In its first year eligible for the NCAA Tournament, North Dakota nearly upset Weber State in the Big Sky tournament semis to have a chance to play for that auto bid. With their entire core returning to Grand Forks, North Dakota is off to a good start towards making a run to the Big Sky tournament title.
Their job became a bit easier today when the school announced it will add two transfers.
Needing a big man, the school added Chad Calcaterra, who spent last year at Nebraska Community College after his Freshman season at Colorado State. Calcaterra averaged only about 3.5 points per game, but at 6'10" he should be able to add some size and rebounding for a team that sorely needs it.
The big prize, though, is point guard Estan Tyler. Unlike Calcaterra, Tyler will have to sit out a year, but with both of UND's point guards set to graduate in 2014 Tyler will enter the program at the perfect time. He transfers from Missouri-Kansas City where he led the team in scoring at 11.2 points per game. Tyler shot just 42% from two, but shot 43% from three and 84% from the line. He turned the ball over too much, but a lot of that was probably due to his teammates, as UMKC won just 9 games all season.
North Dakota won't enter either of the next two seasons as favorites in the Big Sky, but with the improvements they have shown recently and the talent they continue to add they will have a chance to go to the NCAA tournament for the first time.
