Men's Basketball 2000-01 Recap

The Northern State University men's basketball team, which ranks 11th among all NCAA II schools in all-time victories, posted an improvement on the 1999-2000 season with a 14-13 overall record and 10-8 finish in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

Overall, the Wolves were one of the best shooting and rebounding teams in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. NSU ranked third in team field goal percentage (48.3 percent) and second in rebounding margin (+6.3). Junior post Brad Hansen (Tea) was one of three Wolves to rank in the NSIC's top 10 in field goal percentage. Hansen topped the league in the category, shooting 61 percent in league games. Senior post Ben Dahl (Cottonwood, Minn.) ranked third, while sophomore forward Sundance Wicks (Gillette, Wyo.) ranked ninth. Wicks also ranked second in league assists and seventh in 3-point field goal percentage.

The Wolves' season was highlighted by the emergence of Hansen, who led a balanced Wolves attack with 12 points and six rebounds per game. He earned all-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference honorable mention honors. Aside from leading the conference in shooting percentage, he also ranked second in the NSIC in blocks and was seventh in rebounding. Dahl and Wicks also earned all-conference honorable mention laurels.

The Wolves will return a senior class of five seniors to the court next year, with Hansen and fellow post Andy Foster (Caledonia, Minn.) leading the way. Hansen and Foster both red-shirted as freshmen and will be fifth-year seniors next year. The other three -- Roland Williams (Ft. Worth, Texas), Drew Gruver (Scott City, Kan.) and Houston Reed (Olathe, Colo.) -- were transfer students who made immediate impact on the team.

Also making news this season was NSU head coach Don Meyer, who moved up two spots on the career collegiate coaching. wins list. He surpassed former DePaul coach Ray Meyer and former University of Texas-El Paso coach Don Haskins to move into 15th place on the list with 729 wins.

The recruiting trail … Here's a list of players who will join the Wolves in 2001:

Jarod Obering, 5-10, 170 Guard, Beatrice, Neb.
Eric Strandberg 6-10, 270 Center, Princeton, Minn.
Rafael Omon 6-2, 215 G/F, Beatrice, Neb.
Maurice Charlo G/F 6-6 195 Eureka, Calif.
DJ Prue, 6-0, 175 G, Pierre

The 2000-01 Season Archive ...

Press Releases (.pdf format)
Feb. 26: Wolves travel to Minnesota-Duluth in first round of NSIC Playoffs
Feb. 21: Wolves end regular season on road, visit Concordia-St. Paul, Winona
Feb. 13: Wolves to host Minneota-Morris, then visit them
Feb. 6: Wolves travel to Bemidji State, Minnesota-Duluth
Jan 30: Wolves host Minnesota-Crookston, MSU-Moorhead
Jan 23: Wolves travel to Southwest State, Wayne State
Jan 16: Wolves to play Winona State, Concordia-St. Paul at home
Jan. 9: Wolves set to host Minnesota-Morris
Jan. 3: Wolves to begin five-game homestand with UM-Duluth and Bemidji State
Dec. 20:  Wolves travel to face Minn. State-Moorhead and UM-Crookston
Dec. 12: Wolves set to take on North Dakota
Dec. 4: Wolves to open conference season at home against WSC, SSU

September 5, 2000 (pdf)
Senior center Ben Dahl selected as KWJB TV/KELO Radio student-athlete of the month!

MEN'S BASKETBALL PROGRAM TO HOST FREE FALL COACHES CLINIC

Oct. 16, 2000

ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Northern State University men's basketball program, under second-year head coach Don Meyer, will host its second annual free fall coaches clinic Oct. 27-28 in the Barnett Center. The clinic is open to coaches from all levels of men's or women's basketball.

On Friday, Oct. 27, the clinic topic is "Practice Hard – Play Hard: Developing a Balanced Coaching Philosophy." Coaches are invited to watch an on-the-floor Wolves practice before an open question-and-answer discussion with Meyer, the Wolves' coaching staff and players from NSU. On Saturday, Oct. 28, the topic is "Drills and Techniques to Improve Shooting for Perimeters and Posts." The newest shooting drills and techniques used by Coach Meyer will be explained and demonstrated by Wolves players, emphasizing individual and partner drills used to develop and maintain good shooting technique. Coaches of all levels are encouraged to bring their teams to this session. Coach Meyer, his staff and players will stay as long as needed to answer any questions or demonstrate any skills requested.

Meyer, 54, spent 24 years coaching NAIA I David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., before coming to Northern last season. At Lipscomb, he reached the 700-win plateau faster than any other coach in the history of college basketball. His career record stands at 715-234. That mark places him in the company of only 17 other four-year college coaches achieving that many victories. In his last 10 years at Lipscomb, Meyer's teams had won more games than any other team in the country, averaging more than 32 wins per season. His 1989-90 team set a college basketball record with 41 wins. His Bison teams have made 13 national tournament appearances, winning the NAIA National Championship in 1986. Meyer was named NAIA National Coach of the Year in 1989 and 1990, and was selected to the NAIA Hall of Fame at the age of 47. He also assisted Coach Mike Krzyzewski with the Olympic Sports Festival South Team in 1983.

Using a motion offense similar to Northern's, Meyer's teams have led the nation in scoring in 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1995, averaging more than 100 points per game in each of those seasons. Meyer also coached college basketball's first and second all-time leading scorers, former Lipscomb Bisons John Pierce and Philip Hutcheson. Meyer's son, Jerry, broke college basketball's career assist record while playing for his father at Lipscomb. Bison Marcus Bodie holds the single-season and career record for steals in college basketball. Bison Andy McQueen holds the career 3-point field goals made record. Meyer's system has produced three National Players of the Year and 22 All-Americans. Two of his Lipscomb players have received the GTE Academic Excellence Award for basketball.

Meyer's name is respected nationally in the coaching ranks. In nine years, more than 4,000 coaches from all over the nation have attended the Don Meyer Coaches Academy. His academies have featured keynote speakers such as Utah's Rick Majerus and Kentucky's Tubby Smith. Next summer Meyer will move his Coaching Academy to Aberdeen, where Tennessee coach Pat Summitt will be the featured speaker. Meyer also produces instructional books and a 30-tape series "Building a Championship Program" that has helped coaches at every level from high school to the NBA. Programs using the tapes include perennial Division I powerhouses Duke, Kansas, Wake Forest, North Carolina, and NBA franchises like the Utah Jazz and Seattle Supersonics. Meyer moved his player's camps to Aberdeen last summer. At Lipscomb, his Bison Basketball Camps were the most successful players' camp in the country, drawing 4,500 campers annually.

For more information on the free fall clinic, call Coach Meyer at (605) 626-2230 or Assistant Coach Paul Sather at (605) 626-7730.

See below for full clinic schedule:

Friday, October 27
TOPIC: Practice Hard — Play Hard
 Open Question Clinic with Coach Meyer
SCHEDULE:
  5:00-5:30 pm — Wolves team meeting
  5:30-7:30 pm — Wolves practice
  7:30-10:00 pm — Pizza and open discussion
 

Saturday, October 28
TOPIC: Drills and Techniques to Improve Shooting
 For Perimeters and Posts
SCHEDULE:
  8:00-9:00 am —Registration and continental breakfast
  9:00-12:15 pm—On-the-floor Demonstration
  12:15-1:00 pm—Wolves Scrimmage