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Post by gophervbfan on Apr 24, 2021 11:46:13 GMT -5
The volleyball juggernaut at Concordia (St. Paul) is going to directly feel the impact of St. Thomas moving from DIII to DI. I can see it. So, you think that level of DII player is around the same level as Summit League D1 - or at least St. Thomas's initial level? It will be really interesting to see how it establishes itself.
I don't see much of a threat to MN, but eventually there might be a good local player who "wants to stay in the city but go to a smaller school" and wants to be a big impact player who might choose STU when she could have gone to MN. But, that seems far off at this point. But maybe not as far as I think?
There have been many years where Concordia could have won the Summit League or have been competing for the championship. In spring games, I have seen Concordia completely blow out North Dakota and beat Iowa State when the Cyclones were expected to be a Top 20 team in the country. Concordia has been able to get the shorter, very athletic player. No disrespect to Concordia but St. Thomas is a much better academic institution and now the player can say they are DI versus DII. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2021 12:28:26 GMT -5
I don't know. Concordia has had several elite volleyball players who may have had an impact in D1. But there have been several Concordia stars who first tried D1 with little success.
Great players and a great coaching staff, but size is size.
You don't see a Melville or Juhnke going to Concordia. But I could see them go to St. Thomas under the right circumstances.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2021 12:32:24 GMT -5
Won't be eligible until the fall of 2025. So the players they have recruited for 21-22 are volunteering to never play in the NCAA tournament, short of maybe 1 red-shirt season chance at the end. You would think that has limited the pool considerably. True a scholarship might trump that, but still a big ask. Depends. I could see some players be really invested in putting the program on the map, being the foundation for future successes. Anyone going there thinking they are going to go deep into the NCAAs (or even qualify) is probably going for the wrong reason? What would be a bigger accomplishment? A first round NCAA loss or being part of the group of players who built a D1 program? |
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Post by AmeriCanVBfan on Apr 24, 2021 13:22:06 GMT -5
The volleyball juggernaut at Concordia (St. Paul) is going to directly feel the impact of St. Thomas moving from DIII to DI. I can see it. So, you think that level of DII player is around the same level as Summit League D1 - or at least St. Thomas's initial level?
It was often said that part of Concordia's success was due to attracting local D1 level talent to their school. Now STU will be able to offer an opportunity to compete in the NCAA tourney... eventually. |
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Post by AmeriCanVBfan on Apr 24, 2021 13:26:57 GMT -5
The question becomes; who do they challenge in the Summit right out of the gate and how many girls that are happy to be U of M walk-ons will go there for a scholarship? Well, the top 4 teams in the Summit League standings this season were pretty competitive with each other. That would be South Dakota, Denver, Kansas City and Omaha. Will St. Thomas be joining that upper echelon right away next fall? Maybe not the top four but I think ORU, Western Illinois, and UND aren't outside the realm of possibility. |
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Post by Brutus Buckeye on Apr 24, 2021 13:44:42 GMT -5
The ones that moved up to D1 this year held their own.
If a program is moving up to D1, then it is generally because they are a solid athletic program.
In most cases they are joining some craptastic D1 Conference that can't attract any D1 expansion candidates, so they have to search one out at a lower level.
So they are usually a "middle of the pack" team in their Conference, right out of the gate.
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Post by AmeriCanVBfan on Apr 24, 2021 17:01:12 GMT -5
I would love to see them develop some crosstown rivalry matches with either U of MN or Concordia but I think that might be a tricky tradition to establish.
Do you risk losing to the D2 school or constantly get mashed by the other D1?
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Post by pavsec5row10 on Apr 24, 2021 17:22:14 GMT -5
If they can recruit the Melvilles and Juhnkes of the TC area, they could be very good, quite quickly. Big if. or if they can get onto some of the Nebraska/Iowa talent, that would be big too and Wisconsin. |
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Post by ndodge on Apr 24, 2021 17:30:26 GMT -5
I would love to see them develop some crosstown rivalry matches with either U of MN or Concordia but I think that might be a tricky tradition to establish. Do you risk losing to the D2 school or constantly get mashed by the other D1? I was wondering this exact same thing. |
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Post by pavsec5row10 on Apr 24, 2021 17:33:56 GMT -5
I would love to see them develop some crosstown rivalry matches with either U of MN or Concordia but I think that might be a tricky tradition to establish. Do you risk losing to the D2 school or constantly get mashed by the other D1? Well playing down will hurt their RPI, but I could see them being a regular participant in the Diet Coke Classic. |
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Post by pavsec5row10 on Apr 24, 2021 17:35:25 GMT -5
So are they the Lady Tommies? Or just the Tommies? Tommies would be kind of a weird name for a women's team. Not the worst by any stretch, but a little odd. It's 2021, we don't need to feminize women's sports team names any more. They are the Tommies. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2021 17:52:51 GMT -5
Tommie is a perfectly fine name for a girl.
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Post by ndodge on Apr 24, 2021 18:21:03 GMT -5
It's not like they don't play women's sports yet and are trying to think of what to call themselves come fall. They are the Tommies.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2021 18:33:23 GMT -5
Pipers would be good.
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Post by clob on Apr 24, 2021 19:07:25 GMT -5
I don't know. Concordia has had several elite volleyball players who may have had an impact in D1. But there have been several Concordia stars who first tried D1 with little success. Great players and a great coaching staff, but size is size. You don't see a Melville or Juhnke going to Concordia. But I could see them go to St. Thomas under the right circumstances.
If I'm not mistaken, I think Concordia has had a bunch of top MN Select players since I think a big coach there has ties to the program?
What I understand is that St. Thomas was basically kicked out of their conference (made up of more small academic schools who don't really care about sports) because they'd boosted enrollment so high it's crazy.
St. Thomas, not exactly known as a great academic school, has tried to exponentially increase their enrollment over the past couple of years. To the point where they have so many students that they can crush their former conference opponents in any sport. The thing is, the colleges in their former conference don't care.
Take for instance, one of their former competitors. Macalester College is one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation and is about ten blocks away from St. Thomas. They don't really give a %*$# if they win at any sport. Academics is much more important. Sports is something you do in your free time.
Anyway, I do think St. Thomas may pull in some good players in the Twin Cities metro area. For a very good player, there might be the choice of the U of M, St. Thomas, or Concordia.
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