The NEW Official Thread of the Augustana Vikings

[Augieman78]

I agree. You’re never going to keep everyone happy and yes you’re going to have players leave through the portal whether it’s from playing time, the school environment or anything else. I wasn’t saying anyone was being treated unfair or favored I was just saying Toms demeanor was different this year. Someone would make a mistake (turn over, bad foul) he’d throw his hands in the air yell and pull them out of the game. I seen it on several occasions through out the year. Every player is different and will react differently to this. Some times for the good and sometimes for the worse. At the end of the season when he would yell at Jaden he would almost ignore him. I seen it, I was sitting right behind the bench. None of us know the situations of these players and why they are choosing to enter the transfer portal. I also wish them the best of luck in the future. I just hope this doesn’t become a trend.

[Augieholic]

As a former student athlete and Angie alum, I feel a lot of the blame gets put on the players when they decide to transfer. Every player situation is different just like these 2 players. When you’re a player that never gets a chance to show what he has to offer it hard to say that he’s not capable of playing at that level of basketball. I’ve seen many situations like this over the years. Alex played sparingly to say the least and Zach had his moments. Ultimately I feel it’s leans some on the coaching. These are the guys that recruited these players. They are payed very well to get the most of the player. I personally would not have been one to play for Tom. I know he has a history of being a great coach but over the years of watching him he is very harsh with his players and this year seemed to get even worse. Multiple times this year I seen him screaming at this players. Jaden multiple times and Caden as well just to name a few times. He even admitted that his players don’t responded well when he does that but he eventually seemed to run the same course time and time again. These athletes have a lot of pressure on them not only to play well when they have a a chance but do well in the classroom. At points this season you could see instances where players were hesitant to make a play. Maybe it’s just me but ya”ll can go back and watch the games and see for yourself.

There was little to no chance that every underclassmen on this year's team would last all four years at Augie, we knew several would transfer out based on how they played or didn't play. Alex, Zac, and Jackson are not surprising at all. Hopefully they find situations where they can thrive.

Does Tom display his feelings to his players in a passionate way during games when things don't go as planned? Absolutely. Is that harsh? Maybe. Did this year's team get better throughout the season despite being significantly younger than almost all of their opposition? Absolutely.

Personally I wished he would have pulled the plug on the Riemersma-Dykman-Fink-LeBrun era before 21-22 and several months later they won the conference and hosted the regional. I'm guessing all of those guys experienced "harsh" treatment throughout their time at Augie but all of them except Dykman were courtside for the Mankato game at the Pentagon a few weeks ago having a great time.

Augustana has rarely, if ever, had the transfer volume of other schools, until that is the case I am not overly concerned about the players feeling they're being treated unfairly.

[Augieman78]

Yes I also just seen that. That’s a tough one

[UncleRico]

As a former student athlete and Angie alum, I feel a lot of the blame gets put on the players when they decide to transfer. Every player situation is different just like these 2 players. When you’re a player that never gets a chance to show what he has to offer it hard to say that he’s not capable of playing at that level of basketball. I’ve seen many situations like this over the years. Alex played sparingly to say the least and Zach had his moments. Ultimately I feel it’s leans some on the coaching. These are the guys that recruited these players. They are payed very well to get the most of the player. I personally would not have been one to play for Tom. I know he has a history of being a great coach but over the years of watching him he is very harsh with his players and this year seemed to get even worse. Multiple times this year I seen him screaming at this players. Jaden multiple times and Caden as well just to name a few times. He even admitted that his players don’t responded well when he does that but he eventually seemed to run the same course time and time again. These athletes have a lot of pressure on them not only to play well when they have a a chance but do well in the classroom. At points this season you could see instances where players were hesitant to make a play. Maybe it’s just me but ya”ll can go back and watch the games and see for yourself.

One more. Jackson Loge to the transfer portal.

[Augieman78]

As a former student athlete and Angie alum, I feel a lot of the blame gets put on the players when they decide to transfer. Every player situation is different just like these 2 players. When you’re a player that never gets a chance to show what he has to offer it hard to say that he’s not capable of playing at that level of basketball. I’ve seen many situations like this over the years. Alex played sparingly to say the least and Zach had his moments. Ultimately I feel it’s leans some on the coaching. These are the guys that recruited these players. They are payed very well to get the most of the player. I personally would not have been one to play for Tom. I know he has a history of being a great coach but over the years of watching him he is very harsh with his players and this year seemed to get even worse. Multiple times this year I seen him screaming at this players. Jaden multiple times and Caden as well just to name a few times. He even admitted that his players don’t responded well when he does that but he eventually seemed to run the same course time and time again. These athletes have a lot of pressure on them not only to play well when they have a a chance but do well in the classroom. At points this season you could see instances where players were hesitant to make a play. Maybe it’s just me but ya”ll can go back and watch the games and see for yourself.

[UncleRico]

No real surprise here. Johnson is a scorer who needs the ball in his hands, and that wasn't going to happen (nor should it have) as long as Jaden Graves is on the roster. I think Graves' scoring could really take off next year.

Hope Johnson finds a place where he is a top two or three option on offense. Perhaps a GLVC school or one of the Wisconsin D3 schools. As for Distras, it seemed like he was brought in to fill a spot on the roster and be a practice player. Maybe he goes back to England and plays in one of the pro leagues there, as Veron Eze did.

I agree on Johnson. He was starting to blossom early in the year (had a big game vs SD Mines), but then he got hurt and could never shake his injury. From what I understand, he tried to play through it and it just didn’t work. Best wishes to him — I’m sure he’ll land on his feet. He’s a gym rat and many schools are looking for scorers. My take on Distras is that he and Eze were brought over to try to develop some sort of England pipeline. Obviously that didn’t work. The thing we all have to remember with the 2021 high school class is that none of those kids were able to have a normal recruiting experience due to the pandemic. Kids didn’t know what they were getting themselves into, and the schools didn’t have the opportunity to develop the same level of relationships with the kids/families that they normally were able to. That’s a big reason why many of the 2021 kids end up transferring, in my opinion.

[Blue Ridge Viking]

Unfortunately, Zac never got his game going and then was injured. Apparently, Alex was not D2 material. Wish them both the best going forward. Coaching staff busy recruiting to fill those spots.

No real surprise here. Johnson is a scorer who needs the ball in his hands, and that wasn't going to happen (nor should it have) as long as Jaden Graves is on the roster. I think Graves' scoring could really take off next year.

Hope Johnson finds a place where he is a top two or three option on offense. Perhaps a GLVC school or one of the Wisconsin D3 schools. As for Distras, it seemed like he was brought in to fill a spot on the roster and be a practice player. Maybe he goes back to England and plays in one of the pro leagues there, as Veron Eze did.

[vikingfaithful]

Unfortunately, Zac never got his game going and then was injured. Apparently, Alex was not D2 material. Wish them both the best going forward. Coaching staff busy recruiting to fill those spots.

[AU Vikings]

Zac Johnson and Alex Distras have entered the transfer portal.

[NSU4LIFE]

If the Augie women win today they are likely in the Regional no matter what happens the rest of the way. The loss in Aberdeen earlier this season was an epic collapse and its time for revenge. Do it for Dave.

The match-up between these two back in 2018 (I think) was one of the most heated, load games I've ever been to. I don't think either team is as good as those two but still a fun match up.

Northern women have been a Rollercoaster all season. Beating Mankato and Augie and then having games where they look like one of the worst in the league.

No idea what we'll see today. KO has been a fun watch and finally back to playing like the star she was when she originally committed to Nevada out of hs.

I've heard from some that feel coach Krueger is done after this year. If true, i cant inagine how hard it would be to be an absolute all-time player for a school then get to come back and coach at your alma mater and be let go.

Maybe she can gain another year with a few more wins.

Either way, despite not being fond of eachothers teams, always look forward to Wolves/Vikings games.

[Augieholic]

If the Augie women win today they are likely in the Regional no matter what happens the rest of the way. The loss in Aberdeen earlier this season was an epic collapse and its time for revenge. Do it for Dave.

[MrAugustana]

high praise for dallas and caden

Who's Leading the Race for Mr. Basketball? - Prep Hoops

Future Viking Brayson Laube also in that mix (mentioned in the same section as Bear). There's about a 200% chance it goes to the Biliew kid headed to Iowa State, but to have all three Iowa recruits even in contention for Mr. Basketball is exciting.

[vikingfaithful]

high praise for dallas and caden

Who's Leading the Race for Mr. Basketball? - Prep Hoops

[vikingfaithful]

After the Bemidji loss, Billeter really stressed that players needed to get physically stronger in the weight room, pointed out that Graves got pushed around often. As always he is optimistic about next season and said some of the incoming class will help immediately. Personally, I'm excited about Dallas Bear and Brayson Laube.

For the most part the season went like we expected. Perhaps we thought the freshmen would mature more quickly.

[MrAugustana]

I suppose I'll post some closing thoughts on this season before taking an at least mild hiatus from the boards. It's good for me to not check this multiple times a day, as much as I like most of you guys.

Obviously, despite it being Augie's 17th winning season in a row, it didn't exactly go the way most Viking fans would've preferred. I'm assuming the players and coaches feel the same way. After winning a conference championship and feeling like any game is winnable, having a season of "who the heck knows how this game will go?" was an abrupt change, at least for me. But that can sometimes be the challenge that follows losing four senior starters, one of whom was overall Player of the Year in the conference and the other of whom was Defensive Player of the Year.

Negatives/opportunities for improvement first:

-There was inconsistency, especially in the first half of the year when Fink was in and out with his knee injury and newer guys hadn't quite figured out the rhythm yet. Around January we started to look like the team I think Augie fans were hoping to see from day 1.

-We lose Miller, who was a great one-year addition. He was undersized which led to him struggling a little in some games to finish around the rim, especially against teams with a solid defensive presence inside. But overall, he was our best and most tenacious on-ball defender and played his guts out when he was on the court. That kind of presence will certainly be missed. We also lose Tiedman. While he put in great effort over the years and I commend him for staying and working all the way through his time at Augie despite playing the majority of his career behind bigs like Riemersma and Dykman, my hope is that an offseason of improvement will help Hinker, Helgren, and Loge prepare to produce at an even higher level next season.

-Also, it feels like this team still doesn't quite have a true "alpha male" leader a lá Cody Schilling, Cameron McCaffrey, Dan Jansen, etc. We had guys step up at various times (Jadan Graves lighting up Mankato at Mankato, Fink having a handful of big games), but Fink can still get lost and seems somewhat easy to guard when the opponent has a strong on-ball defender. I think he'll be the guy to fill that role next year, but I'd love to see at least one guy develop into that more unstoppable type of player like those aforementioned Vikings. Fink can sometimes go a whole half only scoring 2-3 points. Again, I have high hopes for him next season, I just want to see him be the guy who fully takes over a game in the last three or four minutes when we need baskets.

-We still had those weird stretches of games where we would either go dead from the field or have 3-4 bad possessions in a row. Some of that comes with youth and inexperience, but if we want to stay competitive in games with teams as strong as Northern and not get snuck up on by teams like Concordia, we can't have those lulls.

-There were times when I loved Bennett Otto on the floor and times when it seemed like he was so far into his own head that he didn't know up from down. I would love to see him come in confidently next season as an experienced upperclassman who plays with an expectation he'll succeed rather than a fear that he'll fail. I'm no sports psychologist, but like I said, he seems to be as much in his own head as anything.

Positives:

-Akoi looked good this season. Not necessarily all-conference good, but close. If he takes a similar step up between this year and next year like he did this past offseason, he should be a very important piece for us moving forward.

-The young kids got better as the season went on. By the end of the year, I was happy to see Rensch subbing in rather than thinking, "Hope this turns out ok." Which isn't a knock on Sam. If anything, in my mind it shows how quickly he matured as the season went on and how much he improved game-by-game. Really excited to see what next year looks like for him. While I had hoped Hinker/Helgren/Loge would be ready to come in and be major impact (possibly even Freshman of the Year-type) players, I was still happy to see them get better throughout the year. They each had flashes (Hinker and Helgren more than Loge, but Loge still had some solid stretches, especially in late January/early February), now we just need to see that talent show up consistently each night and turn into 8-10 (or more) points per game and 5-7 (or more) rebounds per game with each outing.

-Graves has the potential to be an all-conference caliber player next season, particularly offensively. If he gets stronger this summer so he's able to get to the rim and finish through contact next season, I could easily see him averaging 18-22 ppg.

-On paper, we have a strong recruiting class coming in. That being said, I thought this 2022 group had all of the accolades and internet praise you could hope for in a D2 recruiting class, and while they were good at times, they probably didn't hit the levels I was imagining when they committed and signed. But if this 2023 group can come in and integrate well with these young guys and Graves, Otto, etc., it could be a foundation for a fantastic couple of seasons for Augustana. Then again, with the portal and all the other mess happening in college basketball these days, who know how many of them will even stick around for more than a year or two?

My hope is that they will all come back eager and ready to get some revenge on the teams that took it to them in this "down" season.

-Finally, we're in a pretty good place when a winning season feels like a rough season. Obviously as Vikings fans we expect excellence and it's frustrating when that doesn't happen, but other than Northwest Missouri State, even good teams have off years. Hopefully this is an anomoly and not a trend moving forward. I have a feeling it's a setup for some really strong seasons, but the future is definitely tough to predict in the college basketball world.

I'm excited to see what happens on the recruiting trail this summer (not that we have a ton of spots to fill), and even more excited for next season as we see how some of these younger guys work their way in and start building Augustana back up to where we'd like to be.