And even more GNAC movement ...

[tsull]

... three transfer out from Alaska-Fairbanks. I know nothing about these players, maybe Northern fan can provide some insight. Guessing more players will be coming into UAF soon:

http://verbalcommits.com/conferences/gnac

[northernGNAChoopfan]

Re: And even more GNAC movement ...

Hey... I'm not surprised with this or the new players now listed on VC. I think it's a good thing & a sign that Durham wants to win... a lot more than we did last season. These guys all heald positions where UAF is in need of better/different skills to compete in the GNAC. Given it's Fairbanks, recruiting is volatile and Durham has to take risks & gambles that don't always work the way they are supposed to in theory... we don't get D1 drop-downs lining up to sign here like other GNAC schools and so we're often looking for the hidden talents like walk-on & 2nd team all league player Davis or Travante types... The up side to the coming season is that Durham has never had 2 down years in a row here. Hoping he can keep that going this year!

As to the guys who are packing up. I think it's great that they take the risk to give Fairbanks a try and I'd remind them if I could that you are often defined by the things that don't go right than by the things that go perfect... wish them luck!

[Rob_AK]

Re: And even more GNAC movement ...

According to verbal commits, UAF has 4 walk-ons and 14 other scholarship players even after the 3 transfers. Appears Durham isn't having too much trouble getting players to Fbx. The Cargill kid they just landed had pretty good stats in JC last year - 15 pts and 10 rbs.

[laker]

Re: And even more GNAC movement ...

I need to ask if things have gotten settled up in UAA & UAF. It looked bad a few months ago- have they gotten the money issues settled so that they won't have to drop sports or is this still up in the air?

[Rob_AK]

Re: And even more GNAC movement ...

No, money issues are not yet settled. As is the case with politicians, no one can make a hard decision until there is a crisis. The State still has some money left in its bank account, but it isn't going to last much longer. Only if there is some event that results in a high oil price will Alaska avoid the coming fiscal crisis.

In Alaska a fiscal crisis isn't the same as in the Lower 48. It is much more severe here. I went through the one in the late 1980s when something like 16 banks and savings and loans failed and you could buy a nice 2BR condo for $25,000 (some went as low as $10,000). The state government was in better shape then than they are today, but the private sector was much more leveraged. The Exxon Valdez crashed and Exxon had to spend a couple of billion on wages to clean it up which saved us until the oil price recovered. Don't see much currently on the horizon that would save Alaska, but you never know what might change.