Should Jamestown be accepted into the NSIC?

[NSU4LIFE]

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.

[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.

No one has said it will solely be local talent, let's be real. But oftentimes, it does and should make up a solid chunk and probably the highest portion of a school's recruiting base.

Of the 127 players listed on the 2025 Northern State roster, 38 players (29.9%) are from South Dakota. That's how it should be.

I'm reminded of what the 2020 roster would have been at SMSU, with more players from California than Minnesota. That's how that recruiting class looked too. I still believe this is why the roster has fallen off as much as it has. A good chunk of that recruiting class never made it to graduation day, decimating what little depth the program had to that point. So now Scott has been playing catch-up ever since, trying to build back the program.

[debergfan]

No one has said it will solely be local talent, let's be real. But oftentimes, it does and should make up a solid chunk and probably the highest portion of a school's recruiting base.

Of the 127 players listed on the 2025 Northern State roster, 38 players (29.9%) are from South Dakota. That's how it should be.

I'm reminded of what the 2020 roster would have been at SMSU, with more players from California than Minnesota. That's how that recruiting class looked too. I still believe this is why the roster has fallen off as much as it has. A good chunk of that recruiting class never made it to graduation day, decimating what little depth the program had to that point. So now Scott has been playing catch-up ever since, trying to build back the program.

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?

[NSU4LIFE]

No one has said it will solely be local talent, let's be real. But oftentimes, it does and should make up a solid chunk and probably the highest portion of a school's recruiting base.

Of the 127 players listed on the 2025 Northern State roster, 38 players (29.9%) are from South Dakota. That's how it should be.

I'm reminded of what the 2020 roster would have been at SMSU, with more players from California than Minnesota. That's how that recruiting class looked too. I still believe this is why the roster has fallen off as much as it has. A good chunk of that recruiting class never made it to graduation day, decimating what little depth the program had to that point. So now Scott has been playing catch-up ever since, trying to build back the program.

Of those 38, 16 freshman, 14 sophomores, and one with significant impact.

I was referring to these specific pockets of the country that each school supposedly has on lock. Recruiting is all over, tou get talent and try to try in some local if you can. Most of the time they are non-scholarship kids that never end up playing.

[SW_Mustang]

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.

Holy! Disconnected is right lol - you're the first person I've ever heard say talent has regressed in the midwest haha. That's wild.

What reason would SMSU have to spend all that money recruiting beyond Marshall, Tyler, and Minneota?

[NSU4LIFE]

Holy! Disconnected is right lol - you're the first person I've ever heard say talent has regressed in the midwest haha. That's wild.

What reason would SMSU have to spend all that money recruiting beyond Marshall, Tyler, and Minneota?

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.

This disconnection for me is priorities in life change and the fact that this board has lost all the information, fun and logical thinking, for the most part. I've talked to some former posters and they all feel the same.

[SW_Mustang]

No one has said it will solely be local talent, let's be real. But oftentimes, it does and should make up a solid chunk and probably the highest portion of a school's recruiting base.

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

[laker]

To say Mankato is on an island as they draw from wherever they want, that....is wild.

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.

[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.