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This week
Augustana (0-0) and the University of Sioux Falls (1-0) meet in the fifth annual Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. at the Sioux Falls Arena.
The series
Augustana and the University of Sioux Falls have each beat each other 26 times in a series that dates back to the 1921-22 season. The Vikings have won the last nine games between the two schools and have been victorious in 16 of the last 17 contests. The Cougars last won on Dec. 22, 1994, when they edged out a 93-87 victory over the Vikings. Head coach
Tom Billeter is 5-0 versus USF.
Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge
2011 marks the fifth annual Prairie Spirit Charitable Challenge, an annual event that raises money for local charities. Proceeds from this year's games will benefit Feeding South Dakota's BackPack Program, which provides food to children who would otherwise be at risk of going hungry. To learn more, visit www.feedingsouthdakota.org. Augustana is 4-0 against the University of Sioux Falls when playing this annual charity game.
Television
Midco Sports Network will carry Tuesday's contest live from the Sioux Falls Arena. Tom Nieman will handle play-by-play, while Brad Newitt will provide color commentary. MidcoSN?can be found on channels 26 or 622 for Midcontinent Communications subscribers.
Last time out
Minnesota rallied from a five-point halftime deficit and held off a lingering Augustana squad en route to a 72-60 exhibition victory over the Vikings Nov. 7 at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. Augustana led by as many as seven points in the first half, but Minnesota opened the second half on a 15-4 run and extended a two-point lead with seven minutes left into a double-figure win. The Vikings got a spectacular debut from point guard
Drae Murray, who scored 22 points and drilled five 3-pointers.
Cody Schilling added 16 points and eight rebounds. Trevor Mbakwe's double-double--22 points and 13 rebounds--paced the Gophers, who finished 17-14 a year ago. Augustana shot 32.2 percent from the field in the loss; Minnesota connected at a 46.7 percent clip.
Exhibitions to open
Augustana's exhibition game against Minnesota on Nov. 7 was nothing out of the ordinary for
Tom Billeter's crew. Since taking over in 2003, Billeter has regularily had his team battle Division I programs in exhibition tilts to christen the season. Past match ups include Arizona (2009-10 and 2010-11), Wisconsin (2008-09), Gonzaga (2006-07), Illinois State (2005-06) and Rice (2004-05).
What the coaches say
Augustana is the favorite to win the conference, according to the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll released Oct. 26 by the conference office. The Vikings received nine first-place votes and 164 points in the poll voted on by the conference's 14 head coaches.
Rank Team Points
1. Augustana (9) 164
2. Winona State (3) 158
3. Minnesota State (1) 140
4. Concordia-St. Paul (1) 135
5. MSU Moorhead 122
6. St. Cloud State 108
7. Bemidji State 82
8. Southwest Minnesota State 78
9 Minnesota Duluth 76
10. Northern State 67
11. Wayne State 54
12. University of Mary 46
13. Upper Iowa 31
14. Minnesota, Crookston 13
Schilling gets top billing
Senior guard
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) was tabbed the NSIC?Preseason Player of the Year by the league coaches in conjunction with their preseason poll. Schilling led the league in scoring with 21.2 points per game last year. He shot 52.4 percent from the field while averaging 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. His first-team selections last season included spots on the All-NSIC, Daktronics All-Central Region and NABC All-Central District squads. Schilling has started 89 straight games.
Dynamic duo
Guards
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) and
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) were both named preseason All-Americans by the Sporting News in September. Schilling was a second-team pick, while McCaffrey was an honorable-mention selection. Schilling, who also earned a spot on the Division II Bulletin Super Sweet 16 Preseason All-America squad, started all 27 games last season. McCaffrey, a junior, also started all 27 games a year ago and earned spots on the All-NSIC first team, Daktronics All-Central Region second team and NABC All-Central District second team. He was second on the team in scoring with 19.0 points per game. McCaffrey also shot 43.2 percent from field and recorded 27 steals .
National news
Augustana is ranked 16th in the 2011-12 National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II Preseason Poll released Tuesday. The Vikings received 69 points in the poll voted on by members of the NABC. Defending national champion Bellarmine (Ky.) enters the 2011-12 season as the nation's top-ranked team. The Knights earned 200 points and eight first-place votes. To view the complete poll, turn to page 8. The Vikings were also ranked No. 8 by the Sporting News in its preseason national poll released in September.
A look back
The Vikings finished the 2010-11 season 18-9 overall and 15-7 in the NSIC. Augustana was third in the final conference standings. The Vikings were not selected for the NCAA tournament after making appearances in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
We're back
Augustana returns four starters from last season and a trio of players who made significant contributions as reserves. The All-NSIC first-team guard combo of
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.) and
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) is back. Big man
Derrick De Zeeuw--a sharp shooter from the field--returns to fill a forward spot, and inside-outside threat
Leif Nomeland (Osakis, Minn.) is also back at his forward position. Forwards
Yuriy Malashenko (Jordan, Minn.),
Brennan Olson (Luck, Wis.) and
Eric Jorgensen (Sioux City, Iowa) provided a sturdy front line off the bench a year ago.
Evan Pierce (Houston, Texas) was on the roster for the spring semester last season after transferring from Division I Wagner (Pa.), and
Dajon Newell (Lakeville, Minn.), who redshirted last season, will join the team after the football season is over.
New faces
The Vikings welcome seven new players to the squad for 2011-12, including four transfers. Guard
Drae Murray (Huntsville, Texas) joins the team after spending three seasons at Division I Sam Houston State. He's expected to take over the point-guard spot.
Scotty Norwood (El?Paso, Texas) is coming off two years at Odessa College, and Nick Bennet (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) is fresh off a pair of seasons at Antelope Valley College in California.
David Fritsch (Stewartville, Minn.) played two seasons at Rochester Community and Technical College in Minnesota. Three freshmen dot the roster:?
Vaughn Thada (Owatonna, Minn.), Al Richter (Lakeville, Minn.) and
Ben Reker (Appleton, Wis.).
Schilling closing in
It could be a record-breaking year for
Cody Schilling (Ellsworth, Minn.). The senior is ninth on the career scoring list at Augustana with 1,391 points. He needs 439 points to tie Carl Gonder's career scoring mark of 1,830 points. He scored 572 points last season.
Rk Points Player Years
1. 1830 Carl Gonder 1980-84
2. 1795 Mark Smed 1979-83
3. 1764 Greg Nagel 1974-78
4. 1704 Jason Garrow 1988-92
5. 1681 Scott Beckstrand 1990-94
6. 1642 Arvid Kramer 1975-79
7. 1628 Bill Gross 1969-73
8. 1510 Brett Szabo 1987-91
9. 1391 Cody?Schilling 2008-11
10. 1381 Rich Chapman 1973-77
McCaffrey nearing a grand
Junior guard
Cameron McCaffrey (Portland, Ore.) will likely go past 1,000-career points early in the season. McCaffrey is at 913 points in just two years in a Viking uniform. The 2009-10 NSIC Freshman of the year owns a career average of 15.7 points per game.
History lesson
Augustana enters its 90th season of men's basketball in 2011-12. The?Vikings are 917-1032 all-time and have racked up 37 winning seasons, including the past five seasons under
Tom Billeter.
On the radio
Veteran radio man Jeff Fylling is back as the “Voice of the Vikings” for 2011-12. Join Fylling for each broadcast on KIKN-FM 100.5. You can also stream the broadcast at kikn.com/stream.
Coaches' corner
Tom Billeter begins his ninth season as head men's basketball coach at Augustana in 2011-12. He is 127-104 as the leader of the Vikings and 224-154 all-time as a head coach. He served as the head coach at North Dakota State for five seasons (1992 to 1997). Billeter is assisted by Jeff Trumbauer, Luke Wiersma,
Chad Hettermann and Hans Hoeg.
Video webcasts
The NSIC and Penn Atlantic have again teamed up to webcast each conference basketball game in 2011-12. A complete broadcast schedule is available at www.northernsun.org.
Augustana Sportscene
Augustana Sportscene is a 30-minute weekly television show highlighting Augustana athletics and is hosted by Director of Athletics Bill Gross. The show includes Viking highlights, interviews with various coaches and student-athletes and promotion of upcoming Augustana athletic events. Augustana Sportscene airs Monday's at 10:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Midco Sports Network and at various times on Mediacom's MC22.
Augustana Coaches' Show
Live from Rookies in Sioux Falls, The Augustana Coaches' Show airs On ESPN 99.1 each Monday at 5 p.m. Join Jeffy Fylling and Augustana head coaches as they discuss various topics surrounding Viking athletics. You can also stream the show live at www.ESPN991.com.
