Small College Corner

For those of you who care (and I know there are at least two or three of you out there), the North Central Conference put together a nice little 45-minute video detailing the history of the league.

You can take a look at it here.

The conference also has audio highlights from each school on its Web site.

It’s all great stuff, and I encourage you to delve into the history of your favorite NCC school.

The North Central is considered by many as one of the top NCAA Division II leagues in the country.

It disbanded after last school year. Many of the league’s participants are in, or are moving into, Division I.

David Schultz’s first season on the Nationwide Tour was almost derailed a few weeks ago by a stretching mishap.

The Fargo golfer told me Monday that he trying to work the kinks out of his back prior to the third round of the Livermore Valley Wine Country Championships, when he grabbed onto a golf cart and twisted to help release the tension in his back.

Pop.

"For awhile I didn’t know if I was going to play the rest of the year," said Schultz, a former Texas Christian University standout. "It was just kind of a freak thing."

Schultz says he was diagnosed with a bulging disc, and that doctors told him the injury would only heal with rest.

However, time off is the kiss of death in professional golf. So Schultz has been taking it as easy as he can in recent weeks.

Schultz, who has played the last two tournaments pain free, says he takes time off or does light work a couple of days during the week to protect his back.

Doctors have told Schultz that he can’t further injure himself, so he’s going to play out the rest of the season.

Schultz is 88th on the Nationwide Tour’s money list with $40,931. The top 25 in the final standings earn a PGA Tour card. 

David Schultz, in black trunks, and his trainer work on Schultz’s ailing back in a recent workout.

I realize I’m running the risk of turning this Small College blog into Jarrett Crittenton’s official Web site, but I figure NDSU fans want all the news they get on the North Dakota State College of Science standout defensive end.

It looks as if Kansas State could be out of the picture. Crittenton, who was down to NDSU and Middle Tennessee State before K-State entered the picture, was informed by Kansas State that the school is out of official visits.

This means Crittenton would have to pay his own way to take a visit to Manhattan, Kansas, to take a look at the campus. This seems highly unlikely. NDSCS coach Chuck Parsons says K-State is trying to find a way to get him on campus.

However, Crittenton told me Tuesday that he’ll cross them off the list if they are out of visits.

But, just as K-State appears to be done, another has entered the race for Crittenton’s services.

Nebraska associate head coach Barney Cotton called Parsons last week to get Crittenton’s transcript. Parsons said he isn’t sure how serious the Huskers are, but he said coming late to the party could outweigh the Nebraska mystique when Crittenton makes a decision.

On a side note, the Huskers became aware of Crittenton’s availability because of former NDSCS offensive lineman Ricky Henry. Henry, who was placed with the Wildcats by Nebraska, alerted his coaches to Crittenton’s situation.

What does all of this mean? It’s hard to say.

My talks with both Crittenton and Parsons indicate Crittenton is still choosing between NDSU and Middle Tennessee State.

 It appears now that he may be leaning toward Middle Tennessee State because the campus is closer to his Georgia home.

But this race is still too close to call, and I’m not going to go all Dan Rather on you and pick a winner just yet.

Keep it here for updates. And feel free to ask questions.

It appears North Dakota State College of Science standout defensive end Jarrett Crittenton will take a little more time to come to a decision on his future.

He recently indicated that he really wants to take a campus visit to Kansas State, and details of that trip are currently being worked out.

His decision could be made sometime this week. Middle Tennessee State and North Dakota State are still the likely frontrunners.

More to come later.

Spoke with Jarrett Crittenton, and he was informed by Kansas State that he DOES meet their requirements for admission.

This does not, however, mean that the 6-foot-6, 280-pound defensive end will take his final allowed campus visit to Manhattan, Kansas.

Crittenton told me that he is still mulling over whether he should take the visit, or just decide between Middle Tennessee State and North Dakota State.

The decision will likely be made this week. I’ll keep you updated.

As I wrote in Tuesday’s edition of The Forum, Big 12 member Kansas State has entered the competition for highly-regarded North Dakota State College of Science defensive end Jarrett Crittenton.

But Bison fans shouldn’t read too much into the late arrival of the Wildcats, whose defense is coached by former North Dakota assistant Tim Tibesar.

In speaking with Crittenton and College of Science coach Chuck Parsons, it appears that Crittenton is very impressed with Middle Tennessee State and North Dakota State. Unless Kansas State completely knocks his socks off on a campus visit, it looks like Crittenton will be choosing between the low-level D-I and the championship contender in Football Championship Subdivision.

Remember, Kansas State is starting from scratch with this, and NDSU and Middle Tennessee have already impressed the NDSCS sophomore.

Crittenton told me himself that it’s neck-and-neck with MTS and NDSU right now. Both have what he wants — a family atmosphere and a chance to play a lot.

Crittenton hopes to eventually make it to the NFL, so Parsons has advised him to go somewhere he can get two years worth of good playing time against good competition.

The Sun Belt Conference (of which Middle Tennessee State is a member) and the Missouri Valley Football Conference appear to me to be very comperable leagues.

Sure, Middle Tennessee State is in the Football Bowl Subdivision school, but there still isn’t much cache in playing Louisiana-Monroe and Western Kentucky on a regular basis.  

Anyway, the chance to be part of a championship could be what it takes to get Crittenton to the Bison. Parsons made a point to tell me that Crittenton has never played for a winning team in his football career. That is something he wants very badly.

Middle Tennessee finished 5-7 last year. North Dakota State was ranked No. 1 in FCS coaches poll for much of last season. 

OK. I know there will never be another Tiger Woods, but 5-year-old Gehrig Geiss, from Glen Ullin, N.D., is already turning heads on the regional golf scene.

The kid already has crushed a 150-yard drive, and he has shown the kind of touch around the green that would make every weekend hacker, well … green with envy. Seriously.

Don’t believe me?

Or how about this?

Here is little Gehrig playing an entire hole?

In a recent story published in the Bismarck Tribune, Heart River golf pro Tyler Reisenauer said Gehrig could play already at the North Dakota junior varisty level.

A lot could go on in the next few years, but this is how many of our current pros grew up. They lived to hit the golf course with their parents and showed a focus that not many at their age shared. Oh, and I’m not sure how I feel about this, but Gehrig has a Web site: It’s http://gehriggeiss.com/.

Here is some video of a young Tiger Woods:

Talked with Fargo Force coach Dean Blais over the weekend, and he told me that former Roseau High School standout goaltender Mike Lee was very impressive during the Force camp in Prior Lake, Minn.

"The best goalie in camp so far is Mike Lee," Blais said. "I didn’t know how good he was coming in. And our No. 2, (Cody) Campbell is not far away."

The Force roster is starting to take shape. Several players will be invited to the team’s final camp in August in Fargo. The roster needs to be down to 25 by the end of September, then gets cut down to the final 23 after the United States Hockey League’s Fall Classic Sept. 25-27 in Sioux City, Iowa.

Keep it tuned here for more Force updates.

Chatted with Fargo South High School graduate and Detroit Lakes, Minn., resident Kane Hanson today for a story in tomorrow’s Forum. Hanson’s chance to make the U.S. Open faded when he was defeated by Wisconsin golfer Jonathan Turcott on the ninth hole of a playoff — the third playoff hole on Tuesday morning.

Here is the story:

We had some press problems at The Forum on Monday night, so my story on golfer Kane Hanson could not be included in the paper edition.

Here is the story that appeared on in-forum.com: