There are two common words head coach Brian Jones frequently uses when discussing his team's transition to Division I basketball — "blue print." Year one of Jones' blue print is in the books and the Sioux acclimated themselves to their new level by posting a 16-12 record and picking up five wins against DI opponents.

"I thought we used last year as a measuring stick to see where we need to go body-wise and size-wise and I think we addressed that," Jones said. "I know our system will work at this level, we just need to be able to catch up to our opponents in those other areas."

The 2008-09 squad featured just 10 players on the active roster, while a class of six freshmen was being redshirted. Those six freshmen spent the season watching from the sidelines, but more importantly maturing in the weight room, learning the UND system and getting a bird's eye view from their older teammates of the preparation and hard work it takes to be successful at the DI level.

"Now, it's continuing to have those youngsters mature and hopefully by January when the second-half of the season rolls around and Great West play starts, they will have adjusted to the Division I level," Jones said.

Last year's rookie class will join six returners and three newcomers for year two of the transition, which Jones said will be the most challenging of all of the five-year process. The reasoning he supplies is the Sioux will face a full Division I schedule across the board. True freshman Josh Schuler (Urbana, Ohio) and Brandon Brekke (East Grand Forks, Minn.) are both slated to redshirt.

"Last year definitely prepared us, but this year because of that full DI schedule and only being able to play three non-counters, it will be our toughest year," Jones said. "As tough as it may be, I think our guys are excited about those challenges because we'll be playing with a lot of new faces, playing at a faster pace and against bigger, faster bodies too."

THE SCHEDULE
The 30-game regular season schedule that Jones speaks of features several established DI programs coming to the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center as well as the team's inaugural Great West slate that is composed of 12 games. The Sioux will also be televised at least six times as the Fighting Sioux Sports Network and Fox College Sports have partnered to broadcast six UND home games.

"This is the best home schedule we have put together since we have been here as a staff," Jones said. "Northern Iowa is coming off an NCAA Tournament appearance. Fans will recognize Northern Colorado from the old NCC days and Green Bay is a talented team from the Horizon League.

"We are excited to get these quality programs in our own building. Plus, we start building some new rivalries with the Great West schools. It will be a challenge with a lot of new faces going through it for the first time, but we are excited to play some of these teams to see where they are at and to see where we want to be."

Besides playing host to six Great West Conference members, the Sioux will entertain five other Division I squads at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center. In all, the Sioux will play 15 games on their home court, including their first action of the season in an exhibition against Bemidji State on Nov. 8.

The road slate includes a pair of preseason tournaments and single games at IPFW (Summit), Iowa State (Big XII), Northern Illinois (MAC) and Texas A&M (Big XII). After the exhibition, the Sioux open their regular season at the Grizzly Basketball Tournament, where they will face host Montana, Boise State and Loyola Marymount.

After four-consecutive home games, the Sioux will play in the Drake Iowa Realty Classic, where they will open with Texas-Arlington and play either SIU-Edwardsville or Drake in the championship/consolation game.

The schedule also features a home-and-home series with SIUE for the second-consecutive year. The Sioux took both of those contests a season ago.

The Sioux will play its inaugural Great West contest on Thursday, Jan. 14 at Utah Valley. UND will play home-and-home series with the other five teams in the Great West as well, including former NCC rival South Dakota that the Sioux will play on back-to-back Saturdays in January (16th in Vermillion and the 23rd in Grand Forks). The home game with the Coyotes will be played at the Ralph Engelstad Arena — the first game in that venue for UND since the 2004-05 campaign.

The 2009-10 schedule is undoubtedly going to be a grueling one as the Sioux continue their transition to the highest level of collegiate basketball and Jones said it was important for his team to remain focused on themselves and improving day-in and day-out.

"We know over these next couple of years that we are going to be worried about ourselves and continuing to get better," Jones said. "The number of quality opponents we face is going to increase each and every year, but we are not going to get caught up in our opponents.

"As long as we're improving and understand that this thing is going to take time, we will succeed. We want to build it the right way. There are no quick fixes. Teams that have quick fixes do not establish themselves and we are about establishing this program to where it is consistent year-in and year-out."

That consistency begins with the players and here is a position-by-position breakdown of the individuals making up the 2009-10 Fighting Sioux men's basketball team.

THE PLAYERS
Fighting Sioux fans will see some familiar faces on the floor this season, but Jones will also have to replace a lot of fire power as role players from a season ago will move into four starting positions that were vacated by the graduation of a quartet of seniors.

"We will miss those four guys because all of them were very productive in their own unique ways, but we have some big pieces back," Jones said. "We also are going to see a lot of those new faces make an impact too."

The scoring production that the four seniors supplied a season ago may be a lot to replace (38.1 ppg and 54.3 percent of the offense), but Jones is more concerned about this year's team maintaining the same great chemistry his senior quartet was responsible for providing.

"I think this team picked up on that chemistry and the guys like (Daniel) Harkins and (Wes) Porter made sure it was there," Jones added. "I think this year's senior class has taken that baton and really carried that over. It was great to have the summer to work on that and really strengthen it.

"I am glad that our younger players had the opportunity to watch them lead this team a season ago and develop the same practice habits and work ethic they had."

JONES ON THE GUARDS
"To me, it starts with the two seniors. Travis Bledsoe (Minneapolis, Minn.), who is our leading scorer returning from last year's team (10.7 ppg), is very talented and we are going to rely on him heavily through leadership and scoring.

"He has made a lot of big shots for us through the years and he will need to be very steady for us on both ends of the floor. I think he really relishes that roll. I think he likes that pressure on him to lead and make big plays."

"The other senior is Dustin Monsebroten (Newfolden, Minn.). He played very well for us in spot minutes last year and he will get a chance to play more this season. I think the thing you are going to see from him is he will continue to outwork you and do the little things, whether it is in the locker room or on the floor, to help us win."

"Nick Haugen (Rockford, Minn.) is a redshirt freshman, who is extremely talented. We will be able to slide him around a little bit between the point and off-guard positions. He is an outstanding shooter and just has an overall great feel for the game of basketball. I think he has a bright future ahead of him. He knows his limitations and he knows his strengths and he sticks with them."

"Overall, I am very excited about our guards. I think we have great depth and versatility there."

JONES ON THE WINGS
"This is probably our deepest position. The way we play, we don't really label guys. You have guards, wings and centers. From last year's team, we have Travis Mertens (Devils Lake, N.D.) and Patrick Mitchell (Des Moines, Iowa) back. Both of those guys had great off-seasons."

"Pat is an outstanding shooter and can score with his back to the basket, while Travis is a guy who is really good in the open floor and makes lots of things happen because of his activity. He is a guy who scores a lot of points (9.1 ppg as a junior) without a lot of plays being run for him. Whether it's at the free-throw line, offensive rebounding or in the open floor, he just finds a way to score."

"We have four redshirt freshmen that will play on the wing along with a junior college transfer – Chris Clausen (Adelaide, Australia) – that should have an immediate impact. Clausen can really shoot and has great size. He will be able to drive it and post-up for us. He is another guy who has a great basketball IQ. Even though this is his first year with us, he will provide leadership for us because of his toughness."

"The four freshmen all have different skill sets. Jordan Allard (Fargo, N.D.) is almost like a point-forward out there. He has great vision and play-making ability. Spencer Goodman (Jackson, Mo.) is a slashing wing, who is good in the open floor and has the ability to drive to the basket.

"Doug Archer (Conception Junction, Mo.) is our utility guy. He has the ability to play a lot of different roles for us. He can be a defensive stopper, play some at center and forward for us, but he is a guy who does all the little things that coaches see that help you win and his teammates will see that too. He may not be a big scorer in year one, but he will do a lot of things across the board that will help us win.

"Dan Stockdale (Sheboygan, Wis.) is a wing, who works extremely hard and has improved by leaps and bounds since we got him last year. He provides a lot of energy both on the floor and in the locker room. Right now, he is a great piece to the puzzle for our team. Our wings will be critical to our success this season and we have the depth and personnel there to cause problems for other teams. It should be a fun position to watch."

JONES ON THE POST
"Of our three post players, Derek Benter (Crosby, N.D.) is the most seasoned. I am really looking for him to have a big year for us because of the great offseason he had. There were some stretches last year where he really made some big shots for us that got us over the hump. We are going to rely on him to score for us this year with not only his back to the basket, but also facing up. With him going into his redshirt junior year, he is a guy that has leadership qualities and is a guy I enjoy coaching because he does all the little things and he does them right all the time."

"Mitch Wilmer (Warroad, Minn.) will add a different dimension because he is a seven-footer and has the ability to block shots. He can also run for scores and is very athletic for his size. He can get things done for us off the backboards as well. Mike Mathison (Walhalla, N.D.) is entering his second year of competition. He had a great spring and has had a nice fall so far. He is a guy that is a skilled post player, probably not a typical, physical guy with his back to the basket, but he can make shots facing up and can do some nice things in our offense."

"Kind of like our wings, all three of these guys bring something different to the table and we are very excited about the depth that we do have and the varieties we can throw out there as match-ups dictate."