Dexter Werner Interview

[IzzyFlexion]

Not me. I'm skeptical but I hope he turns out to be a stud. I hope this wasn't done to appease whomever is putting pressure on Saul to sign a ND kid.

Make no mistake about it.

No matter the degree of influence, BELIEVE that this a factor. In the NDSU culture, being a rural state with fewer athlete's to evaluate, having talent in the media guide and/or game programs with "So and So....from XXXXX High School XXXXXX, North Dakota" is very important.
I wouldn't call it pressure, but the program understands these matters inside out.

[herdmember]

Burgundy has been strangely quiet on this one. NDSU is out of hoops scholarships now until the 2013 for Zastrow's and Nagel's spots, right?

[Kermit]

NDSU is out of hoops scholarships now until the 2013 for Zastrow's and Nagel's spots, right?

True. Werner and Brett Vandenbergh will be the freshman class for 2012. They are both strong, tough kids and they will provide some needed depth at the forward spots.

Dexter Werner REALLY impressed people this summer playing against excellent (and bigger) competition in AAU ball. The suggestion on this thread that he got an offer from NDSU only because he is from ND would be a big surprise to the coaching staffs of the 3 non-ND DI programs that had already offered scholarships.

[ThunderDan]

Make no mistake about it.

No matter the degree of influence, BELIEVE that this a factor. In the NDSU culture, being a rural state with fewer athlete's to evaluate, having talent in the media guide and/or game programs with "So and So....from XXXXX High School XXXXXX, North Dakota" is very important.
I wouldn't call it pressure, but the program understands these matters inside out.

Ahhhh, I seriously hope Saul isn't dumb enough to sign a kid from ND because of "pressure"
If he wants to win, he will get the best players, which means there is little chance that player will be from North Dakota. Just being a realist here. Not saying that this kid won't be good by the time he's a junior, but in the grand scheme of things, there is a very small chance. When Lucas Moormann and Austin Pennick are the last two players from ND to play in the last 6 years, it doesn't exactly leave high hopes.

[344Johnson]

Well we should see how it goes, yeah, a bit short. But he is big and strong. Sometimes undersized guys can do pretty good in college. Maybe he can play a 3-spot? A 4-spot if we go to a small lineup?

[HandoEX]

He is one inch shorter than our starting 4 from the last few seasons and he's 20 pounds heavier (and pretty strong from what I've heard) than Carlson. I am not too worried about his height if he is strong and wide.

[bisonfan08]

I think he's a kid that will be able to contribute in-conference, but if we are trying to build the team to go out of conference and compete with Minnesota, ASU and some of the other programs we are scheduling we need more height at the 4 spot. Now granted I got 2 inches taller my senior year of high school through middle of my freshman year of college and that could happen to him as well, but if it doesn't he's gonna have to have the moves Winks did to get a shot off down low. The other reason our staff may have gone this way is because I think it could have been a tough year for Saul to recruit. The top talents going to Mid-Major schools are going to want to play right away, there isn't much opportunity for that on our squad right now because we have so much young talent. If recruits are seeing talent like Kading most likely ending up redshirting, they may assume that's the route they are going as well and if so they will take a scholarship elsewhere if playing right away is at the top of their priority list. That all being said, Saul has shown he knows how to recruit to build a program, if he thinks this kid has what it takes to play ball at a level suitable for Bison D1 hoops then I'm guessing he's got it.

[HandoEX]

Physically, he reminds me of Noah Dahlman and he was a beast for Wofford.

[Mr. Burgundy]

This is a quality signing, and what really motivates Saul on this kid is that he has never recruited a kid who has wanted to be a Bison as much as this kid did. He grew up in Fargo, and always wanted to be a Bison. I remember talking to Saul when he was in Vegas watching this kid. Stuff like....He is alot better than we thought he was. He gets rebounds in space (coach talk), and he has a legit 6'11 wingspan. He is a talented kid that has 4 D1 offers. I also like that he is ready to redshirt and be a program kid, at the mid major level, we need to be deep and ready to compete. He is a workout warrior who wants to be a Bison. Sorry for the delayed response, been traveling. Although, I knew this was a kid we were landing for a long time. When Showalter went to Madison (walk on), I knew we were getting Dexter. Having Dexter and Vandenbergh coming in together will be fun.

[Strommer10]

Like Burgundy mentioned, he does a sizable wingspan for his height. This helps him rebound extremely well.

It's good to here his committment to the program. We need guys like that if the program wants to succeed. He might not start anytime soon, but there will be needs for someone to come in, rebound, and play defense.