North Dakota Preps

I have had the opportunity to watch BSC, DCB and Trinity Bible College play this winter. (Men's and women's) There is a lot of talent in these Jucos and they are fun to watch. (Men more so than women) If you have the opportunity to check out some Juco teams in ND I encourage you to to so. BSC is loaded with local talent and DCB has some very talented players (out of staters) as well. Trinity Bible College has some good athletes and play very well together. Hopefully I will get a chance to check out Williston and Lake Region later this winter.

NDSCS is having a tremendous basketball season so far. Men are 24-1, women at 22-2. Both should be the top seeds for the Region XIII playoffs.

The women's point guard, Ivane Tensaie, has received multiple Division 1 offers including Mississippi St. Another player has already signed at Wichita St.

Hardball wrote:NDSCS is having a tremendous basketball season so far. Men are 24-1, women at 22-2. Both should be the top seeds for the Region XIII playoffs.

The women's point guard, Ivane Tensaie, has received multiple Division 1 offers including Mississippi St. Another player has already signed at Wichita St.

Wow, that's impressive. And the media doesn't cover the Junior Colleges worth a dang in this state.

Not until they get anywhere nationally and then they get the smallest story possible

Depends where you live? Bismarck State highlights make the news often in Bismarck. They'll get some stories in the Bismarck Tribune too.

WalkingStick wrote:Not until they get anywhere nationally and then they get the smallest story possible

Too true. Dakota College at Bottineau has won 11 National Jr. College hockey championships and has finished 2nd a number of times and very few people know about it. I have had the chance to watch BSC, DAC-Bottineau and Trinity Bible College a few times this year and it was some pretty darn good basketball, especially on the men's side.

Hey all. New to the site. Been watching JUCO ball for 25 years here in ND. I try and watch 10-15 games a winter. Just depends on roads. They definitely don't get the attention they deserve....heck about 8-10 years ago NDSCS had a team that would have beaten NDSU. And I recall a conversation with a buddy who watched an exhibition match between UND and LRSC who told me the UND coaches couldn't contain themselves as their men got manhandled by LRSC...hence the reason why the Mertens kid ended up there.

A long long time ago, the JUCO's might have been "Grade 13" but not anymore.

Years ago, the best thing about JUCO sports in ND was that you could see a lot of former ND HS kids continuing their careers. (In all sports) Now days, not so much. ND JUCOS are recruiting around the country and overseas. Better talent on the floor, but maybe not as much fun as watching ND kids?

Sportsrube: I absolutely agree. What I see is a combination of issues: 1) parents think their kid is WAY better than JUCO, 2) coaches try get ND kids, then when they get turned down it is now March and they have to pull out of country kids in or go to the cities to get kids.

I wished ND kids would give the JUCO's more of a chance. You look at some incredible kids who went through the JUCO's (Mertens, Hunter Berg, Fridley, etc..). Those were fun games to watch.

This might be an unpopular opinion. IMO you can't compete at a high level as a D-1 JUCO with a roster made up of mostly ND kids. The competition level at top D1 JUCO's is incredible. JUCO ball has changed so much in the last couple of decades.

Duane Schwab formerly at LRSC knew how to do it. Not sure if he is related to you or if your name is actually Schwab but I really liked that guy. He seemed to do it perfectly....6-8 ND kids, 1-2 ringers from SD or MN, 1-3 players from Australia or some other country. Former WSC coaches sort of did the same thing back in the day. A lot of Watford City girls went through WSC and had incredible careers.

You are right. JUCO has changed in competition.

The Schwab wrote:This might be an unpopular opinion. IMO you can't compete at a high level as a D-1 JUCO with a roster made up of mostly ND kids. The competition level at top D1 JUCO's is incredible. JUCO ball has changed so much in the last couple of decades.

I agree 100%. The talent level at JUCO is much better than it was 10-15 years ago.

Oldman1974 wrote:Duane Schwab formerly at LRSC knew how to do it. Not sure if he is related to you or if your name is actually Schwab but I really liked that guy. He seemed to do it perfectly....6-8 ND kids, 1-2 ringers from SD or MN, 1-3 players from Australia or some other country. Former WSC coaches sort of did the same thing back in the day. A lot of Watford City girls went through WSC and had incredible careers.

You are right. JUCO has changed in competition.

I absolutely agree that those programs were able to be successful 15-20 years ago. I don't think that formula would work anymore.