School on High Plains drifts onto No. 14 line

The New York Times has a fun story about North Dakota State, Kansas’ opponent in the first round of the NCAA men’s tournament.

The Bison play in the Summit League, also the home of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. NDSU made the NCAA field in its first year of eligibility, making it an especially cuddly entry from a non-power conference.

North Dakota isn’t known for producing tremendous athletes. Travis Hafner, the Cleveland Indians’ lumbering designated hitter, leads all Major League Baseball players born in North Dakota in home runs, with 147.

The state did turn out interesting basketball coaches. Lakers head coach Phil Jackson went to high school in Williston. Dale Brown, who led LSU to two Final Fours, was born in Minot.

Brown captured the state’s essence in a quote that appeared in Sports Illustrated a few years ago. “I once asked my father-in-law, who worked on the railroad outdoors on the border of North Dakota and Canada, how he could stand the cold. He told me, ‘It surely keeps the riffraff out.'”