: 12.0

from those frame measurements, it’s pretty accurate at predicting how big those kids can get, and if they can maintain that weight or they can maintain that speed."

Do you prepare your incoming recruits for workouts before they step foot on campus?

“Yeah… A lot of those kids are still in sports and it’s important for us as a program not to hinder what they’re doing with that sport that they’re in. We don’t want him to lift too hard and not be able to compete on that basketball court or that wrestling mat, baseball field or track. …I think it’s important and it encourages those kids, especially the lineman, to stay active...don’t quit your senior year because what usually happens, especially the lineman, is that they are not as active and pretty soon they’re at 300 to 320 pounds, but not a good 300 pounds.”

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Players’

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"Coach Kramer is by far the best weight lifting coach that I've ever come across in my life. And his attitude and intensity and just the get after attitude is just infectious and it's a huge shock from just lifting on my own in high school."

Do you worry that recruits will hurt themselves competing in other sports?

MIKE HARDie

“If you say that then you better tell them to live in a glass house (laughs). I mean, I think that competition is very good because it keeps the kids sharp, their minds sharp. …

I think that competition is so critical in keeping the body and the mind sharp and then keeping the athlete in shape and that will structure them.”

"During fall camp, you lift a couple times and even to this day they are the worst lifts of the year. Kramer is just screaming and going crazy the whole time.

And you just kind of hope like, ‘This is the real deal.’ He’s not messing around."

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DEBORAH JOHN

The

Last Stars of the

BSA W

ith the football team's miraculous run to a third straight national championship, there isn't always room to highlight other Bison athletes that have been making themselves household names across the country. It was about time we give some winter and spring athletes some love. Here are three Bison athletes that have some amazing stories about their rise to excellence.

By Joe Kerlin | Photos by J. Alan Paul Photography

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Deborah

John Women’s Track & Field

Position: Hurdles/Sprints Class: Graduate Student Hometown: Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago Major: Business management with a minor in psychology

29

DEBORAH JOHN

The

T

NATURAL

he Bison track and field team may have moved out of the Bison Sports Arena and into a beautiful Shelly Ellig Indoor Track Facility, but the success continues. For Deborah John, it has been business as usual this year.

John is running unattached this season, meaning her results have no effect on the Bison team as far as scoring. Even though John is not collecting any points for the Bison this year, over the past four seasons, John has been the fastest women’s track athlete in the Summit League.

The numbers don’t lie.

John won three-straight Summit League Indoor Championships in the 60-meter hurdles. John is only one of 14 women to ever win three Summit League Championships in the same event. She broke her indoor championship’s time in the last indoor meet of 2013, running the 60-meter hurdles in 8.23 seconds. But believe it or not, John didn’t come to NDSU as a hurdler.

“Her freshman year she sprinted for us,” explained women’s assistant coach Stevie Keller. “After her freshman year, head coach (Ryun) Godfrey and I 30

visited about maybe finding more use for her. So we started working with her on hurdles and the heptathlon.

Then from there, she picked up on the hurdles extremely fast.”

John spent her freshman season running the 60 and 200 meter dash. But the Bison hurdling coach knew there was more potential left to be tapped out of the sprinter from Trinidad and Tobago.

“I think there was a lot of natural ability there,” Keller said. “For her to run the times she did right off the bat was impressive.

Her speed was a key component right away and now as we spend more time with her she’s really been able to focus on the technical side of things.”

At the 2010 NDSU Holiday Invitational, John ran her first ever 60-meter hurdle event in 8.86 seconds.

Then later that same winter, a much improved John blew away the competition, slimming down her time by an astounding .36 seconds, winning her first Summit League championship with running an 8.50 in 2011.

“I’m still working on my form,” admitted John last

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

Photo by Ben Gumeringer

Unattached • In track and field, you get eight seasons of eligibility (four indoor, four outdoor).

• You can choose to run unattached for one indoor season and one outdoor season and it does not count

season before winning her third championship. “I have a tendency to go too high over the hurdles instead so I have to pick up most the race in between the hurdles and make sure I go fast enough.”

Learning the technical side of the hurdles event wasn’t the only challenge John has faced since starting her college career. John is from Port-ofSpain, Trinidad and Tobago, more than 3,000 miles away from Fargo. It usually takes an unusual twist of events that lead international athletes to

toward your eligibility (like a redshirt) extending your college career to five years.

• Unattached means you can still compete, but your results and scores do not count toward a team score.

“

I think Deb came in with the right attitude. She had an opportunity to come to the United States and get an education and compete in athletics.”

-Stevie Keller

come to NDSU and this is proven true with John’s recruitment story.

“It’s actually an interesting story,” Keller said. “My coach from Minnesota, Matt Ringle, was recruiting Deborah and some other girls from Trinidad, but he didn’t have a scholarship for her. He kind of referred her to NDSU.” The NDSU women’s track and field team is allotted 18 scholarships each year, and in 2009, one of the scholarships had John’s name all over it. Godfrey recruited John diligently through phone calls and via Skype, finally signing the explosive runner.

John is quick to admit the coaches and atmosphere at NDSU determined her decision to change climates during her college career.

“I love Stevie,” John said. “I love working with him, he understands me.

When I come to practice he asks how I feel and based on that he structures the workout to suit me.”

Keller agrees his connection with his athletes is why track is a unique sport, but he gives John all the credit for developing into the best hurdler in Bison history.

“I think Deb came in with the right attitude,” Keller said. “She had an opportunity to come to the United States and get an education and compete in athletics. From day one, I haven’t heard her complain about Fargo or being up north.”

John will be back scoring points for the Bison during the outdoor season as she sets her sights on her hurdling career after college. Keller believes she has an opportunity to run for her country in the World Championships.

For John to make the Trinidad team, she has to cut her 60-meter hurdle time to 8.16 seconds. John’s positive attitude is shown when she says she is “keeping (her) fingers crossed.”

STEVEN MONK

Steven

Monk Wrestling

B

ison fans are well aware of the success of their wrestling program, but as far as national recognition goes, Bison wrestling has never experienced the notoriety that’s likely to ensue in the upcoming seasons. Some fans will argue the program landed on the national wrestling map years ago with Bucky Maughan at the helm and his plethora of all-Americans behind him.

But since morphing into a Division I program, the wrestling team has witnessed limited success. Until now.

Beginning with the first Bison allAmerican, Joe McCormick, in 1966, the Bison tallied 172 all-American wrestlers – a list that includes 26 twotime all-Americans, 16 three-timers and seven four-timers.

The Bison were elite and untouchable among the programs at Division II. It seemed the accolades for the prolific Bison wrestling program were stacked to the rafters at the Bison Sports Arena and were only rivaled by the success of the football team.

But in the fall of 2004, the landscape changed when they joined the Western Wrestling Conference, becoming a full-fledged Division I program. Since then, the Bison have only placed a single wrestler on the all-American list.

This season, senior Steven Monk has set out to become the second.

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B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

Monk has made it his mission to reenergize the Bison wrestling program, and bring it back to greatness. Monk won’t be the first Bison to claim the all-American prize, but to understand his passion for reaching the wrestling throne, you must understand where Monk has come from, and the resilience he possess within to earn everything he is given.

“If you watch Steve wrestle, he isn’t your standard and typical flashy wrestler,” explained Bison Assistant Coach Bret Maughan. “He’s more of on his feet; he is very unorthodox.

He does a lot of countering. He’s hard to take down and he scores from down there.”

Maughan is coaching his 13th season at NDSU, after stints at Bismarck State College and Minnesota StateMoorhead. Maughan also wrestled at NDSU for his father, Bucky, where he was named all-American back to back years in 1990 and 1991.

Maughan brought his all-American expertise to the Bison coaching staff in 2000 and coached under Bucky, when Monk was first recruited.

He recalls his first impressions of Monk were made at the Junior/Cadet Freestyle & Greco-Roman National Championship in the FargoDome and described Monk as a “battler” and someone who “had the intangibles.”

As the Bison coaching staff saw a future star in Monk, recruiting him as early as the NCAA allowed, the rest of the country felt differently about the Wisconsin native and Monk flew under the radar at almost every Division I school.

“I would say everybody in general with recruiting is looking for somebody who goes out there and wins everything,” Maughan said.

“He did really well in our eyes of just some of the things that we saw. He could breakthrough and he had all the potential.”

“

If you watch Steve wrestle, he isn’t your standard and typical flashy wrestler.

He’s more of on his feet; he is very unorthodox. He does a lot of countering.

He’s hard to take down and he scores from down there.”

- Bret Maughan.

WRESTLING

Weight Class: 165 Class: Graduate Student Hometown: Wausau, Wis. Major: Physical Health Education with a minor in coaching

33

STEVEN MONK

A Rising

PROGRAM

M

onk eventually became that breakthrough star the Bison were hoping for during his senior year at Wausau West High School, winning the 2009 Wisconsin state title. Precedence resonated with Monk, who remained loyal to the first Division I program that called him.

Monk committed to NDSU before his senior season.

“They made me feel like they wanted me here and I mean, it fit me in all areas,” Monk said. “Academically it helped me towards my physical education major because that’s what I wanted to do and I liked the city and my former teammates.”

Landing a big-time recruit like Monk was momentous for the Bison and they continued to pursue the best when head coach Roger Kish was hired, bringing the utmost confidence to the program.

There’s no need to dig deep to see Kish’s credentials. He was an elite wrestler at one of the nation’s top programs during his college career. At the University of Minnesota, Kish was a two-time allAmerican at the 184-pound weight division and finished his polished career with an astonishing 117-27 record.

Kish’s commitment and hardworking mentality rubbed off on his wrestlers, and last 34

season, the Bison finally landed its first all-American, Trent Sprenkle, since turning Division I nine years prior.

Maughan believes strongly that Sprenkle “breaking through the glass ceiling” has brought the Bison into national recognition.

“I think that really, really sprung us up in recruiting,” Maughan said about Sprenkle’s historic achievement. “We’re just continuing to build on that by sticking to our standards and bringing in tough guys with potential, and the work ethic to get it done here.”

Signing tough wrestlers has been the strategy behind the Bison wrestling program and no one epitomized Kish’s hard-working attitude more than Monk.

As Monk looks poised to claim all-American honors this season, Maughan believes the competition he faced at practice dayin and day-out has gone a long ways into Monk’s development.

“He (Monk) had a lot of help into getting to where he is now by getting beat up his first two years by some tough kids ahead of him,” explained Maughan. “He had some really good kids in the room that pushed him and made him pay his dues to get to where he is now.”

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

Photo by Ben Gumeringer

Monk has continued his success this season as he looks to capture an elusive all-American spot.

Monk’s senior season is nearing the end, and the closer the NCAA Championships become, the stronger he has gotten. Monk has climbed to the number three ranking in his weight division, and not far behind is his team. NDSU is ranked 18th nationally, the highest the program has ever been.

“Monk puts in the time, the hours and the effort,” Maughan explained. “His drive, his motivation is to be the best and he has done that every year.”

Monk’s success and the Bison wrestling team’s success are directly correlated. And with talented classes behind Monk, the unorthodox senior thinks the sky is the limit for the wrestling program.

“We’ll continue to climb in the team national rankings and we’ll eventually be a top-10 team and hopefully in the future, contending

for a title,” Monk said with confidence. “That’s always the ultimate goal, to win the championship.”

The Bison will always have four national championships at the Division II level to lean back on, but the past is the past and the future is now a program anxious to get back to a familiar place – on top of the podium as the best program in the county.

“

Monk puts in the time, the hours, and the effort,” Bret Maughan said.

“His drive, his motivation is to be the best and he has done that every year.”

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TRAYVONN WRIGHT

TrayVonn

WRIGHT Men’s Basketball

M

en’s head basketball coach Saul Phillips hit the recruiting trail to find his basketball team an athletic point guard. Phillips ended up at St. John’s Northwest Military Academy in Delafield, Wis., and that is where he found the player he had been searching for.

Lawrence Alexander, originally from Peoria Manual High School in Illinois, averaged 12 points and 4.5 assists per game at the Military Academy.

Alexander made the decision to explore Phillips’ offer to come to North Dakota State, but before committing, he needed to know more about the team and its players that seemed so far away in snowy North Dakota.

“When Saul was recruiting me he was talking about TrayVonn (Wright), saying how he can jump out the gym,” Alexander said. “And I told him I have seen that. But when I came here and saw him (Wright), he just blew my mind.”

Bison senior TrayVonn Wright has lured in recruits from across the region for the Bison basketball program with his pure athleticism on the court and his willingness to take young point guards like Alexander under his wing off the court.

“I have seen some pretty good athletes, but when I came here

36

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

and saw TrayVonn, I thought he was unbelievable,” Alexander said about his recruiting visit host. “I was looking up to Tray. I mean, I’m not gonna tell him that now (laughs), but I was lookin’ up to Tray, because he showed me what to do and what not to do.”

Wright was in a similar situation as Alexander when he arrived at NDSU as a freshman in the fall of 2010. The 6’7” forward hails from Waterloo, Iowa, and when he committed to the Bison, he wasn’t sure what to expect.

“I came up for a visit and it (Fargo) was a college town,” Wright said.

“Like where I’m from in Waterloo, which is right by UNI so I was used to that, there were nice people. I wasn’t expecting much change, besides the weather.”

The atmosphere may have felt right, but Wright said the coaches played a huge role in him choosing NDSU, but the lengthy freshmen still didn’t know where he would fit.

During Wright’s freshman year, the tall and athletic forward was fortunate enough to play big minutes coming off the bench. Wright started coming into his own during his first year and burst onto the scene in his first Summit League game against rival South Dakota State. Wright led the Bison that game in scoring with 15 points, shooting 50 percent from the field, and hauling in 15 rebounds,

which is still a career-high. Wright logged meaningful minutes in 2011.

Since Wright’s freshman year, he has improved his scoring and rebounding efficiency every season.

“TrayVonn has turned into an absolute program making defensive and offensive player,” Phillips said.

“With his length, everyone prefers his ability to dunk; I prefer his ability to defend.”

Wright has turned in highlight dunks game after game this season, but along with his monstrous tomahawk and put-back slams, Wright has been a show-stopping rim protector on defense.

“

Tray is a guy that is grateful for everything he has here and when you have that type of attitude, it allows you to accomplish a lot of things here.”

-Saul Phillips

Men’s Basketball

Position: Forward Class: Senior Hometown: Waterloo, Iowa Major: University Studies with a minor in business

37

TRAYVONN WRIGHT

A Whole

NEW WORLD

W

ith his 61 blocks last season, Wright moved himself into third on the all-time careers block list for the Bison, and has led the Bison in that department every season. Wright has now maneuvered his way into second on the all-time blocks list this season, with a chance to catch Jason Wenschlag’s record of 220 blocks, set back in 1993.

Wright may have gotten “a whole different world” by coming to NDSU as he said, but now as his Bison career comes to a close, he has made Fargo his own world.

“

I was lookin’ up to Tray, because he showed me what to do and what not to do.”

Wright has evolved into one of the many stars on the Bison basketball team, all the while passing down the hard work mentality to his point guard Alexander.

-Lawrence Alexander

Statistical Breakdown POINTS REBOUNDS BLOCKS

12 8 6

or * ni Se

Ju

ni

or e om ph So

hm Fr es

or

4 an

STATS (per game)

10

YEAR * Totals calculated as of Feb. 26

38

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

Photos by Ben Gumeringer

DAVID RICHMAN

INTRODUCING David Richman David Richman is a self-made program man. Scouring through game tape, devising ingenious defensive strategies and pushing college athletes all the while being a student at NDSU was the way this Bison coach earned his stripes. Richman has soared his way through the coaching ranks, now acting as the Associate Head Coach at NDSU .

We talked with this father of four girls, all under the age of 6, about how he transitions to coaching 18- to 22-year-old men and his love of the game.

Interview by Andrew Jason

STATS: College •NDSCS for two years •Graduated from North Dakota State in 2002

Job history •Assistant Coach at NDSCS for one year •Graduate Assistant at NDSU for two years •Assistant Coach at NDSU for two years •Associate Head Coach at NDSU since 2007

40

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

Photo By Paul Flessland

DAVID RICHMAN

Why did you want to get into coaching college basketball?

“My father was a college football coach and I have been around athletics my whole life.

I love competition, I love college and I love the game of basketball so by combining the three I became a college basketball coach.

People always said, ‘Do something you love,’ and this is where I ended up and it’s worked out well.”

How did you get your foot in the door?

"I had a connection through my father to get here here as a student assistant, manager at NDSU and I got my undergrad.

I just worked and that parlayed into a couple of other things and from a student manager, to student-coach, graduate assistant, to assistant, to associate head coach; it’s been good. It’s been a blast to do it at your alma-mater."

What are some challenges you have faced not playing significant college basketball, but now coaching it?

"I did play in high school and one year of junior college, so I have been around the game for a long time. I think the fact I have been around, not necessarily basketball, but college athletics my whole life. So the adjustment, and again the game is obviously important, but 90 percent of coaching is relationships on and off the court and more so off the court. Being able to relate to guys and I think my background being around college athletics for so long has helped me with that."

Who had the biggest influence on your coaching philosophy?

"Number one would be my parents with my father being in college athletics and my mother is a huge influence on me and the person I am. And then I have been fortunate to be at one place, with several tremendous coaches, but more importantly, great people with high character. The type of people/ coaches that have walked the sidelines at NDSU speaks volumes for the type of place NDSU is and the overall commitment we have for our athletic programs."

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B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

The game is obviously important, but 90 percent of coaching is relationships on and off the court and more so off the court.

ALONG THE WAY...

Coach Richman has coached with the best. Here’s a look at a few Bison coaches that have went on to coach at some notable stops.

• Greg McDermott - Head Coach, Creighton University • Tim Miles - Head Coach, University of Nebraska • Ben Jacobson - Head Coach, University of Northern Iowa

GRAND FORKS: 2702 Gateway Drive 2051 32nd Avenue South

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DAVID RICHMAN

Tell us about your coaching philosophy.

"I guess it’s pretty simple. You gotta keep it simple and have fun. Basketball is a great game and we all got into it because we love it. You don’t want to complicate it too much. Get yourself surrounded with good people. The guys do so much work during practice and we let that carry over into games so they’re playing free, playing easy. I also believe as a coach you are helping young men become adults… It’s just more important to help guide these young men through a very important stage of their lives off the court."

What’s the most valuable asset you bring to the coaching staff?

“I’m maybe a little bit more of a Type-A personality, some of the guys, and I think that’s what you look for when building a coaching staff is a nice balance of different personalities and different types. But it all meshes well and I’ve recruited a bunch of these guys, I have helped prepare and develop a bunch of these guys and I think again with anything it’s about relationships and myself included. We have all done a nice job of building relationships with first and foremost our guys, recruits and people within the community.”

Would you like to become a head coach one day?

“I would love that opportunity. ...But my first concern right now is to win the next game, everything else will take care of itself.

But yeah, I think every assistant has aspirations hopes, goals and dreams. We got a lot of great ideas. We want to implement those and see how it works out.”

Do you think you’re ready?

“I have confidence that I’m ready, definitely. You never know for sure until you blow that first whistle in practice or call that first timeout in the game, but I’m also really looking forward to those firsts as well.”

What do you do in your free time?

“Family. My wife Stephanie is a NDSU grad herself and we have four beautiful girls. They’re all under the age of six so it has to be a balance. You deal with 18- to 22-year-old guys during the day and in the evening, you run home to a house full of women. It’s challenging, it’s this and that, but at the end of the day it’s a lot of fun. They keep me busy and they keep me active that’s for sure.”

So is there any time for relaxation?

“I don’t know (laughs). Shoveling the driveway seems pretty relaxing to me these days (laughs). ...With our families being so close, my wife’s family and my family, we get out and we get to see them a lot. I really enjoy being around them. Getting to the lakes, getting to the golf course, although that’s not always relaxing as it can be stressful. I guess it depends on how your game is going (laughs). I like to be busy. I like to work; I don’t mind those kinds of things at all.”

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B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

GREGORY RICK President

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4 20 2014 0142 014 142 201 0142 420 201 0142 420 01 014 142 420 014 142 420 420 201 014 142 201 014 1420 201 14 420 201 014 420 2014 142 142 420 2014 142 420 2014 142 201 014 20 014 142 201 014 142 201 0142 420 2 014 142 201 0142 420 201 0142 420 014 142 420 201 0142 420 01 142 420 014 142 201 0 142 420 014 2001420 420 014 1420 201 014 420 014 142 00 201 92 14 142 201 14 420 201 1 0920149220042000922014 0142 4201 2014 142 4201 920 009014 920142 009201 014 420 201 0142 20 09 20 201 0920142200420 201 142 420 014 920 092 2009 0920420009014920142 420 014 1420 20 09 009 20 09 142 20 201 092014 1420 2014 14 00 092 200 200 092 200 0140920420 00 2014 142 20 2 00 920 009 920 920 009 920 201409 142920 201 014 14 09 920 092 200 092 092 200 092 20200 0140292 420 20 920 2009 092 009 920 009 009 920 009 1429020 010409 14 920 092 20 009 200 092 200 200 092 200 142092 2 200 092 009 092 200 920 009 920 920 009 920 01 009 920 00 20 009 920 092 200 092 092 200 092 200 092 920 092 20 09 00 92 00 00 92 00 92 092 009 092 200 920 009 920 9v2 009 920 0 00 20 009 920 092 200 092 009 200 0 920 092 20 09 00 92 00 20 9 092 009 092 200 920 009 920 0 00 20 009 920 092 200 09 920 092 20 09 00 92 092 009 092 200 92 00 20 009 920 9 092 20 00 0 BASKETBALL

Rebounds Per Game: 5.2

BREAKDOWN

THEN NOW V S THEN The 2014 Bison men’s basketball team is pretty darn good.

They have attracted fans to a less-than-fan friendly arena and have become the big program on campus. Let’s put their season in context, shall we? You remember Ben Woodside and the rest of the 2009 ball club. Well, why not stack them up against this 2014 team? Proceed with caution. The similarities are startling.

By Joe Kerlin 2014 photos by Ben Gumeringer

Taylor

BRAUN

Newberg, Ore.

6’7 Senior

• 2014 Preseason Summit League Player of the Year

Ben

2014 #24 2009 #10

Points Per Game: 18.2

Assist Per Game: 3.9

VS WOODSIDE

5’11 Senior

Albert Lea, Minn.

• Named the 2009 Summit League Player of the Year

2009 AP All-American Honorable Mention

Points Per Game: 23.2

Assist Per Game: 6.2

3-Point %: 42.7

49

BASKETBALL

BREAKDOWN

Lawrence

ALEXANDER 6’3 Junior Peoria, Ill.

• 2014 Preseason First Team All-Summit League Team

Brett

2014 #12

2009 #22

WINKELMAN 6’6 Senior Morris, Minn.

• 2009 First Team All-Summit League Team

Points Per Game: 11.4

Points Per Game: 18.6 Rebounds Per Game: 7.5 Steals Per Game: 1.5

3-Point %: 42.7 Free Throw %: 84.3

VS

Kory

Mike

BROWN

6’4 Sophomore

Hoffman Estates, Ill.

2009 #31

2014 #22

Points Per Game: 7

Rebounds Per Game: 4.3

VS B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

6’4 Senior

Madison, Wis. • 2009 All-Summit League Honorable Mention Points Per Game: 11.6 Rebounds Per Game: 4.2 Field Goal %: 48.2

Field Goal %: 57.9

50

NELSON

Coach Saul Phillips

SPEAK: Mike Felt

“I wish I could teach my children how to shoot like Mike Felt. He’s living proof that if you want to make yourself a basketball player, there is a way to do it.”

Jordan Aaberg “He has always worked very hard to get him in position to play on the court, and this year he has worked his way into getting more playing time.”

TrayVonn Wright “The amount of highlight moments he has given this program over the years is only rivaled to the amount of game winning type defensive plays he has made, and when you combine those two things together he’s a special talent.”

Marshall Bjorklund “He lives his life emotionally very stable, and that calmness permeates through the whole team. Stoic Norwegian pig farmer is what he is and everything that you can think that comes with that, steady person, Marshall is.”

Taylor Braun “He has grown as a person and matured as a person, and to watch that has been really special.”

BASKETBALL

BREAKDOWN

TrayVonn

WRIGHT

6’7 Senior

Waterloo, Iowa

Michael

2014 #32

2009 #23

TVEIDT 6’7 Sophomore Pierre, S.D.

• 2009 First Team All-Summit League Team

Points Per Game: 11.1

Points Per Game: 9.8 Field Goal %: 56 3-Point %: 44.9

Rebounds Per Game: 5.2 Blocks Per Game: 1.8

VS

Marshall

BJORKLUND 6’8 Senior

Arlington, Minn.

• 2014 Preseason First Team AllSummit League Team

Lucas

2014 #42

2009 #40

Points Per Game: 13.7

Dickinson, N.D.

Rebounds Per Game: 4

Field Goal %: 63.6

Field Goal %: 53.7

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6’10 Senior

Points Per Game: 4.5

Rebounds Per Game: 4.5

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MOORMANN

Coach David Richman

QUICK HITS: Thesis: “I’m a believer that there are so many variables that have changed. They’re different guys, we’re different guys. We’re playing against different teams, they have different coaches and players on those teams; it’s really hard to compare."

Similarity: "I think the one similarity that you have is that you have a bunch of great guys that fit here at NDSU, they want to be here, and they worked hard together to get here. It’s a recipe for success at the mid-major level that they have stuck together and now you can see the success there’s been."

2009 "That team was a little better at shooting the ball, sharing the ball, not that this group (2014) is selfish, but the other group might have been better passers."

2014 “This group, with our recruiting, is a little longer and more athletic, their identity is defense. I say that, and we’re second in the country in field goal percentage and that’s the credit to the types of shots we are taking so we look, act and walk more like a Division I basketball team now than we did before, because we’re longer, we’re taller and we’re more athletic.”

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BASKETBALL

BREAKDOWN

Mike

FELT 6’3 Senior

Redwood Falls, Minn.

Josh

2014 #3

2009 #32

VAUGHAN 6’4 Junior

Braham, Minn.

Minutes Per Game: 16

Minutes Per Game: 15.5

Points Per Game: 6.5

Points Per Game: 2.8

3-Point %: 37.1

3-Point %: 42.9

VS

Jordan

AABERG 6’9 Senior

Rothsay, Minn.

Dejuan

2014 #44

2009 #0

Minutes Per Game: 11.1

Shakopee, Minn.

Points Per Game: 3.6

Field Goal %: 63.3

Field Goal %: 54.4

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6’7 Junior

Minutes Per Game: 14.9

Points Per Game: 3.4

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FLOWERS

Coach Saul Phillips

FINAL WORD: No one knows these two teams better than the gentleman who coached them. We put him on the spot before the season, and here’s what transpired.

Bison Illustrated: Okay, Coach Phillips, who wins in a 40-minute basketball game: the 2014 team or the 2009 team?

Coach Phillips: “They tie. It’s like saying which one is your favorite child! They’re built so differently and it would be a really intriguing matchup. I guarantee you no one from this group (2014) would give an inch to that group (2009) and no one from that group would give an inch to this group.

I guarantee if you talk to the starters on each team it would be 5-0 one way and 5-0 the other way, it’s a tie. Call it a day! I know if they played right now conditioning would be a factor and this group would get them (laughs).”

BASKETBALL BREAKDOWN Points per game 80.8

76.5

Rebounds per game 35.5

32.8

Field goal % 48.9

50.5

Free throw %

2009 • Non-conference Strength of Schedule: 168th • Overall Strength of Schedule: 290th • Vs. Top 100: 0-3

73.8

74.7

3-point % 41.2

35.3

• Sagarin Ranking: 80th • Key Victories: South Dakota State (2), Oral Roberts (2), Oakland

Assists per game

• Key Losses: Idaho, Stephen F. Austin, Southern Utah

14.9

11.9

2014 Points allowed per game

• Non-conference Strength of Schedule: 19th • Overall Strength of Schedule: 120th

69.5

• Vs. Top 100: 3-3 • Sagarin Ranking: 71st

Opponents field goal %

• Key Victories: Notre Dame, Western Michigan, South Dakota State (2)

47.5

• Key Losses: North Dakota, IPFW

44.2

2009 TEAM

2014 TEAM ( Through Feb. 22 )

Overall: 26 -7 Conference: 16 -2

Overall: 21 -6 Conference: 10 -2

Record

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69.2

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Record

TEAM

MAKERS

Bison and Team Makers’ Success Continue

F

ollowing a successful Missouri Valley Football Conference and FCS Championship run, including the back-to-back-to-back FCS Championship, we see other NDSU Bison athletic teams focused on continuing their winning traditions. The Bison wrestling team recently ranked 19th in all of Division I wrestling and won a share of the Western Wrestling Conference with a convincing win over their rival, SDSU, as their last match at the Bison Sports Arena.

Then, we have the Bison women’s basketball team putting up a gallant effort but falling short in a final basketball game against UNO at the BSA. Lastly, the Bison men’s basketball team has been exceeding expectations all season with great wins, especially with their victories over Notre Dame and SDSU. They dominated SDSU in front of a loud, nearly sold out crowd.

“Remember, the money Team Makers raises goes to the NDSU Bison student athletes to allow them the opportunity to obtain a tremendous education and degree at NDSU, as well as to participate and excel in their sport.”

As you may have noticed, the common theme with each of the basketball and wrestling programs is that this is their final seasons at the BSA, as many of us have called it since 1970. Athletic Director Gene Taylor has indicated work will begin to renovate and forever change the BSA as soon as these Bison athletic teams’ seasons have ended. It is a great time for Bison Athletics, in which we Bison fans will have an opportunity to enjoy another state-of-theart sports venue and further enhance our enjoyment of watching our favorite athletic teams and student athletes. The BSA renovation has been a labor of many within the Bison Athletic and Development Foundation, as well as behind the scenes work by many of the Team Maker volunteers, helping in promoting and raising funds for the BSA Edge Campaign.

This project will take approximately two years to complete and will provide Bison Athletics a venue to enhance the recruiting opportunities for our coaches and a tremendous venue for the Bison student athletes to play and work to excel both on the courts and in the classroom.

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This is an exciting time for Team Makers and Bison fans. With the transition of the Bison Sports Arena, there will come the opportunity for using your priority points as Team Makers members to assure yourself of the seating you would like. As our Team Makers Fund Drive chairman Terry Ludlum has pointed out, there are limited seating opportunities for the Bison football games in the FargoDome.

However, you now have the opportunity to take advantage of the seating opportunities that will take place in the BSA. We encourage those who are Team Maker members to seize the moment to review your Team Makers giving and consider increasing your level of giving to assure you the opportunity to choose your seating in the new Sanford Health Athletic Complex. For those who enjoy Bison basketball, but do not have season tickets, now is the time to consider joining Team Makers and start building your priority points to allow you the same seating opportunities.

As Team Makers moves forward in 2014, our volunteers will be working to assist current members with reviewing their membership and to assist future members with signing up at the level of giving they are most comfortable with.

Remember, the money Team Makers raises goes to the NDSU Bison student athletes to allow them the opportunity to obtain a tremendous education and degree at NDSU, as well as to participate and excel in their sport.

Remember, Team Makers membership has a wide range of giving and support levels that include priority points for events, membership card, window decal, event program recognition and a subscription to Bison Illustrated, as well as being tax deductible. You can visit with a Team Maker volunteer or go to ndsuteammakers.com or gobison.com and click on the Team Makers tab to learn more about Team Makers, our mission and how to join or donate online.

I want to take this opportunity to wish the Bison student athletes best of luck in the classroom and on the court or field as they complete their winter sports and as the spring sports begin. * Ken Zetocha is the current head of the Team Makers. Team Makers is a nonprofit organization committed to raising scholarship money for student-athletes and assisting them in earning degrees for a successful future.

SWANY

SAYS...

@swany8

conference championships and NCAA tournament appearances on a yearly basis. I’ve been on this planet for 30 years. For most of those years, and going back as far as I can remember, I’ve been closely following and coming to Bison games. I’m a fan and less of a critic because of my connection with NDSU athletics over the years. My law firm office looks more like a dorm room with all the Bison memorabilia decorating the walls and bookshelves.

I even have two lignite coal Bison guarding the green and yellow nameplate at the front of my desk. While not a critic, and while I would never presume to give a coach advice on anything other than a good book or decent IPA, I’ve been around the block long enough to know that if you don’t win and produce championships at NDSU, your tenure will be a short one.

Tip of the Hat

I

t was time for a change. Perhaps it was a year or so overdue. The simple truth is that the North Dakota State women’s basketball program was not progressing to where it needed to be. Where does it need to be? It’s not much of a secret for those of us that remember the pre-Division I days. Attendance at the Bison Sports Arena would regularly top 5,000 for women’s games with Amy Ruley’s teams outdrawing the men and competing for conference and national championships on a yearly basis. If you’ve watched the PBS documentary on the NDSU-UND rivalry in women’s hoops, “When They Were Kings,” a game Sports Illustrated wrote about in the 1990s, the well-trained eye can spot two young Swany brothers sitting near the court representing in their flat-brimmed Bison hats (at least the older twin, anyway) at a time when flat-brimmed hats were lamer than those Cable ONE “common sense” commercials.

“I tip my hat to our women’s coaching staff for their effort and for their heart.”

In one of the strangest twists in all of NDSU’s Division I move, it was widely assumed the women’s basketball team would be competitive at a very high level before any other team. Unfortunately, no team has struggled more than the once-proud Bison women.

The fact is NDSU needs to be competing for Summit League championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. And we weren’t. We weren’t even close. We have continued to lose ground to South Dakota State and have watched South Dakota, who joined the Division I party several years after we did, far surpass us. Talk about a Sputnik moment. There is a missile gap on the northern plains of women’s basketball and NDSU is outgunned. We have a lot of catching up to do.

We have high expectations at NDSU. No sport is immune. Our fans and boosters are a demanding group and they aren’t shy about it. They have no qualms about calling out a coach, face-to-face, on everything from play calling to playing time. Check out a Q&A session at the weekly Team Makers luncheon every Thursday and you’ll hear a few folks professing armchair quarterback to our coaches. Or tune in to KFGO’s call-in shows during the week, particularly after a close Bison football game. I recall one knucklehead telling then head coach Craig Bohl last fall during his weekly callin show with Scotty Miller that he needed to throw the ball to the tight end in the flat more. Right. The two-time defending national champion, on the way to a third championship, needed Joe Bob in Row DD of the FargoDome telling him how to run his offense. Pretty ballsy, but many fans think the price of admission gives them that right nowadays.

The Division I successes, which have been numerous and well-catalogued on a local and even national level, have raised the profile of NDSU athletics. Our fans expect to see our teams, whether it’s women’s basketball, football or volleyball, competing for 60

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

Winning pays the bills, puts butts in the seats and keeps the Q-rating sky-high. It’s also the single largest factor, rightly or not, in how we measure our coaches. Coaches get paid a lot of money to win, not to be saints. Some coaches are jerks, engaging in all kinds of tomfoolery, see Bobby Petrino, but get numerous shots at big-ticket jobs because they rack up the wins. Those high expectations, expectations of championships, conference and national, are how we measure ourselves here. Some schools throw around words like “tradition” and “excellence” without much to back them up. NDSU has a track record, the banners and the trophies, across the board in all sports that fit the Webster dictionary definitions of those words to the letter.

Every single coach at NDSU knows that and strives for that gold standard.

So, as we move on to a new era, looking to perhaps turn back the clock in women’s hoops, remember this. No one feels those expectations more than our coaches. They live those expectations. I don’t. You don’t. When the game ends, particularly after a loss, you go home. You might complain about a loss because you think you know better, but you don’t. You don’t agonize over what went wrong, spend the wee hours of the night pouring over tape and generally being miserable until the next win. It’s not easy. For every hour you see them on the field or court, there are ten hours you don’t see. Athletics is one of the only jobs where you can give 150 percent, work 16-hour days and still not get the results you want. Can you say that about your job?

No one is more disappointed than our women’s basketball coaching staff in how the last few years have went down. They’re good people. They’re good people with families, they’ve been devoted to NDSU, their athletes are devoted to them, and they’ve probably lived with the uneasy, gut-wrenching knot in their stomach all season that they would be looking for new jobs after this year was finished.

I will never personally attack a coach for their won-loss record. I tip my hat to our women’s coaching staff for their effort, and for their heart. They deserve that much. I wish them the best moving forward and hope they all land on their feet.

Because while winning is an important thing at NDSU, we also have class. We treat people with respect. And if there’s one lesson I’ve learned in my years as a Bison, it’s that above winning and losing, you comport yourself with class and treat others with respect. That’s just as much a part of Bison Pride as the banners on any wall. Everyone up for the tip-off, the march is on. *Swanson is a native of Maddock, ND, a proud NDSU alum and a life-long Bison fan.

Who is your all-time favorite boy band?

What is your go-to green St. Patrick’s day article of clothing?

Backstreet Boys

My green NDSU hoodie.

If you weren’t playing your current sport, which sport would you play?

Hannah Breske

Basketball

The freshman star was a recordbreaking North Dakota high school basketball player out of Central Cass.

She poured in 520 points for the Squirrels her senior year, leaving people in the women’s basketball community excited about having a local star on the Bison.

Volleyball

Brandi Enriquez

Softball

Enriquez is one of nine Bison softball players from the state of California.

She has played in over 150 games for the Bison and is a two-time Summit League All-Tournament team selection. The sushi eating star provides a valuable asset to the team with her outstanding defense.

Blink 182

For the past three years it has been my NDSU softball uniform and that is definitely my go to this year.

Volleyball

Tyler DIamond

wrestling

Diamond is one of three seniors on the nationally ranked Bison wrestling team. The junior college transfer from California wrestles in the 149-pound weight division. Diamond has come into his own this season, providing valuable leadership to a young wrestling team.

Blink 182

I don’t really have a go-to item of clothing, but I always wear some sort of green Bison wrestling gear.

Boyz 2 Men

Green Hat

If I wasn’t wrestling I’d definitely be fighting MMA.

Antoinette Goodman

Track&Field

62

As a state champion long jumper, the Bison hit the lottery with Goodman.

Her personal best 19’3” long jump her sophomore season is the tenth longest jump in Bison history. And we can’t forget to mention her record-breaking 11.71 100-meter dash at the Drake Relays.

B I S O N I L L U S T R A T E D • M A RC H 2 014

Basketball

What’s your dream job?

Discover the cure for cancer.

My dream job is to be a princess at a popular amusement park.

My ultimate dream job would have to be being a professional fighter in the UFC and competing for as long as I possibly can.

What’s your favorite hobby in the off-season?

Helping out on the farm.

Attending Dodger baseball games.

Besides eating too much pizza and drinking too much Mountain Dew my favorite hobbies in the offseason include spending as much time with my family as I can, training hard, getting out on the lake and riding around with some buddies in the mountains of northern California.

Go BISO N! Traveling the world.

D o n’s D u a l S e rvi c e

Eating!

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BASKETBALL BREAKDOWN