Ben Jacobson: Back to my roots

Men's Basketball Ryan Powell, UND Media Relations

Ben Jacobson: Back to my roots

When the Fighting Sioux lace up their shoes and hit the hardwood on Saturday against Northern Iowa, a familiar face to UND basketball fans will be at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center to take in the match-up between former North Central Conference rivals. However, despite a little tug at the heart strings and a cavalcade of emotions that will be racing through his mind, this North Dakota native will be pulling for the opposition.

The only reason for that is because the opposition is now signing his paychecks. Ben Jacobson has been eagerly awaiting his return to Grand Forks since the contract to play UND was agreed upon three years ago, but this time around he will be exerting his energy toward finding ways to defeat his alma mater.

“I am certainly looking forward to coming home this year to see a lot of family, see a lot of friends and be back on campus,” he said. “It is something I am really looking forward too.”

"Jake" will be barking out instructions from the visitor's bench to his Panthers' squad that features five returning starters and made a trip to the NCAA Tournament a season ago. It will be a tall task for the Fighting Sioux, but the return of a former great adds even more intrigue to one of the most anticipated games in Sioux Center history.

"He played with a lot of passion and he loved to compete," former UND head coach Rich Glas said. "That is one thing you want to do when you go out and recruit - find players that come with a passion for the game. That is what he brought. He just had a tremendous passion and he became a very good student of the game."

Jacobson has taken that same desire to the coaching ranks. He is currently in his fourth season at the helm of the UNI program and coming off a season where he steered a magical ride. The Panthers tied the school record with 23 wins and shared the Missouri Valley regular season championship. The next stop was a MVC tournament title that was secured by a thrilling overtime win against Illinois State in St. Louis, Mo.

That ride came to an end in Portland, Ore., with a five-point setback to Purdue in the first round of the Big Dance, but in college basketball circles, Northern Iowa added a little beef to its already impressive mid-major resume.

And, just as quickly as that ride ended, a new one is underway this season. Jacobson has the Panthers off to a 7-1 start and they bring a six-game winning streak into "The Betty." The team was picked to repeat as MVC Champions and with a senior-laden squad, it should come as little surprise if they are hoisting another banner at the McLeod Center following this season.

"His passion for the game and intelligence for the game are what made him successful," said Glas, who is currently the head coach at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. "He was not the most high-flying guy in the world and not the quickest, but he got by because he competed. He was smart. He was a great leader and that is what you have to be in order to be a coach and he was certainly that for us."

That magical ride Jacobson took his Panthers on a season ago was just an extension of one that began 20 seasons ago. When he arrived in Cedar Falls in 2001, the ride continued zipping along at a humbling pace from its starting point some 600 miles north.

Those roots were established at the next stop for his Panthers – Grand Forks, N.D. Jacobson enrolled at the University of North Dakota in 1989 – in a town just over 30 miles from his native home of Mayville. He arrived in Grand Forks as the reigning North Dakota Mr. Basketball award winner and did not leave until being an integral part of the best decade in the history of Fighting Sioux basketball.

During his tenure as a player for the Sioux, the point guard racked up a school-record 103 wins in his four seasons – a mark that still stands today. It was a total that could have been higher, but Jacobson missed over half of his junior season with a knee injury. The team started off 12-0 that season and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the country, but with their floor leader sidelined the Sioux finished just 11-9 the rest of the way.

"We really struggled after Ben went down," Glas remarked after discussing the 1991-92 season.

A prolific scorer in high school, Jacobson gradually transitioned into his role as a point guard. He began to flourish in it as a senior after returning from the injury. Jacobson had 203 assists (third all-time  in a single season) and he still ranks second in career assists with 420.

"That is what he did," Glas recalled. "He would not score a lot of points, but he got the ball to where it needed to go. He was my coach on the floor and that is invaluable to a coach. We ran a lot of specials and you have to know where to go with the ball in order to get the ball to the right player at the right spot on the floor. Ben would do that for you."

He dished out a number of those assists to five of the top six scorers in the UND annals. That quintet all played at least one season with Jake. UND Hall of Famer and career-points leader Scott Guldseth (2,190) came in with Jacobson in 1989 and played all four of his seasons with No. 24 setting up many of his 806 field goals.

After winning two North Central Conference titles as a player, Jake decided coaching was the career path he wanted to pursue and Glas made room for him on his staff as a graduate assistant. He spent the next three seasons in that role before taking over as an assistant coach prior to the 1996-97 season.

"He was our graduate assistant and I had an opening for an assistant," Glas recalled. "I did not hesitate at all to have him at that young of an age be my full-time assistant coach at UND. That is a critical position because there is a lot of responsibility, especially with recruiting. I was confident he would do a great job and he did."

In seven seasons as a GA and assistant coach, Jacobson was a part of 122 more wins and another NCC title. Those wins coupled with his as a player gave him 225 victories during his Fighting Sioux tenure. Of those victories, 197 came during the 1990s, a figure that still stands as the most wins in any decade since the program's inception in 1904.

"The fans, the coaches and the teammates: those are really the things when I have the opportunity to spend some time with my former teammates that we talk about," Jacobson said. "We really don't talk much about specific games or specific situations.

"It seems to really revolve around the fans and playing in the Hyslop and the way that place was on game night.  The guys that were on those teams and our coaches – that is what my memories always revolve around."

After a quick one-year detour 70 miles south of Grand Forks at North Dakota State, Jacobson followed former UND assistant coach Greg McDermott to Northern Iowa for his first taste of Division I basketball.

In just their third season in Cedar Falls, the Panthers reached the NCAA Tournament. It would be the first of three consecutive trips to the Big Dance, including two at-large bids, for UNI from 2004-06. This stretch of success would inevitably lead McDermott to the head coaching post at Iowa State, opening the door for Jacobson to take over the Panther program.

"I really got into it after my second year of college," Jacobson recalled. "From that point on, I knew I wanted to coach and continue to be around the game. It ended up working out.

"Coach Glas gave me an opportunity right out of college and got me started. And, Mac has really helped me along the way. Because of those two guys, I have found myself in a terrific situation right now at Northern Iowa."

After back-to-back 18 win seasons to begin his head coaching career, Jacobson guided his UNI squad back to the marquee event in college basketball last season. He has posted a 66-39 record during his three-plus seasons a top the Panthers' program.

One of those victories was bitter sweet, coming against his alma mater last year in Cedar Falls. Jacobson's squad jumped out to a 38-19 halftime lead and went on to post a 69-49 victory over UND. It was probably a little easier on his emotions being at his new home.

But, when you talk with Jacobson and hear his voice swell with pride for his home state and alma mater, coming back to your original home as the opposition will be an entirely different experience.

"That is probably the thing that drove us the most,” Jacobson said about being able to play at UND. "Obviously, the competition and the opportunity to win a championship and play in the NCAA Tournament, those are all things that motivate and drive you, but one thing that I think really helped our group and separated us from some of the teams we were playing against was always the amount of pride we took in wearing that jersey."

He will be coaching against that same North Dakota jersey and those players in it will be trying to knock off his Panthers come Saturday. Time will only tell how gut-wrenching that will be.

That time starts at 1 p.m., and for the ensuing two hours, Jacobson will wage his coaching skills against his alma mater. The sounds he grew accustomed to hearing during his playing days at the rowdy Hyslop Sports Center will be transferred to UND's new arena, but the cheering will not be for his club.  

It will be an awkward feeling to hear the green-clad fans rooting against him, but regardless of the outcome, Jacobson will savor this little trek back to his roots. In the end, it will be another leg on his triumphant ride through college basketball, but  Jacobson will always cherish where it began.
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