Bison Media Zone

Cole Payton will begin his fourth year on the North Dakota State football roster this fall with the biggest spotlight he's had yet. That's including the fact that he is the backup to incumbent starter Cam Miller, who returns for his fourth season as the starter. Payton emerged as one of the best players on the Bison football roster over the final five games of 2023, when Miller scored seven touchdowns. He racked up a total of 16 last season, becoming one of NDSU's best offensive weapons. "I thought (last season) was a blast. Getting to go to Montana State and Montana, crazy environements and so loud, it was a ton of fun. My whole goal was to make the most of the opportunities I got and I thought I did that." Payton said. There are noticable changes on the Bison offense heading into 2024 with Tim Polasek taking over as head coach and Jake Landry at offensive coordinator. Payton says the changes weren't a major overhaul to him during spring practices. "It went well. Not much changed, it felt like a normal spring ball. Coach Polasek brings a level of emotion and fire. Coach Landry is a little more mellow. But the twists they brought into the offense will be a nice change." Payton has emerged as one of the faces of NDSU's Green and Gold Collective. He has routinely put videos out on social media touting the collective and it's importance as he's seen teammates like Eli Green leave through the transfer portal. Payton discusses as well about working with his personal quarterbacks coach in Omaha and what he's doing this summer in Fargo. The Bison Media Zone airs each Wednesday at 10:30 on WDAY Xtra.

North Dakota State's 2024 offensive gameplans took a hit last week when standout receiver Eli Green entered the transfer portal. Green emerged as a downfield threat over the final six games of 2023, making several acrobatic catches and scoring three touchdowns, two of them in the playoffs. With Green's departure, that leaves NDSU without its top two receivers from a year ago after Zach Mathis graduated. Sixth-year senior Braylon Henderson and fifth-year senior Raja Nelson return for the Bison. Nelson emerged as both a deep threat and a running back over the final few games of 2023, while Henderson had his best year as a Bison. Between the two of them, they have a combined 119 receptions. After that, though, it's a big dropoff in the wide receiver room. Senior Tyler Terhark has the most receptions with four, with Chris Harris, Mehki Collins and Bryce Lance each with just one catch. Collins and Lance earned rave reviews during the spring and each had solid performances during the Green and Gold Showcase. Redshirt sophomore Carson Hegerle had his spring football end early with a broken ankle and his return is up in the air for fall camp. Cedric Wall has grabbed the coaches attention during practice, but has yet to see the field yet. NDSU has an incoming freshman in Omaha native Jackson Williams, but there are questions entering the 2024 season. WDAY's Dom Izzo and The Forum's Mike McFeely discuss the wide receivers and what's ahead for this year.

North Dakota State women's basketball head coach Jory Collins has had a busy month. The Bison season ended at the end of March in the third round of the Women's NIT. Less than a week later, star player Elle Evans entered the transfer portal. Evans announced this week that she is transferring to Kansas to spend her final two years of basketball. Collins has been busy, adding three players to his team for next season. Australian guard Amelia Hobson will join the team, along with transfers Molly Lenz from Illinois State and Sacia Vanderpool from Wisconsin. They will join incoming freshmen Claire Stern and Marisa Frost on next year's roster, rounding it out with 13 players. Collins also discusses the challenges of trying to keep a player like Evans and how he handles the emotions of that decision. Bison Media Zone airs each Wednesday at 10:30 on WDAY Xtra.

North Dakota State officially wrapped up spring football for 2024 last weekend back inside Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. The Bison still have plenty of question marks heading into fall camp, ranging from offensive line to secondary to wide receiver. The Forum's Jeff Kolpack joins WDAY's Dom Izzo to try and answer some of those questions heading into the new season. Also they discuss the addition of West Fargo native Jacksen Moni to the Bison men's basketball roster. Moni is transferring in from Northern State University out of the NSIC. He'll have one year of eligibility remaining for this upcoming season.

North Dakota State spring football is wrapping up and one area that has both a mixture of youth, depth and experience is the defensive line and that extends to the coaching staff. Nick Goeser is back for his 15th year on the staff, the longest tenured coach at NDSU. He got a promotion this offseason to co-defensive coordinator to go along with his defensive line duties. The Bison return all-conference defensive end Dylan Hendricks, along with senior Loshiaka Roques and junior Kole Menz. The interior of the line will be led by the Mostaert twins; Eli and Will, along with Kody Huisman and Jaxon Duttenhefer. There are young players eager for a shot like Kelton McCaslin, Logan Larson, Toby Anene and Keenan Wilson. To go along with transfer Hunter Zenzen, who missed all of last season with a foot injury. Goeser joins the show to discuss the changes to the line and expectations for 2024.

North Dakota State has had an offensive lineman selected in the NFL Draft each of the three years and potentially could have a fourth in a couple of weeks. That level of talent means that is extra attention that comes to that position group and its coach, Dan Larson. The Bison offensive line has some decisions to make over the coming months with three starters graduating, left tackle Jalen Sundell, right guard Jake Kubas and center Brandon Westberg. The Bison received some welcome news in late December when senior Grey Zabel announced he was going to return to NDSU and turn down significant NIL money to transfer. Zabel started the final ten games of 2023 at right tackle. He will be joined by Ada's Mason Miller, who also is a fifth-year senior that has started 26 career games. That experience will be huge for a group that beyond those two players has two career starts, each belonging to sixth-year player Jake Rock. Rock and fellow sixth-year lineman Hunter Poncius are in the mix to fill those open spots, according to Larson. Larson also has his eyes on some young players that could make an immediate impact. Redshirt freshmen Beau Johnson, Jack Liwienski and Griffin Empey all have earned rave reviews during spring football. Bison Media Zone airs each Wednesday at 10:30 on WDAY Xtra.

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.

The second signing period opened Wednesday for college football teams across the country and North Dakota State added four players to its signing class for 2024. The surprise came in the form of transfer quarterback Jacob Kilzer from Maple Grove, Minnesota. Kilzer comes to Fargo with four years of eligibilty and a redshirt season to use. NDSU also officially announced the transfer of offensive lineman Trent Fraley and the signings of high school players Gage Schmidt and Jack Hansen. Also this week, Polasek introduced his new hires for his staff. Will Johnson taking over as cornerbacks coach, Devin Klieman as safeties coach and Jake Landry as the offensive coordinator. Landry comes to Fargo after a week in Grand Forks as UND's offensive coordinator. Dom Izzo visits with Landry for his first extended interview and discusses his abrupt departure from UND and what kind of offense he likes to run and what the Bison could potentially look like this fall.

The second week of Summit League basketball has arrived and the standings will begin to get sorted out. The North Dakota State men return home after a split on the road last week, playing two overtime games against Kansas City and Omaha. The Bison host Denver Thursday night, a team they have beaten eleven straight times. The Pioneers bring with them the leading scorer in the country in guard Tommy Bruner. Bruner is averaging 25 points per game as Denver enters after a home win over South Dakota State. Oral Roberts comes to town Saturday, the defending league champions look different with a new head coach and minus Max Abmas, the reigning league player of the year. Jory Collins' team will hit the road to two places that they lost last year, Denver and Tulsa. NDSU is 3-0 in Summit League play after a sweep at home last weekend. Elle Evans has built on her award winning freshman season, leading the league in three-point percentage, while placing third in blocks and three-pointers per game. Oral Roberts has yet to lose at home this season, the Golden Eagles are a perfect 8-0. NDSU has just one win in 14 games in Tulsa in its Division I history. On the football front, NDSU's second all-time leading receiver in yards and receptions will continue to play pro football. Darrius Shepherd announced on Tuesday that he has re-signed with the St. Louis Battlehawks in the United Football League. The UFL is a joint venture of the USFL and the XFL. Shepherd was the XFL Special Teams player of the year in 2023 with the Battlehawks and earned an invite to Denver Broncos training camp last summer. Bison Media Zone airs each Wednesday at 10:30 on WDAY Xtra.

The Summit League basketball season is set to restart, the Bison hit the road to take on Kansas City and Omaha. Redshirt freshman Noah Feddersen has emerged in the starting lineup, Dom Izzo visits with the 6-10 big man about his recent play. Earlier this week, NDSU announced that Tyler Roehl was promoted to associate head coach. Roehl visits on the show about his decision to stay at NDSU and what he expects for the upcoming season. Bison Media Zone airs each Wednesday at 10:30 am on WDAY Xtra and InForum.com.