McFeely's Tip Sheet is a compilation of notes, quotes, rumors, gossip and commentary by Forum columnist Mike McFeely. If you have a tip, a note or a hot rumor feel free to send it along to mmcfeely@forumcomm.com. Not all will be printed because of, you know, legal reasons. But they might lead to something. All tip sources will remain anonymous. Readers of the Tip Sheet are smart. Often, the ideas they send us are worthy of being passed along to the wide, wide world of sports fans. This accomplishes two things: 1) It allows readers to have a voice and, more importantly, 2) it allows the Tip Sheet to copy-and-paste to fill a column and we still get paid the same salary. Thanks, readers! 'Tis transfer portal season and that has readers mulling all the angles (we'll share another later in this same column). The first has to do with all the talent leaving Summit League men's
basketball programs in the past few years. A reader thought to put together the top dudes who've bolted the conference and asked an interesting question: How would this roster of former Summit League players do in the NCAA tournament? What seed would they end up with? For me, quite an interesting roster. I wouldn't mind being their coach in this tournament. — Andrew Rohde , St. Thomas to
Virginia ADVERTISEMENT — Max Abmas , Oral Roberts to
Texas — Kevin Obanor, Oral Roberts to Texas Tech — Stanley Umude , South Dakota to Arkansas — Baylor Scheierman , SDSU to Creighton — Grant Nelson , NDSU to
Alabama — Sam Griesel , NDSU to Nebraska — Frankie Fidler, Omaha to ? — B.J. Omot , North Dakota to ? ADVERTISEMENT — Tyree Ihenacho , UND to ? — Andrew Morgan , NDSU to ? — Zeke Mayo , likely SDSU to ? — William Kyle III , SDSU to ? That is a top-notch compilation of mid-major basketball talent, most of which has translated (or will soon translate) to Power 5 teams. A coach of that team would have a tough time finding enough basketballs for everybody to shoot, but it would be a fine squad. As the Tip Sheet has said before, the Summit League and other mid- to low-major conferences are going to suffer greatly because of the transfer portal and the cash to be made from name, image and likeness. Essentially, we can bank on the first-team all-conference players with remaining eligibility to leave. That's going to make for a lesser league. South Dakota State forward Douglas Wilson embraces head coach Eric Henderson following SDSU's victory against North Dakota State on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, for the Summit League men's basketball championship at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. Dave Eggen/Inertia Hot take of the day Something that likely won't happen, but if it does I'll look like a genius: ADVERTISEMENT — South Dakota State men's basketball coach Eric Henderson , a former NDSU assistant, will be the new head coach at
Drake after Darian DeVries who left to take the
Job at West Virginia. Or maybe
Utah State after Danny Sprinkle went to
Washington. Turnstile hoops is no fun Another reader of the Tip Sheet offered this message: One thing that doesn't get much discussed about the changing "face" of a basketball team is fan identification with individual players. I would go out in a snowstorm to see Ben Woodside play but this year's team left me cold. (Boden) Skunberg could be fun, (Jacari) White could shoot a bit, and (Noah) Feddersen is an up 'n comer. With a lifetime of being a Bison fan with much investment, I'm disappointed in the lack of continuity in team members. I don't care as much about the team if I don't relate to the players. Others apparently only see the mascot. Kentucky fans fill the stands no matter who is on the floor. I still think one-and-done sucks. As a former season ticket holder, I won't be attending any future games until certain players pique my interest. Thanks for your excellent reporting. The Tip Sheet had thought about this prior to the reader's email. And it's not just an NDSU issue. It will be an issue for all college sports, particularly at mid-majors and FCS. Fans in smaller markets identify with the players, become fans of them, enjoy watching their growth, and stick with them through four years. Now, if every mid-major basketball team has eight new players every year and the best ones are always leaving to greener pastures ... then what can fans grab onto? College sports are becoming very mercenary. Maybe more than professional sports, which at least have multi-year contracts. Hey, that seems like a tip sheet for another day. Ben Woodside, former North Dakota State guard. Forum file photo Jottings Jamestown High School alum Brent Brekke and his St. Lawrence men's hockey team came up just short of another NCAA tournament berth over the weekend, losing to Cornell in the ECAC tournament championship game. Brekke has been the head coach at St. Lawrence since 2019 after previous stops as an assistant at Miami (Ohio) and Cornell. ... According to the X account (formerly Twitter) Portal Report, the Bison men's basketball team has shown interest in the following players in the portal: Prophet Johnson , Southern Utah; Milos Vicentic , McKendree (Division II); Madison Durr , The Citadel; Garrison Keeslar, Walsh (Division II); and Max Weisbrod , Northern Michigan (Division II). ... West Fargo Sheyenne graduate and Northern State transfer Jacksen Moni says on
Social Media he's been offered by NDSU, North Dakota, Omaha, Austin Peay and Chattanooga. ... Former UND
Football players Wes Eliodor , Malachi Buckner , Kadon Kauppinen , Bartholomew Ogbu and Jaylen Johnson took part in the University of South Dakota's pro day Monday. Comments Share Share this article Opinion Opinion Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags THE MCFEELY MESS BISON MEDIA ZONE SUBSCRIBERS ONLY By Mike McFeely Mike McFeely is a columnist for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. He began working for The Forum in the 1980s while he was a student studying journalism at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He's been with The Forum full time since 1990, minus a six-year hiatus when he hosted a local radio talk-show.
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