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by Ryan James
The BREAKDOWN
(updated 6/26/2008)
It was just a couple years ago that the Beaver program at Bemidji State had lost a ton of interest from hometown fans and the program was on a major decline. Then the program went in a new direction hiring Matthew Bowen as head coach and things have looked brighter ever since.
The first thing the staff did was look to the home state of Minnesota to find new talent. The 2006-07 group included just two Minnesotans but the addition of Brady Fairbanks (Cass Lake-Bena), Zach Eastman (Chaska), Pat Cassidy (St. Bernards), Jimmy Johnson (Andover), Tyler Wruck (Foley), and Anthony Humphrey (DeLaSalle) in the 2007 freshman class pumped some new life into the program.
The final record of 6-21 on the year was rough but not indicative of what the future holds. Several young players found time in the line-up and gained valuable experience for the future.
Leading the team in scoring this year was another Minnesotan in Arron Evans. Arron is from St. Louis Park and came to Bemidji State by way of Clinton Community College. He is now out of eligibility but the top returning scorer for next year is Seth Haake who went to Eden Prairie High School. Haake will be a junior next year and at 6-foot-3 he is one of the top three-point shooters in the Beaver line-up. Another junior returning inside is a 6-foot-8 post from Germany named Sergej Baskow. He was the team’s fifth leading scorer at 7.4 a game and third leading rebounder.
After that all the retuning numbers will be sophomores from the original class of Bowen and assistant Jeremy Tiers. Brady Fairbanks started 20 games last season scoring almost eight points a contest and shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc. Also finding himself in the regular starting line-up was Cassidy who was the second leading rebounder at five a game plus he put up six points a contest. There was Johnson who started five games and got regular time as a freshman post in a tough league. Eastman and Wruck also played in several games while Humphrey was injured for the season.
The Beaver fans are excited for this upcoming year because the initial freshman class will all be seasoned sophomores and then there is another solid group of Minnesota freshman that will don the Beaver green. Sharp shooting lefty Jake Lindstrom from Park-Cottage Grove, potential filled 6-foot-6 small forward Taylor Hall of St. Louis Park, and offensive wizard Bryce Tesdahl of Crosby-Ironton will all join up in 2008-09.
“This recruiting class was very important to follow up last years recruiting class,” commented Bowen. “You can’t make a program on one recruiting class and this class was very important to help us build a team. With the addition of Jake, Taylor and Bryce I feel we have done that. We have identified our needs and I feel that we have started to address some of those needs with the signing of these three players.”
Bryce is the C-I all-time leading scorer with over 1,900 career points and he averaged 17 points per game last year. Bryce the Rangers to a 32-1 record last year and a second place finish in state. "It felt like I was here in Crosby," Tesdahl said after his visit to the school. "The town and being with the team, I felt like was at home and that's why I picked them.”
Lindstrom averaged 24.1 points this past season and finished his career with 1,726 points. This was good for second all-time at Park High School behind Sam Jacobson.
“When you look at Jake the first thing I think that is very impressive is the amount of 30-point games he has had and that he has scored 20 or more points in 41 of 53 games,” said Bowen. “He is the type of guy who can fill our need of an excellent shooter. To bring somebody in like Jake, who is respected state wide as being a very good shooter, we are really excited to get him and integrate him into our offense.”
Hall came out of nowhere growing several inches over a year and making a huge impact on the St. Louis Park program his senior year. Taylor averaged 15.2 points in 2007-08.
Taylor is a kid who has grown almost four inches in a year and I think he is still getting used to his body,” Bowen explained. “He has an incredible work ethic along with a really good sense of the game and he will continue to improve. I think we have something really exciting in Taylor because he understands what it is going to take to play at the Division II level. I think he has a little growing and maturing to do and once those things come together, I think he is going to be a very good player.”
The Beavers won only six games last year in what was a transitional rebuilding season. They still may be a year away but good things are on the horizon for the Bemidji State program. |
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