Should Jamestown be accepted into the NSIC?

[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.

[Stanger86]

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

Honestly, I've thought Tom Dosch might be the eventual next guy there if a change happens. Might be able to get them at least to where Northern was for years.

[Stanger86]

I think the local/regional recruiting bit has been blown out of proportion. Of course, "locking down your area" is simply unrealistic, especially at this level. Sometimes, no matter how hard you recruit a player from your area (or even recruits with legacy ties to your school), they want to go elsewhere. But I think the important part is that teams put in the effort, and hopefully your team isn't so in the toilet that a player actually gives the school a fair chance.

I give a couple of examples on the basketball side: one men's and one women's:
-Brayson Boike is joining the SMSU men's basketball program this fall. Despite being "the local school", it would have been easy for SMSU to just bypass him in recruiting because his dad went to Northern State and multiple brothers played at Augie. But they targeted him early, and he ended up staying close to home.
-About 10-15 years ago, Shaunteva Ashley was a big time player in WBB. I don't know if SMSU even recruited her or if she just looked past us because the program was in the toilet, but she ended up being a major difference-maker at Augie.

That doesn't mean you don't look further than your own region during recruiting, but I also have noticed some SMSU teams make a concerted effort to recruit somewhat regionally. Everyone on the SMSU WBB team is within 180 miles of campus. They're not all SW MN, in fact, hardly any of them are. But it's still recruiting kids close enough to keep that connection, but yet far enough to where they feel like they're not staying home. Not quite as tight of a circle, but most of SMSU's MBB recruiting is concentrated within a roughly 4-hour radius. VB has a pretty local focus, but the ones not "local" are also not too far away. Is it coincidence that these programs are three of SMSU's best in the past ten-plus years? It might be, but I think there are also other factors to this that are at least worth exploring.

It just gives a higher hit rate at some schools compared to others. Friends and family can travel to games easier if you are driving in from 5 hours away as opposed to taking a 3 hour flight and then taking your rental another 3 hours to get to the school. It also helps if the student athlete gets homesick over the course of the season and just needs to get home to rejuvenate. Somewhere like CSP, sure it's probably easier to just recruit wherever because the airport is right there. Then again, maybe it also helps explain part of why they struggle with attendance so much despite being in easily the biggest market.

[SW_Mustang]

My point was - SMSU volleyball picks up a lot of talent that I would consider to be local. I never meant to imply that rosters are exclusively from Marshall, or SWMN - or that we shouldn't look elsewhere - or that we didn't look elsewhere - or that talent from those regions can't go elsewhere either. I implied the same for a few other teams I keep an eye on.

I will concede - I shouldn't have lumped UMD, WSU, and SCSU in with the other teams I follow more closely. I also don't know anything about basketball nor do I claim too - I was talking about volleyball only. Each sport is a different beast - and I think I said that, and I think we all know that.

Look - this is a message board. We're painting with broad strokes here. Things get lost in context. We're not sitting around the dinner table hammering this stuff out with fluid conversation. I hope we all realize that.

Now - given I retracted my claim about UMD/WSU/SCSU - my original claim was:

-SMSU picks up a lot of talent in an area I consider to be local.
-CSP picks up a lot of talent in the Twin Cities area.
-NSU and AU pick up a lot of talent in South Dakota
-WSC picks up a lot of talent out of Nebraska

According to the NSIC's preseason players to watch list:

-SMSU McKenzie Tolk, Minneota, MN
-CSP Cassie Sieling Bloomington, MN
-NSU Abbey Schauer, Harrisburg, SD
-AU Sydney Tims Sioux Falls, SD
-WSC Channalee Robles, Norfolk, NE

We can go around and around on the significance of this data, nitpick what my original claim was, etc. etc. I understand how anecdotal information works. But the NSIC seems to agree with the claim I made before this list was released.

(And to ruin someone's "gotcha" moment- I know Schauer was originally an SMSU commit - I've seen her play before)

Back to the regular chaos. I got a hot dog waiting in the other room that requires my attention.

[SW_Mustang]

I also want to clarify one other point I made - the reason I don't follow club/HS volleyball is just due to time.

I didn't want anyone to read that and assume I was dogging on the athletes.

[laker]

Are you ready? Looks like a nice stadium at Jamestown.

Jamestown Football on X: "We love to hearing this… FOOTBALL. IS. BACK‼️ #JimmiePride | #ChopAndCarry https://t.co/wAPhoNgEJX" / X

[vikingfaithful]

Are you ready? Looks like a nice stadium at Jamestown.

Jamestown Football on X: "We love to hearing this… FOOTBALL. IS. BACK‼️ #JimmiePride | #ChopAndCarry https://t.co/wAPhoNgEJX" / X

Sweet little stadium! No track, sunk down in a bowl and well landscaped. Congratulations Jimmies.

[Purple Mav Man]

Are you ready? Looks like a nice stadium at Jamestown.

Jamestown Football on X: "We love to hearing this… FOOTBALL. IS. BACK‼️ #JimmiePride | #ChopAndCarry https://t.co/wAPhoNgEJX" / X

Is that cheer camp?

Nice little facility, probably keeps some of the wind away.