Rod's Sunday Take n Things while it snows and blows

I had a chance this weekend considering every sporting event in the area was postponed or cancelled due to the weather to watch and follow some college basketball. My overall favorite team, Nebraska of course, lost to Missouri so the Huskers still remain winless in Big 12 play. It is their women’s team that is one of only 3 unbeaten teams left in the nation. I wonder how long men’s coach Doc Sadler will last. He has a very good record against non conference teams but when they get to their Big 12 schedule, its struggle time every year he has been there so far. I kinda follow Creighton since they are in Omaha and I used to listen to their games on the radio growing up in southeast Nebraska but they are struggling this year. So now we move to my sentimental favorites. North Dakota State and Pacific. Why? Michael Tveidt and Sam Willard of course. Pacific was on TV on ESPNU Saturday, so watched Sammy play. I thought to my self from a basketball standpoint, what a smart choice he made going to Pacific. He is the perfect fit in that system. 9 points 8 rebounds Saturday in their win over Cal-Davis. Just a regular night for Sam and I think a night any coach would take on a per game basis. Michael’s college basketball ventures have been a little more widely known mainly for last year and NDSU making the NCAA tournament and the games Michael had against Kansas and the Summit League championship win over Oakland. Well, this year, Michael’s role has changed and he is more of the leader, much like he was when he and Sam played together for the Pierre Governors. NDSU is having it’s struggles this year which is expected but once the Summit League tournament comes around, look for the Bison and Michael to be there. If the bracketing works out wouldn’t a NDSU-SDSU men’s championship game be something! I also watched another former area player now playing college ball on Saturday. Louie Krogman at South Dakota. He and his teammates easily beat North Dakota Saturday. Louie of course is the all time leading scorer in South Dakota basketball history when it comes to high school. He is finding out that NCAA Division 1 is a different game as witnessed by some of his struggles scoring, but then again, that team is not built around Louie. He is a role player and it looks like he enjoys it. I think Michael and Sam will tell you they enjoy “role player” monikers more than the “Go To” guy they have both played in their careers. Now with all that said my point is this. Players that come out of South Dakota high school, no matter how great they seem, when it comes to the big time, are pretty smart. They know they can be very good players at the lower level of D1 and choose to go that route. They make the good choice. Just like Steph Paluch and Katie Lingle have chosen at the women’s basketball level at SDSU. The Eric Piatkowski’s and Mike Miller’s and Becky Hammon’s of the state only come along once in awhile. Who knows. Perhaps Matt Ferris of Pierre might be that South Dakota diamond in the rough in hockey. If nothing else, he will be getting an Ivy League education beginning next year. Sounds smart to me.