Coach Dave Richman on North Dakota State's Record-Breaking Run & The Road Back to the Dance

The Splash City Basketball Podcast is gearing up for the Big Dance! In this special Selection Sunday segment, we are joined by Dave Richman, head coach of the 14-seeded North Dakota State Bison.

While this interview was recorded before the brackets were unveiled—revealing a first-round matchup against 3-seed Michigan State in Buffalo—Coach Richman dives deep into the "competitive character" that led this squad to a program-record 27 wins.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Cutting Down the Nets: A recap of the Bison’s 70–62 victory over in-state rival UND to claim the Summit League Championship.
• The 2020 Heartbreak: Richman reflects on the "dominant" 2020 team that had the tournament "ripped from them" due to the pandemic.
• Building a Culture: How the Bison navigate the "transactional" era of the transfer portal and NIL while keeping a focus on "transformational" relationships.
• The "Nash" Factor: The development of sophomore point guard Andy Stevanowicz, whose elite vision and "eyes-up" playmaking have become a luxury for the Bison offense.
• Preparation Mode: Why Coach Richman focuses on "the best version of ourselves" rather than worrying about the opponent during the long wait for Selection Sunday.

Tournament Info:

The Bison (14) take on the Michigan State Spartans (3) this Thursday at 3:05 PM CT in Buffalo, NY.

Don’t Miss the Breakdown:

Catch our full Selection Sunday live stream replay on YouTube or the Splash City Basketball Podcast feed, available wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us on Instagram, Bluesky, and Facebook for live updates during all the madness!

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or YouTube. 

Follow Splash City Basketball Podcast on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Back in there, back in there, back again. Whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome everyone to the Splash City basketball podcast. It is March Madness. The selection show is over. We know who's playing who and when. But before we get in today's guest, a quick reminder for any bracket junkies or people interested in breaking down the matchups. My full selection Sunday show live stream is available now on YouTube. You can watch the replay there, or I will upload and you will be able to do it as an audio podcast wherever you get your podcast. Just find the Splash City Basketball Podcast. And while you're at it, make sure to follow on Instagram, Blue Sky, Facebook, wherever. Like and subscribe, do all the things. Make sure you leave comments and reviews if you feel so inclined. I would appreciate it immensely. But today's guest is a man who has his program in the NCAA tournament. He is the Summit League Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award given to the mid-major coach of the year. He led the North Dakota State buys into a program 27 wins and regular season and conference tournament titles. NDSU received the 14th seed in the East Region. They will play Michigan State and Tom Izzo on Thursday at 305 Central in Buffalo, New York. I met coach Dave Richman probably about 18 years ago now while he was recruiting the state of Minnesota. Always had a tremendous amount of respect for him, the NDSU program, the way they uh treat the players and the way they the players develop under their program. Um so uh with that, uh let's get into my conversation with head coach Dave Richman of the North Dakota State University Bison. All right, last Sunday at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the North Dakota State Bison defeated in-state rival UND 70-62 to claim another Summit League championship. Uh record-breaking the 27th win of the season and officially punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament. This is the Bison's first uh big dance appearance in 2019, though I do want to say the 2020 team I think qualified uh and we had the worst pandemic of our lifetime. So unfortunately couldn't make it that year. But thanks to head coach of the Bison Summit League Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Hugh Durham Award, I believe, uh head coach Dave Richmond. Dave, thanks a lot for jumping on.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Yeah, Steve. It's uh it's great to catch up. You know, this this winning thing brings you back to a lot of memories and cool experiences. And uh yeah, I mean, it it's an exciting time to be a bison. Um, you know, you know me, I've been here for 684 years, so it's it's always exciting and easy for me to get behind, you know, the spirit and in atmosphere of college athletics and bison athletics and all those things too. But no, I'm excited to join you here for uh for a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Absolutely, man. I'm glad you brought up the kind of the history. Uh I don't think it's quite that many years, but you've been there for all tournament appearances, I believe. And so as you think about the six tournament appearances in school history, um, what makes this team and this specific run special and unique?

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Yeah, no, and I appreciate you asking the question that way because if you're gonna ask me to compare, it's like comparing your own kids. And and you know, they're all they're all different, they all got their, you know, their quirks and annoyances, and then they all got the things, you know, you just absolutely love. But you know, the first two in 09 was was obviously really, really special because that was the first year we were eligible, and and that group, you know, redshirted and put everything out there for that one. And I was an assistant for that one, and and then we turned around and were able to do it in 14, and that was a loaded group. Not only did we win our league, but then went on and won a game, beat Oklahoma in the NCAA tournament. And then I was extremely fortunate. Probably the best thing, Steve, that ever happened to me as a head coach was you know, a player by the name of Lawrence Alexander. And uh LA was just the the consummate pro, uh, any lead gamer. And uh he was our point guard, you know, he was a senior point guard my first year and kind of gave me the confidence, the conviction to go to go forward, you know, as a coach. And and that year um, you know, started, couldn't have started worse. And then um just kind of picked up steam and and we went on and beat South Dakota State and then turned around. And then been a couple years, you know, we we'd gotten back to the championship game, but just weren't able to get that deal closed. And in night 2019 was a little bit uh of a slow start. It wasn't a little bit, it was a lot of a slow start. I think we were two and nine at one point, but you know, we had a group that just kind of stuck together and kept getting better every single day, and it's kind of been the ML. I think everybody looks for the secret of why we've been successful, you know, in this league and in in March in particular, and there's no real secrets, it's hard work, it's it's an attitude to get better every day. And 19 was fun. 19 happened really, really fast where we caught some steam and we won our league, and all of a sudden you're in Dayton playing in the first four. Um, you win that game, and three in the morning the next, you know, that the next morning you're landing in South Carolina, and all of a sudden you're on CBS playing Duke and Zion Williamson and all those guys, and guy by the name of Mike Sheshewski. So um incredible experience. And then, man, it still crushes me. Uh, it really does. Like the 2020 year was was great. Um just an absolute dominant team. We won our championship game that year by 30 some. And then a couple days later, I'm sitting on my floor in my room, balling my eyes out, Steve. Like it just got the tournament ripped from us. And like you said, uh you know, a pandemic of of historic proportions and shut the world down. And um, but you know, those guys are gonna be fine. I I'm fine. What makes this group special? I think it's a couple things. One, you know, for me personally, it had just been a minute, and and you never got that satisfaction of taking that 2020 group and to to that stage. And then I think the other, the big thing with this group is just there's so much that has changed in our profession. Uh, you talk a lot about portal, you talk about name, image, and likeness and countless other eligibility things. And and so you have to, you have to pivot, you have to adapt, you have to embrace these changes. I didn't say once that you have to like them, um, but but you have to you know you know you have to embrace them all. And you know, we we were able to do those things. I got a tremendous staff that you know challenged me to make some adjustments on the court. We did those things that tremendous staff that challenged me in the roster construction. We have, you know, we have guys from Miami, Florida, to from you know, Bowling Green, uh, Kentucky to Finland and Serbia. You know, things things come together a lot different. Things in the spring in particular come to come together a lot quicker. Um, but it there's still a lot of purity to it. There's still five guys out there. Um there's still the relationships, and I think the big thing, the word that I've used probably a million times in the last 48 to 72 hours is competitive character. You know, there's there's talent that you can go acquire, and that's not what we're about. We want competitive character, guys that fit our style, that that fit our climate, that fit our culture. And that's a big reason why, you know, all these groups, but in particular right now, this group has been successful.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

I wasn't gonna go transfer portal this early in the conversation, but since you brought it up, um it is obviously a challenge at all levels to kind of manage roster. And there's like some good and some bad, right? Players come up, some come down from higher level programs, but I was looking at your roster, and you know, obviously Damari Wheeler Thomas and Noah Federson Jr.'s been with you the whole time. Um Trayson Anderson kind of waited his turn um playing behind Jackson Money last year. So in this like kind of transactional stage, you just mentioned like relationships. Um, how have you, you know, how do you communicate that to your your team? Um, and how do you get them to kind of buy into that bison culture that you've developed?

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Yeah, and then and and you're right, there's and and we talk about it. There, it's a in a lot of ways, a very transactional landscape, society in college basketball right now. But I refuse to live my life, I refuse to coach this team, I refuse to lead this program from that mindset, and and we're gonna continue to make it very transformational, you know, as a as a person, as a student, and as a basketball player. And and what I've just had to adjust to is we're gonna do that, we're gonna make it transformational just as long as you're here. And we we want you here as long as we can provide your happiness. Um if you see better or you think you're gonna be happier elsewhere, then then you need to go. And and you know, so like it's something that I, you know, it it's not like this big elephant in a room anymore for me. We we have open discussions about it, you know, throughout the course of the year. These guys are getting hit up all the time in their DMs with agents and those things. And, you know, it's it's my job to keep them comfortable, to keep them understanding that, yeah, this is okay, but our focus right now is this version of the bison basketball. And the more you can focus in on us, uh, the better things are gonna be for you. And then every spring, you know, so after our, you know, hopefully we we make a run in the instant A tournament. But when when our season's done, Steve, we'll sit down and we'll we'll sit down with each and every one of our guys and we'll talk about their happiness. And um it's it's all part of it. But I know this like experience, uh, you're better today than you were six months ago. I would hope you would tell me that. And and I feel like I'm a better coach, you know, today. And so um in in the fall, we go out and and we still do a lot of the high school recruiting. And in the spring, whatever needs we fill, we we with the voids that we have, we fill that with experience. And whether that be we have junior college kids, we have division two portal kids, we have division one portal kids, it's a it's a blend, a little bit of a yours, mine, and ours type family.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Sure. Um, you know, you brought up the high school recruiting trail. I noticed you guys had signed five guys um for this next year's class, which I again I kind of feel like is unique in this environment. Like you might see one or two, and then you're gonna load up on junior college and transfers and this and that. Um, and so like to me that that also speaks a little bit to to the culture and and the word you're spreading about how you build your program if you're getting high school kids to buy in like that.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Yeah, I mean, I mean, at the end of the day, I I still love the ultimate development piece, and that's taking upper Midwest high school kids, you know, um from upper Midwest families with the blue-collar values that want to grow and get better and be coached and be loved and compete and do do those things. Um and and you know, who know who knows how it takes out. Maybe maybe we took one too many. Now, a couple of them are are walk-ons, and so we we certainly have some space to go out and get some guys. And but make no mistake, anybody that we take in the in this coming spring, depending on what kind of voids we have and what kind of needs we have, it's gonna be somebody that's gonna be able to for sure, you know, in in in theory come in and impact the program. Um, and you know, more than likely that'll be there'll be some age behind that, there'll be some experience with that. Uh we will continue to Trayvion Carson was our first team you know all summit league player. He was a junior college kid. Um Mark High Strickland has started pretty much every game at the four. You know, he was a division one transfer. Tay Smith has been elite for us off the bench. He was a division two transfer. So, you know, we're gonna continue to kick tires and and um you know, but a big piece of those conversations too in the spring will be you know seeing who wants to come back and and retaining the right guys as well.

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Yeah, I mean, you mentioned a couple guys there. I I think you have six players averaging at least nine points a game. Uh just really good balance. Um, what I like about you guys is you can kind of play you have some size, you have some athleticism with Strickland, like you said, on the wing. Um, you have good guards, which you know makes for a fun, I would guess, uh first round matchup. Like no matter who you play, obviously there's some tough matchups, and matchups are uh independent in the NCAA tournament, but I do like how you guys are kind of uh fitting to to kind of play a few different styles if you need to. I know you kind of have a preferred style, but uh how do you kind of look? I know you don't know who you're playing yet, but like do you kind of feel that way about your team having multiple weapons?

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Yeah, and and and I would again, like I would say, you know, preferred style. Like maybe I did have a preferred style, you know, in the past. And I think that's where you know you adjust your recruiting, but you also adjust your style of play a little bit. And and I would I would tell you that we spend a lot of our time in the summer kind of figuring out what we have and how those pieces blend together. And we're playing completely different style defensively, you know, that than we other than we ever have. Last year we had, you know, two really high-level scorers in Jacari White, who's now at Virginia, and and uh Jackson Money, who's with the Golden State Warriors G League team. And so those were kind of your guys. And you know, um, did I like that style better than this style? I honestly it doesn't really matter to me as long as it's a it's a winning, you know, fun, selfless brand of basketball, and and it takes what it takes in each and every year. And now this group is this group's pretty hard to tee off on because there are multiple guys and multiple times that can go out and just get buckets. And um we we've talked a little a lot about it locally to the media here and about a superpower. Uh, you know, we we because of our experience and because of our depth and versatility, we've been very effective down the stretch in games of closing out games or coming back and you know making some big winning plays. And now I'd love for us to have a bigger superpower and just finish those games and and choke somebody out when we were up 20. And we've too many times we've let you know our opponent back in the game, but um, you know, we're winning games. And you know, at the end of the day, that that's the ultimate deal of winning games and then going back to work the next day and and getting better. And so um, you know, when when you talk about roster construction, you talk about style of play, there's just been a lot of adapting and bracing to the change.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Yeah. Um, you know, talking about winning games. I was looking at your like non-conference schedule, and there may be not a ton of super sexy high major opponents, and um, I know Travis Steele at Miami, and I I think Anthony Grant kind of echoed some comments about how a lot of these programs don't play mid-majors anymore. Um, but I think you you know, looking at, you know, you got Montana, you had Drake, uh, Southern Illinois, so you got a couple Missouri Valley teams, you know, Oregon State in there. Um when you like just as you think about your schedule and what you are capable of getting right now on your schedule, um, it seems to me that you kind of prepared and and took some, you know, took some shots in the non-con to get to this point. I think that's a recipe for success for a lot of teams.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Yeah, no, I I'd love to tell you, you know, there was a there was a rhyme or reason to our schedule. And I I tell you the only real rhyme or reason is is we needed to fill out a schedule. And um, you know, scheduling in North Dakota, Fargo, North Dakota has always been a challenge because it's a remote location. There is not a geography where there's a lot of players. Um, and because of our successes, that makes it even harder. And so, like, like like I would get behind what you know, Coach Grant and Coach Steele are are talking about of all the things happening right now, Steve. Scheduling, non-conference scheduling might be the most challenging part of our job. And um I I can and I'm I'm not about these things, but you know, we could pull up Josh Jones, who does our schedule, we could pull up his email and the names and the list of people that said no to no to us. And but you know, but at the end of the day, we have to fill out a schedule. And so we have to go wherever, whenever, and there's there's parameters. We have to, you know, bring in X amount of money. Um, we have to work towards home games. Um, then there's the bumper car games of dates. High major leagues are getting bigger and bigger and thus don't play as many uh mid-major teams. And I think the other the other thing that's really uh a minus for us in the challenge is when you talk quads, uh, a lot of quad one you know teams, quote unquote, are playing quad ones and and that's it, except for quad fours. It's because they're playing so many quad one games that they want a couple, you know, buy games for wins. And and we don't fall in either one of those categories right now. So uh it makes it a real challenge. But you know, again, like I th I think like anything, you have to accept challenges and um figure it out. And um, as my old boss Saul Phillips used to tell me, we always fill out a schedule, and you know, so far he's been right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Well, I mean, despite that, like I still think I look at that like UC Irvine game and I'm like, that's a great game for game. I know you lost by one, but like that's a good program, maybe an NTAA tournament team. We'll see how it goes.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

But um, you know, there's there's teams that like that, you know, that's a great point, and that's that's where we've gone is you know, you can sit around and wait, wait, wait, but you you when when it gets to the end of the summer or early fall and you still need games, you end up in the same conversations like Irvine and Miami and Um, you know, the the the Drakes had you know had been good, and and you know, we were in discussions with Belmont. Like there's just the you're gonna have to play somebody good, and and that's just the the bottom line. And um, like I said at the end of the we we we have some challenges, we've had some agreements with the big sky, you know, that that that has certainly helped. It gets you some home games, and and then you know, I just appreciate the coach that coaches that want to, you know, that want to fight, that want to challenge a little bit, that they aren't running from things because I I think maybe a couple years ago I was I was that, but now I've just learned like how how can I fill the schedule and you know, and and not not just to be done to be done. Um, but but it's it's it's one of the more challenging parts of our job right now. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Uh let's talk a little bit about uh the team you got this year, the tournament coming up. So uh curious on, you know, as a as a high school coach, senior night was always a challenge, right? Like a lot of distractions. And then you go to the state tournament and there's distractions. What is the distraction level? Or uh maybe, maybe having been there, what do you know to do and not to do the week of NC the NCAA tournament with travel and media availability and and the distractions that come with that?

SPEAKER_01 17:41

Yeah, you know, different question, great question. I I would say I break it down into layers. You know, number one, senior night is is a really special deal for me. You know, like I wore a quarter zip all year, threw on a sport coat for that and a you know, a button-up shirt. Like I, you know, I wanted those seniors to feel those moments. And, you know, going into that game, you know, Steve, we we talked about um emotions versus emotional. Like you can't be emotional in the game, and and you see it across the country. There's there's a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, and then all of a sudden it's coming to an end. But you know, credit to our guys, they handled it really well. We had a little bit of a slow start against North Dakota, settled in, and then just really, really popped them. And I I think what what I've learned is is it's the process is always ongoing. And you know, like we and then we we talk a lot about being present, Steve. Like, so it's a so when you're doing a media thing, be present in that. When someone's congratulating you about your season and and those successes, you know, be present, share that joy. And then in a film session, lock in. You know, like what do I need to learn today? And then the other thing that I've probably learned is um no matter how I think it's gonna go, it usually never goes that way. And in particular, those first, you know, eight to twelve minutes of a game, you're gonna just, you know, you gotta figure some things out. And I do a little sheet about my, you know, about myself and control different things. And you know, one of the things you know, faith has become a really big part of my life. And um, I talk a lot about grace and mercy. You know, these are kids. They're they're they're not going out there and trying to make a mistake, they're not trying to miss the shot. And um just just having an understanding, allow them to get comfortable in that environment and those circumstances. And uh, I thought I thought you saw that, you know, the opener against Oral Roberts, you know, it was just a choppy game. I never felt like we um, you know, weren't gonna win. There's, you know, uh Damari hit a big shot when they had cut it a little bit, but I felt like in Omaha was kind of the anomaly where we just got up early and then just blew them out. Um and then the North Dakota game, man, it just had me had me think a lot because one, it's your in-state rival, you'd just blown them out the last two weeks. I think there was a lot of anticipation that maybe we were gonna play St. Thomas. I think some of our guys wanted that St. Thomas game because of revenge, uh, because they had just absolutely smacked us at their place the week before. So it's just my job to just shape them and and keep them present. And and then the other things for us that we've done a little different. We've got a I've got a tremendous staff right now, and um, they do a lot of the basketball stuff. I don't shy away from those things and and uh letting them do their thing and organize, you know, how we're gonna play, what style, what adjustments we're gonna make, and you know, me managing the guys a little bit, substitutions and those things.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

So a local kid here uh down in the Twin Cities, Stefanowitz, um sophomore point guard for you. Um you know, I know uh Damari is uh in the backcourt as well, so you kind of have that presence there. But but what has Andy meant to your team? Because to me, he's just a very steady, uh, smooth player that doesn't seem to get rattled too much.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Yeah, I mean he's he's just been dynamite. The first two games, we went to Oregon State and then we went to UC Davis and we brought Andy off the bench. And I just I just struggled. Not not necessarily not having him, I just struggled seeing him sit on the on the court or on the bench, you know, to start the games and from a culture standpoint. And um, excuse me, it's also been a great learning experience. Like we we talk so much about all these big guys, but this is a guards game, and and the guards and to have multiple ball handlers in the backcourt for us, like it's been a real luxury. And and Annie in particular is uh, you know, I say this all the time, you know, like like how you're always taught to dribble with your eyes up, your head up, and but nobody really does. They're always looking over to see where the ball's going. Like Andy's eyes are always up, coach. And if your hands aren't ready, like you're gonna have a broken nose or a bloody nose at bare minimum. And um, it's just like from a head coach's standpoint, it's the ultimate luxury. Like you, you just feel you feel comfortable more often than not, you're telling a guy, move it, pass it, pass it, move it. Like when when Andy's dribbling and sometimes he's just dribbling around, like the old Steve Nash stuff, like the guys have learned to cut and play off of them. And like um, he he he comes from a basketball. I mean, the pedigree is is unbelievable. You know, mom was a stud, and and dad, um, dad played college basketball at two, and and and mom and dad have always challenged Andy to. play at a higher level and um and he's just a a real real luxury and and at the end of the day he's just big time big time people um you know now he we you you roll him out there and and he doesn't look like much his stature you know he he can look for we're we're at Denver this year and um right across from our bench it was a great crowd. Denver never has a crowd but you know the buys were in town and they got a great crowd and Andy hits a dagger three just closes the game and he turns around he turns around again he's kind of barking and I'm you know I'm trying to police it a little bit but yet hey go have your moment kid I find out later well they've been telling him hey you need to get a sandwich Andy get a sandwich you need to eat a sandwich Andy because because he's so skinny um but um I mean he's great and and again you you go back to not not I don't know say what's right because everything is you know with this roster is right but what we're used to here is an upper Midwest kid whose parents were bison um that you know that's been here for a couple years now and and won a state championship at Minnetonka and like Andy's a winner.

SPEAKER_00 23:00

Mm-hmm. Yeah it was a fun matchup with him and Ullman uh UND both Minnetonka boys uh going at it so um I think I've seen uh Mark Kai have a few benefits of that Nash dribble uh from from Stevana what's this year some highlight dunks as well um so let's let's kind of wrap with I don't know you know if you have inklings uh uh of where you're going or you know what what kind of part of the country you might be playing in um and I'm not gonna even ask you if you have a preferred one thank you but um well I do I do have a preferred one I want to go to like Tampa or San Diego I was gonna say somewhere warm yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah um but as you get ready like what are you doing to prepare uh you know you're uh almost a week out here from from the first couple of games like what are you doing at right now as a staff just kind of locking in on on on what you guys do and then you'll put in start putting in some game plan stuff on on Sunday night Monday or how how does this work?

SPEAKER_01 24:00

Yeah no I mean it it's different. So the last time we were in this um you know the Summer League championship used to be on a Tuesday and so by the time you got back and reset you know selection Sunday was right around the corner but um you know I take advantage I'm I pride myself in being a good listener Steve and and uh so take advantage of your resources I was on the phone the other day with Ben Jacobson in northern Iowa and they're going too and we just kind of had a discussion and so I I thought it was important to number you're playing three games in four days and and there's a lot of uh emotions and you're physically mentally exhausted and those things so we we didn't touch them at all Monday or Tuesday. It was actually this morning was the first time you know we got back together in the court and we just did some group individuals and there was there was great energy and spirit moving them around and um if if you've seen us play you know no offense to our opponents but like what we care about is us. And we I I think that's really helped us. We don't do a lot of adjustments based on our personnel we're gonna go out there and and work to be the best version of ourselves. And so I love it. And and and I it's a little bit of like going into the summer league tournament Oral Roberts and Kansas City played each other. We didn't know who our opponent was going to be so Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of that week we could focus on us and getting through a ball screen better, you know, you know working on this little action you know how do we get this guy just a little bit better. And so that that's really been our focus and that will be our focus in particular tomorrow and Friday we're gonna go after him. We're gonna get after him pretty good just to get that competitive fiber and the competitive spirit and and and we we I I I addressed it this morning like we can't control where we're going to control who we're playing we can't control you know our attitude and our effort and our trust as we go out there and and practice today. And but I also said too the summer league tournament well I want to treat it like a series. We we won that series and now we're moving on to the next series and I I I think um and I and this group gives me the confidence to say that like we're we're gonna we're gonna put ourselves in a position to do something. I firmly believe that and so that's uh but that will not happen if we don't have a great week of practice this week.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Yeah I mean I remember that 2014 team so let's uh let's try to replicate that maybe another win or two yeah yeah that was a that was a fun group so well thanks again uh Dave I appreciate it good best of luck wherever you go uh we'll be watching got a great team uh great program uh thanks a lot for joining me today well it's great to catch up appreciate you having us on and all the best to you all right thanks thank you all right that's the episode for today thanks again to Dave Richmond head coach of the NDSU Bison and good luck to them as they head out east to take on Michigan State and the Spartans in the east region of the NCAA men's basketball tournament this Thursday 305 Central don't forget to tune in. It's gonna be a great first day on Thursday um and also I want to again remind you if if this is before Thursday head out to back channel brewing in Spring Park just west of the metro really easy to get to uh nice driver on the lake out there. Join me at Back Channel Brewing. I'll be there from 5 to 7 p.m on Thursday watching games breaking it down we'll catch hopefully the end of the NDSU game and then we got North Carolina VCU on tap as well so we'll be talking about the games talking about the experiences and everything related to March Madness at Back Channel Brewing Thursday March 19th all right with that let's get out of here get on with your day hope you have a great one again thank you for listening this has been the Splash City basketball podcast