Bison Media Zone

North Dakota State is in week three of spring football and as the practices continue, it's not just for the players to get up to speed, but for the coaches as well.

The Bison have four new staff members, including Devin Klieman, who was hired as the new safeties coach.

It's a return to Fargo for Klieman, who's dad Chris, was the head coach at NDSU from 2014-18, winning four national championships during that span.

Devin has been a graudate assistant at Kansas State the last three years, he discusses about interviewing for the job and what it meant to be hired at NDSU.

Klieman also talks about the Bison safety position, which returns starters Cole Wisniewski and Sam Jung and highlights a couple of young players.

The Bison Media Zone airs Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. on WDAY Xtra.

WDAY's Dom Izzo and the Forum's Mike McFeely discuss the departures from the North Dakota State men's basketball roster after the season ended.

Also they discuss the top players that have left the Summit League, inlcuding four members of the conference's first-team selections.

The culmination of the Summit League basketball season has arrived.

For the 16th straight year, Sioux Falls will host the Summit League basketball tournament and for the ninth time it will be played at the Sanford Premier Center.

South Dakota State enters as the top seed on the men's and women's side. The Jackrabbit men finished with a 12-4 record, winning the league regular season title for the fourth time in the last five years. SDSU will face the winner of Oral Roberts and South Dakota, who play on Friday night.

North Dakota State enters as the five seed, the lowest seed for the Bison since 2018. NDSU will match up with St. Thomas, the Tommies are in the third year of their Division I transiton and are inelgible for the NCAA Tournament. If the Tommies win the tournament, SDSU will receive the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Jackrabbit women completed a second straight unbeaten regular season by beating NDSU last weekend. The Jacks will face either Kansas City or Omaha who open the tournament Friday afternoon.

The Bison women clinched the second seed for the second straight year. NDSU will take on Denver at 12:30 Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals. The Bison women are looking for the first tournament win since 2021.

The Forum's Jeff Kolpack and WDAY's Dom Izzo preview the tournament and what to expect this weekend.

The Summit League basketball regular season ends this weekend and the men's race is as wide open as it gets.

South Dakota State can win the championship tonight in Grand Forks with a victory over North Dakota. UND can keep the race going with a win over the Jackrabbits and beat South Dakota in the season finale.

Meanwhile, North Dakota State sits in a tie for third place starting the final week with a road game at USD and then the final game of the season against SDSU. The Bison have won six of their last eight games with junior forward Andrew Morgan leading the way, averaging 18 points per game.

NDSU will need to win in Vermillion to stay ahead of red hot Kansas City, the Roos have won four straight games and have surged up the standings over the last three weeks.

The Bison women are the hottest team in the league not named South Dakota State. NDSU has won seven games in a row, and has clinched the second seed at the league tournament next week. Jory Collins team has matched last season's win total at 18 and has two games to pass it, including the season finale at Frost Arena against the Jacks.

WDAY's Dom Izzo and Forum columnist Mike McFeely discuss the race to the finish line in the Summit League and also visit on Tyler Roehl's new job as the former Bison player and coach will be the new assistant head coach and running backs coach at Iowa State.

Bison Media Zone on WDAY Xtra airs each Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

February has arrived and the stretch run is here for Summit League basketball.

The Bison basketball teams are going in opposite directions. The North Dakota State men (2-4) sit at the bottom of the Summit League standings, just a half game out of last place. NDSU lost its only game last week, on the road at St. Thomas.

Dave Richman's team will be on the road for both games this week, facing South Dakota State Thursday night and North Dakota Saturday afternoon. The Bison haven't won in Brookings since 2018 and will need to finally put together a consistent effort for a win.

"We know we're better than the teams we're playing out against. We're making little mistakes and they're starting to bite us in the end." said junior forward Andrew Morgan.

"Our margin for error coaches saying it's starting to become really slim, so every possession really matters. It's more like frustration like that and knowing that we can pull these games out. We're just not quite doing it."

The Bison women will host one of the most anticipated games in the Division I era. NDSU welcomes in the league champion Jackrabbits Thursday night, looking to snap an ugly 19-game losing skid to the Jackrabbits.

The numbers are as ugly as they get for the Bison. NDSU hasn't beaten SDSU since January of 2015. They have lost 35 of the last 37 games. The Bison have just two wins over SDSU since moving up to D-1 in 2006.

SDSU (7-0) enters in first place, despite losing its two best players to injury before the season began. NDSU (5-1) sits in second place and has posted a 19-1 record at Scheels Center over the last two years. The only defeat? South Dakota State.

Dom Izzo also visits with former Bison defensive end and All-American Spencer Waege.

Waege is just wrapping up his rookie year with the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers advanced to Super Bowl LVIII Sunday night when they defeated the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game.

Waege has spent the last two and a half months on the 49ers practice squad. He practices during the week with the team and is on the sidelines on gameday. He will be traveling to Las Vegas for the Big Game on Sunday.

Waege marks the fourth former Bison in the last seven Super Bowls to be in the game, joining Carson Wentz, Ramon Humber and Joe Haeg who were at the Super Bowl.

The biggest games of the year are on tap for North Dakota State with matchups against the teams directly ahead of them in the standings, St. Thomas and North Dakota.

Dom Izzo and Mike McFeely preview each of the games and what's ahead with two weeks remaining in the regular season.

North Dakota State's football coaching staff appears complete as former all-conference linebacker Carlton Littlejohn has been named the new assistant defensive line coach.

Littlejohn was a standout linebacker for NDSU from 2010-14, winning five national championships. He ranks in the top five all-time in school history in total tackles.

Littlejohn began his coaching career shortly after his playing days ended, with stops at Jamestown,Gustavus, MSU Moorhead and the University of Sioux Falls.

Dom Izzo and Jeff Kolpack discuss his hiring and what it means for the staff.

The Summit League basketball regular season is down to its final three weeks and each Bison team is in contention to make a run.

The Bison men lept four spots in the league standings after a sweep at home last week. Now they head out on the road for a tough trip, with stops at Oral Roberts and Denver.

The NDSU women are off to their best conference start in their Division I history. The Bison are 8-2 after a three-game road sweep and are two games back of first place. They can put some distance between themselves and third place ORU with a win this week, the Golden Eagles come to the SHAC Thursday night.

Kolpack and Izzo discuss the talent of the Bison women and potential to make a run in March at the Summit League Tournament.