Opinion Corner: Jimmie hoops will be just fine

Talk about it

It was hardly a month ago Matt Murken was sitting next to me here at the Sun offices. We were discussing the upcoming season, summer plans, his coaching staff — shooting the breeze would be the technical term.

About a month later, Murken is gone. Off to Minot to tackle the challenging men’s basketball coaching job with the Beavers.

When the men’s basketball season rolls around at Jamestown College, things will look very different. Almost completely different, in fact.

Gone are head coach Murken, assistant coach Tyler Bormann. Seniors Travis Burley, Byron Jones and B.J. Mertens graduated. Although, Byron will be on the bench as the new assistant coach, which everyone agrees is a very good thing. One of the last things I talked to Murken about was how excited he was to have Jones as his right-hand man.

The Preiner brothers — Drew and Luke — won’t be back either. Drew in particular had a big freshman season, but they decided to leave school.

Who is still here after the dust settles and the new coach is hired is an open question.

But one thing that likely will continue is winning.

When Brad Huse left Jeff Trumbauer came and hardly missed a beat. Trumbauer left for Augustana and in came Murken — he won too.

The Jimmies don’t win because of their facilities. It could be said they win despite them. Their coaches aren’t paid the most and they don’t even really have a conference.

However, there is a culture of winning, of success at Jamestown College. Not just in basketball, either.

Few schools do more with less than the athletic department at Jamestown College.

So while things may seem uncertain at least for now in regards to the Jimmie men’s basketball team, it likely won’t be long before they are back to doing what they normally do — win.

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at dselvig@jamestownsun.com

Tags: college basketball, opinion corner, sports, jimmies, basketball, opinion