Should Jamestown be accepted into the NSIC?

[NSU4LIFE]

Mankato did lose the Rapidan Dam store, but it has relocated in the city itself. Hated to see a landmark that was there when I was an undergrad, but that happens in river towns.

Thank goodness for you, Laker. One of the last of the good ones.

[laker]

Thank goodness for you, Laker. One of the last of the good ones.

"All great men are dead or dying. And I'm not feeling so hot myself."

A senior at Freeborn was filling out his quote for the yearbook during study hall my first year of teaching. I suggested it and he put it in. He called me a couple of years ago and asked if I remembered. People have to have a sense of humor.

I did the same thing at Lakota. My right fielder, the school clown, needed to fill in his favorite book. The problem was that he didn't read any. I told him to write down The Golden Stream by I.P. Standing. That got into the school newspaper. The paper advisor didn't find out until it was too late. Then she was complaining about him in the teacher's lounge. "Oh that Alan!" was her quote. I remember it from Devo years later.

[SW_Mustang]

The top teams of this league are mostly based on wide spread recruiting. Its not like it used to be of getting kids within an hour and building a squad.

The top talent on most of the squads in not from within a couple county area. At times, it can be be a few that fit that, but even the "player who wont be named" for SMSU in the past was closer to Bemidji, Crookston ans Moorhead. So this idea of having to have a lock on your area is ridiculous. To say Mankato is on an island as they draw from wherever they want, that....is wild.

Maybe that's the case in Aberdeen - though half your roster right now is from South Dakota (as is Augie's), but SMSU doesn't need to recruit far beyond their borders. We achieve fairly high rankings with a consistent core of local players. The best player in SMSU history - NPOY Taylor Reiss - is from Taunton.

Broad strokes get the fence painted faster - I never said teams "had" to recruit locally, but it would be dumb for SMSU not too. And looking at CSP and WSC - it looks like I'm not far off in my assessment (though seeing Rolbiecki on CSP's roster still stings a bit.)

[Stanger86]

The original comment on local talent was in regards to volleyball - football is a different beast.

Marshall has nine state titles - I don't think we're hurting for local talent, but I do appreciate Minneota for Taylor Reiss (and for SDSU for sending her to us). Maybe they aren't "local" enough lol

No offense, but you are definitely out of touch on this one.

Tyler Boddy used to run the local JO Volleyball program. Now Mike Dalager does, who used to coach at SMSU as well. Since 2014, the JO team has produced 31 college commitments (including current HS seniors) at the D2 or D1 level. 21 of them committed to SMSU, and I believe only 6 of those were from Marshall.

[SW_Mustang]

And I think that's why I'm less critical about Jamestown moving to Division II. The sports that get the most limelight in the NSIC are football, volleyball, and men's basketball.

Football: Jamestown is bad right now, absolutely. But I also believe optics will look worse just by nature of playing in an above-average (at worst) Division II conference.
Volleyball: I do agree with those who think middle-of-the-pack in the NSIC might be the best possible outcome this fall. But as you said, that probably says more about the NSIC's strength than about any weakness from UJ.
Men's Basketball: A pretty similar scenario as volleyball. Being average in the NSIC would be no small feat to scoff at in Year 1.

Understandably so, most of the narrative here revolves around football. And knowing the history of past programs like UMC and UMM, I think people don't expect much different from UJ. But it's important to contextualize that football struggles shouldn't mean that an institution does not belong in Division II. And being bad in Year 1 does not mean a program will be just as bad 20 years from now.

I'm actually quite curious to see how Jamestown does in volleyball. They were at the first spring event I went too, and also are quite competitive against their previous level of competition. Basketball will probably take a while but there's no reason they can't be competent. The other two sports I care about are football and baseball, and I'm not sold on those.

At this point - what's done is done and I can't change it - so I'll just sit back and see how it plays out. Jamestown will either be good at something or they won't. I don't have a reason to root against them.

[SW_Mustang]

No offense, but you are definitely out of touch on this one.

Tyler Boddy used to run the local JO Volleyball program. Now Mike Dalager does, who used to coach at SMSU as well. Since 2014, the JO team has produced 31 college commitments (including current HS seniors) at the D2 or D1 level. 21 of them committed to SMSU, and I believe only 6 of those were from Marshall.

Minneota is local in my book. She was a DI commit, won National POY, accepted the award on CBS or something. She's the only athlete in SMSU history that we hung a banner for.

I can't just discount the best player in SMSU history. Maybe it's anecdotal, but it matters. Maybe it matters to me because I was there for it - I'll admit.

Our current roster has athletes from Minneota, Marshall, Lamberton, and Clara City (which I know is a stretch). Half of the team is from what I would consider to be SWMN. We aren't exactly taking a lot of people from far flung places.

I will concede- I don't follow club/high school volleyball very closely, or at all really beyond the state tournament. So if I don't know the ins and outs of who is going where until they get there.

EDIT: No offense taken BTW - it's just D2 volleyball.

[Stanger86]

Boy, I know I've become disconnected over the years but I didnt realize recruiting has regressed back to the 1970s when teams were made up of local talent....lol

If we are going back in time, I hope it will bring back the posters and the fun that we used to have.

It feels like there's a lot more "talking past people" going on these days. As I get closer to 40 and posting on these sites for almost half my life, maybe I'm partly to blame for that who knows. When that happens, it does seem to suck out much of the fun of posting.

[Stanger86]

The top talent on most of the squads in not from within a couple county area. At times, it can be be a few that fit that, but even the "player who wont be named" for SMSU in the past was closer to Bemidji, Crookston ans Moorhead. So this idea of having to have a lock on your area is ridiculous. To say Mankato is on an island as they draw from wherever they want, that....is wild.

It took me way too long to figure out who you were talking about, since we're on the football side not basketball. Though if it's who I think it is, Jamestown would actually have the best odds to land said player.

[MrMustang]

And I think that's why I'm less critical about Jamestown moving to Division II. The sports that get the most limelight in the NSIC are football, volleyball, and men's basketball.

Football: Jamestown is bad right now, absolutely. But I also believe optics will look worse just by nature of playing in an above-average (at worst) Division II conference.
Volleyball: I do agree with those who think middle-of-the-pack in the NSIC might be the best possible outcome this fall. But as you said, that probably says more about the NSIC's strength than about any weakness from UJ.
Men's Basketball: A pretty similar scenario as volleyball. Being average in the NSIC would be no small feat to scoff at in Year 1.

Understandably so, most of the narrative here revolves around football. And knowing the history of past programs like UMC and UMM, I think people don't expect much different from UJ. But it's important to contextualize that football struggles shouldn't mean that an institution does not belong in Division II. And being bad in Year 1 does not mean a program will be just as bad 20 years from now.

I think Jamestown can compete in volleyb all. they have tradition and a good coach.

and there are good players everywhere.

I also think they can compete in men's and women's hoops. UMC is competitive in men's hoops - not great but it is not UMC football. Aagain there are kids everywhere and they can get some good ones.

same will true in women's hoops with the right coach. righht coach and they can get kids. SMSU can do it. so can Northern. Jamestown can too with the right coach.

Football now, I see them always struggling. if they get the right coach he'll be gone soon.

[MrMustang]

Broad brush theory, eh? This guy was a nice little running back and would be the best RB on this team by a country mile. https://smsumustangs.com/sports/foot...reynolds/10520

I don't think the staff overall is very good. I firmly believe you need to know how to win. How many won as coaches before?

why did Duce leave? I don't actually know. was it COVID? or did he not like SMSU? I have no idea.

Underwood record at SCSU was 86-51. That's pretty good. Granted easier to win there than SMSU, but they weren't fully funded and he was pretty good there. I think he is a good coach.

i would also point out Scott was 4-0 to start his career in Marshall. QB who was going to be a stud and 4 year starter gets hurt and that's the end of that... He's brought some qbs in now so we will see how it goes this year.

[SW_Mustang]

why did Duce leave? I don't actually know. was it COVID? or did he not like SMSU? I have no idea.

Underwood record at SCSU was 86-51. That's pretty good. Granted easier to win there than SMSU, but they weren't fully funded and he was pretty good there. I think he is a good coach.

i would also point out Scott was 4-0 to start his career in Marshall. QB who was going to be a stud and 4 year starter gets hurt and that's the end of that... He's brought some qbs in now so we will see how it goes this year.

Close - he was 4-1. They lost to UMD week 1, then went on a four game win streak. Still, that's a really good start.

No idea why Reynolds left, but he didn't play football after SMSU as far as I can tell. I don't really consider those situations to be a "loss."

IMO - Underwood took over a program that was in shambles. Then as you pointed out, he lost the QB that he needed to really build a foundation. I think if we can get another QB, the stars will align for a true rebuild. I still believe in him. I think there's a lot going on with this program, some of which isn't in his control (and admittedly, some of it is).

[laker]

I'd say that Jamestown volleyball is getting some respect in the preseason poll.

[SW_Mustang]

I'd say that Jamestown volleyball is getting some respect in the preseason poll.

That might not look like much, but it's actually a really solid ranking. Going to be interesting.

[laker]

That might not look like much, but it's actually a really solid ranking. Going to be interesting.

IMO the NSIC is the toughest VB conference there is top to bottom. You could put the top 8 teams in a national tournament- Elite 16- and come out pretty good.

[SW_Mustang]

IMO the NSIC is the toughest VB conference there is top to bottom. You could put the top 8 teams in a national tournament- Elite 16- and come out pretty good.

Agreed - I also feel like there's one or two teams every year that fall below those top 8 that end up providing a few upsets of the bigger teams too. I remember USF knocking the wind out of us a few years ago in 5 sets, and they've improved a lot since.