Portal Movement in the NSIC

[vikingfaithful]

correct. All states including ND and SD can claim a handful/dozen or more success stories or standouts. The question I tried to raise wasn’t that there wasn’t any talent in Minot/ND/SD; rather the pool of that talent is very shallow: which forces recruiting out of state talent considering Successful FCS programs in each state that take up most of the talent.

can D2 programs ( middle or lower tier programs) fill a roster of 100+ with 50 to 60 % local talent? I say doubtful. Yes you recruit as much local talent as possible—-and you augment from surrounding states or states that have easy access to remote areas to fill out the roster with as much talent as possible.

Augustana claims 31 SD natives on their roster and a high percentage are starters and contributors. SD numbers of HS football players may be small, but doesn't have to be ashamed of the quality. With 5 D2 schools to recruit them it's a scramble. Look at MN D2 rosters most have more out of state players than in-state. BSU is the exception.

[FB Player Coach & Fan]

Then I ask again, why recruit those players if there is enough local talent that presumably wouldn’t transfer?

We’ve now come full circle to remote (ND) schools and not having enough local players to have a predominantly local rosters.

correct. All states including ND and SD can claim a handful/dozen or more success stories or standouts. The question I tried to raise wasn’t that there wasn’t any talent in Minot/ND/SD; rather the pool of that talent is very shallow: which forces recruiting out of state talent considering Successful FCS programs in each state that take up most of the talent.

can D2 programs ( middle or lower tier programs) fill a roster of 100+ with 50 to 60 % local talent? I say doubtful. Yes you recruit as much local talent as possible—-and you augment from surrounding states or states that have easy access to remote areas to fill out the roster with as much talent as possible.

[NSU4LIFE]

And a certain FBS coach is from small town SD ✌️

Depending on how folks determine "small town" you actually have two ranked FBS teams being led by coaches from small towns of NE South Dakota, one of course playing for a title.

Not too shabby

[TJE_]

Been awhile since I spent that much time digging up information, but last time I looked Northern had about 25-35% of their roster from South Dakota, but most of the players graduating and sticking around are from out of state.

On a side note, our best, maybe 2nd best, defensive player that was all-conference is a South Dakota town of around 400 people and two of the better TEs in the NFL are from two small towns in SD that have a combined total of 1,700 people and one stop light. You just never know where the hard worker with talent is going to come from.

And a certain FBS coach is from small town SD ✌️

[NSU4LIFE]

Been awhile since I spent that much time digging up information, but last time I looked Northern had about 25-35% of their roster from South Dakota, but most of the players graduating and sticking around are from out of state.

On a side note, our best, maybe 2nd best, defensive player that was all-conference is a South Dakota town of around 400 people and two of the better TEs in the NFL are from two small towns in SD that have a combined total of 1,700 people and one stop light. You just never know where the hard worker with talent is going to come from.

[Stanger86]

Then I ask again, why recruit those players if there is enough local talent that presumably wouldn’t transfer?

We’ve now come full circle to remote (ND) schools and not having enough local players to have a predominantly local rosters.

Each coach makes their own personal choice. They all have their comfort areas. It isn't necessarily a direct correlation to the talent level there.

Minot State dropped from 17 North Dakota players to 5 from 2022 to 2023. Do you think the talent level suddenly changed? No. They hired a coach with zero regional ties and as such the program is not placing as much focus close to home.

[Purple Mav Man]

You don't have to care about it, because it's a lot easier to keep kids from transferring in a city like Mankato. In smaller cities further away from metro areas, it absolutely needs to be part of the discussion if you don't want a 50% turnover rate year after year.

Then I ask again, why recruit those players if there is enough local talent that presumably wouldn’t transfer?

We’ve now come full circle to remote (ND) schools and not having enough local players to have a predominantly local rosters.

[Stanger86]

That’s more of an answer as to ‘how’ rather than ‘why’ :)

At the end of the day, I don’t care where the players come from. It just seems odd that coaches would continue to spend a ton to recruit players that have been shown less likely to stick around, especially if there’s so much local talent available. Perhaps they know more about said local talent…

You don't have to care about it, because it's a lot easier to keep kids from transferring in a city like Mankato. In smaller cities further away from metro areas, it absolutely needs to be part of the discussion if you don't want a 50% turnover rate year after year.

[Purple Mav Man]

That was a major focus of the Sauter regime. And Bullerman, who is still on staff, has been the man responsible for that recruiting territory. Those areas are also where you usually get most of the JUCO kids. I believe there are only a few high schoolers recruited under Underwood from Nevada, California and Arizona.

That’s more of an answer as to ‘how’ rather than ‘why’ :)

At the end of the day, I don’t care where the players come from. It just seems odd that coaches would continue to spend a ton to recruit players that have been shown less likely to stick around, especially if there’s so much local talent available. Perhaps they know more about said local talent…

[SW_Mustang]

That was a major focus of the Sauter regime. And Bullerman, who is still on staff, has been the man responsible for that recruiting territory. Those areas are also where you usually get most of the JUCO kids. I believe there are only a few high schoolers recruited under Underwood from Nevada, California and Arizona.

We also had Shay McClure, who was the former HC of Dixie State and had many, many deep connections in the SWUS.

Bullerman was primarily responsibile for recruiting that part of the world, but I believe I also heard that McClure did a fair share before he left.

The would-be freshman class of 2020 actually had some very high ranking recruits, but ultimately fell flat due to Covid. Wheels fell off after that.

[SW_Mustang]

Personally I'm sure glad Coach Grubb and DeBoer didn't ignore SW MN. Or maybe because we beat MHS regularly as wee AA school (RIP to the SWC) I got noticed. The entire USF progam was built with underrecruited Wyoming and SD guys with some Iowa and MN guys like myself. No different now really. Joining the NSIC has just shifted recruiting as coaches and the talent landscape changes but the premise for every program in this conference is essentially the same. Coach Glo has said as much on our pod. It's really a matter of salesmanship and success on Saturdays for who can do it better

I would definitely like to see more SWMN kids get picked up by area schools. I shouldn't have implied I don't want to see that - assuming they have the talent, the upside for SMSU specifically is massive.

I just monitor the roster and they don't seem to acquire very many, or at least haven't over the last 6-ish years.

[Stanger86]

Why does SW recruit a ton of CA and AZ players. 2023 roster shows 24 players from CA/Phoenix/Vegas. That’s a very big percentage with so much local talent available.

That was a major focus of the Sauter regime. And Bullerman, who is still on staff, has been the man responsible for that recruiting territory. Those areas are also where you usually get most of the JUCO kids. I believe there are only a few high schoolers recruited under Underwood from Nevada, California and Arizona.

[Purple Mav Man]

No one is denying that metro areas have talent. No one is even denying that NSIC programs should recruit the Twin Cities. But there are also plenty of other places to find talent closer to home rather than outsourcing your program to Florida, Texas or Nevada.

Right. And no one is saying there isn’t any talent in small schools. There just happens to be a whole lot less of it. Even fewer people are saying that teams must outsource their roster to Florida, Texas or Nevada. Out of state? Sure. And I guess if I were a coach, those are states I’d keep an eye on since there so much talent and highly competitive football played there. Having a 3rd team in ND will dilute that pool even more.

Why does SW recruit a ton of CA and AZ players. 2023 roster shows 24 players from CA/Phoenix/Vegas. That’s a very big percentage with so much local talent available.

[SW_Mustang]

The MSHSL lists Dawson-Boyd has an enrollment of 143. Over the last 15ish years...
Nate Huot (Was at one point the NSIC's all-time leading receiver)
Michael Lee (For SMSU men's basketball, started 90 of 125 career games)
Zach Stratmoen (started every game from his sophomore to senior season)
Zach Durfee (I think we all know the story by now)
Eli Weber (second team D2 All-American)
Brayson Boike (HS junior already has a basketball offer from SDSU)

Those are just some standouts...many others have gone on to play D2/D3 sports out of one of the smallest high schools in our region.

Coach Underwood had success recruiting a Minneota kid in his St Cloud days. A TMB kid is a lineman for the Gophers.

I was talking about football specifically. Basketball is a different beast and I don't really follow the sport beyond losely paying attention to the NSIC.

Huot is a good example. I really miss the guy. One of the best WRs in school (and conference) history.

To clarify, I would like to see SMSU recruit more locally. I think it's the best way to build local interest in the program. But I watch rosters closely and rarely see locals on the board. Maybe that's not attributed to talent and is rather administrative incompetence, but I don't know.

All I know is that Minneota seems to keep winning the A tournament and I never really hear of anyone coming out of there, at least with any sort of regularity. Then there's my old high school which has a couple names but not too many.

[WPHB]

Sorted....


02. Texas - 5,669,000

And that is just counting Allen High School and the 12 High Schools in Frisco.

Sorry the math talk had my head spinning and I have to make jokes sometimes, back to yalls math exercise.