Minnesota has been consistently lauded for the draft that they pulled off but they also managed to hit on some players after round 7. WR Quartney Davis received a considerable amount of attention after MN drop 100K on him. Of the other 11 signees, 10 further address the top needs for the roster while the 11th may end up being a factor in the not-to-distant future. FB isn't a flashy position but for most of the last decade they've managed to have one of the best, including the departed Khari Blaingame who was apart of a top rushing offense last year. Now they have Jake Bargas to follow in the footsteps.
The 🏀 made news this week with the addition of an assistant coach, Josh Jones, who had been at Western Illinois for the last four years and then with the addition of another talent from Raytown, Mo - Dezmond McKinney. I haven't heard why they had a scholarship available at this point but a team can't have too many quality ballhandlers so he'll be a welcome addition in the vacuum created by Vinnie Shahid's absence.
Then, just today the 🏈 team got another in-state commitment, from Sibomana Enock. He's got QB skills but it was quickly reported that he would be making the leap as a Safety and may well keep that strong tradition going!
The cornies also added a coach & a player for 🏀 . The coach is TJ Lake who played at Mankato & Dubuque (IA) and spent the last two years as a graduate assistant at Winona St. The player is as yet anonymous but he had an All-EDC season so the number of options is on the low end. Both bring some important familiarity that may ease the transition in year one under Tyler Bormann.
Which led up to what would have been graduation today. "Virtual Commencement" is a far cry from what should be the conclusion but it's a side effect of the pandemic.
Another note about the 🏒 team, Tristan Broz was named to the U.S.H.L. all-rookie team.
In other 🏒 news, Fargo native Alex Woken was selected in the draft for the N.W.H.L.. So she'll go from downtown Minneapolis over to Saint Paul to continue playing. When it's 70+ and sunny I'm not one to think about that sport, but those developments shouldn't be ignored.
A month & a half in waiting, North Dakota dropped the hammer on what was left of the high school sports year. The 🏀 tournament getting the unceremonious ending was not a surprise but faint hope had remained for an abbreviated Spring season. That's not to be and the Summer-set of final hurrahs may not make it this year either, though that is more speculation at this point.
One item that isn't speculation is the future destination of another local standout. Despite having division 2 offers, Blake Berg chose to join Cameron Van Dam as a future member of St. John's.
Another effect of the pandemic came this week as the N.E.F.L. postponed the start of the season until July 11, tentatively. Given the appetite for athletics, it's a missed opportunity but with a little over a month remaining until it was supposed to begin, it was the right decision.
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