UMD Bulldog Feature Series continues with another contribution from Pete LaFleur.  The Bulldogs will be debuting feature pieces on its programs throughout the upcoming athletic season.
 
Story by Pete LaFleur
Movers & Shakers: UMD Men's Basketball on Fast Track to History
 
Most visitors to the University of Minnesota Duluth's Romano Gymnasium can't help but see the words.
 
It's emblazoned on t-shirts and ball caps. It's spelled out on stickers and bulletin boards. It can be spotted throughout the locker-room decor. It's prominent on letterhead and other team literature.
 
It's the unquestioned motto of the UMD men's basketball program. Five seemingly simple words that mean so much more, on multiple levels:
 
Make Moves or Get Moved.
 
 
"It's a mentality of showing up every day and having that drive to work hard and get better, day by day," explains UMD fourth-year head coach Justin Wieck, whose coaching career has included a variety of roles at four different collegiate levels, ranging from NAIA to NCAA Division I.
 
The team mantra extends well beyond the basketball court, to academics; personal relationships; offseason training; and alumni outreach. It's a way of living, far more that a trite, throwaway catchphrase.
 
"We want highly self-motivated guys, who are driven and competitive. Players who flat-out love the game and want to push themselves, and also push their teammates," says a fired-up Wieck. "We provide a unique mix: a basketball program on the rise, a great city, high academics and many other positives. We can go head-to-head with anyone."
 
"If we get 15 guys in our locker room all committed to our culture, we're in business. If you aren't like that, you are going to stick out, because we have lots of guys on the bench who could start at other programs … but they also want to win and are great teammates."
 
 
A SEASON for the RECORD BOOKS
 
In the wake of an impressive 23-4 regular season, the Bulldogs reached the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) championship game for the first time in 18 years. They head into this week's NCAA Central Regional as that site's No. 2 seed, and certainly a darkhorse contender for advancing to the NCAA Elite Eight (which starts March 24, in Evansville, Ind.).
 
UMD, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003, finds itself three wins away from a landmark step in the program's history: reaching the final week of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
The host of the eight-team Central Regional is a familiar foe, Augustana, which claimed the top seed to replicate its seeding from the NSIC tournament. If UMD can defeat 7-seed Washburn (March 12; 2:30 CT), they then would face the winner of 6-seed Minnesota State-Moorhead vs. [3] Northwest Missouri State, the defending NCAA champion. Either of those potential Sunday opponents would pose a formidable challenge, as Moorhead knocked off UMD in the NSIC title game, 81-73 (avenging a pair of regular-season losses).
 
With 4-seed Upper Iowa also in the regional field, the odds favor at least one NSIC team (if not two) appearing in Tuesday's regional final. [5] Central Oklahoma and [8] Southwestern Oklahoma round out the other side of the bracket.
 
The Bulldogs have been nationally ranked most of the season, including a program-best No. 5 in early January. UMD's torrid 16-0 start to the season included numerous blowouts, led by the largest winning margin in program history (76 points; 123-48 vs. Northland College) and a notable 76-42 win at Michigan Tech, a team that later climbed into the top-25.
 
As Wieck walked out of the gym that late-November day at Michigan Tech, he thought to himself "dang, we've got a chance to be pretty good." His high-octane offensive team had also shined on the defensive end, forcing 17 Huskies turnovers while limiting the host team to 29.6% shooting.
 
Five weeks later, UMD survived a 107-105, double-overtime shootout at Ferris State, in a matchup of teams with identical mascots and color schemes. That quality non-conference win came against a Ferris program only four years removed from winning the NCAA title. 
 
UMD heads into the 2022 NCAAs averaging 86 points per game (+14.5 scoring margin) while shooting above 50 percent (51.3%; good for 7th-best in the nation). Possibly contrary to popular belief, the Bulldogs also have played quality defense, allowing only 42.5 percent opponent shooting (second-best in the NSIC).
 
FAMILY AWAY FROM FAMILY
 
The concept of in loco parentis – the Latin term for supervision by an administrative body acting in the place of a parent – has evolved over the years within higher education. Particularly in college athletics, there is no denying that young people quite often are in need of essentially surrogate parents, in the form of various athletic department coaches and support staff.
 
Such a concept fits within the UMD Athletics guiding principles of the "Three Cs" – classroom, competition and community.
 
"Coach Wieck does a really good job putting his personal relationship with us before the basketball," says sophomore center Austin Andrews, the NSIC North Division Player of the Year.
 
"He's a younger coach and it's easy to connect with him. When my grandpa passed away, I was really struggling, and coach was always there to talk. He advised me that I needed to go to the funeral and don't worry about practice. He always has our back."
 
Andrews notes that, prior to every practice, Wieck huddles up with the team to check in with how they are doing, even working in a joke or two: "his style, even in that small way, makes every day so much more enjoyable."
 
For Wieck, that approach simply is who he is … and it's part of a larger philosophy.
 
"We try to provide a family experience that makes players feel comfortable and connected, beyond just our time on the floor," says the fourth-year head coach. "I want our coaches, players, families and alumni to be connected and having fun. I don't want players dragging when they come to practice. There are times I have to push them, but they need to be having fun in what they do."
 
"I try not to take anything too seriously. The sun comes up the next day. I've got three kids to take to school, and coach their sports teams in the summer. I love raising my kids, just like I love coaching. I try to keep it all in perspective."
 
Speaking of Wieck's family – wife/high school sweetheart Laura; son Jordy and daughters Anya and Ella (each born in a different city among their dad's coaching stops) – they also are integral members of the UMD basketball family. 
 
"Laura & I take a ton of pride in being players' home-away-from-home parents. And as my kids are getting older, it's awesome the experiences and relationships they're forming with the players," adds Wieck, who has seen son Jordy assume the role of "one of the guys" as he travels with the team on road trips.
 
"Our players have been fantastic in treating each other and my kids as one big family. The experiences that coaches kids get being around older athletes is impossible to describe."
 
Prior to the final home game this season, a poignant moment played out at Romano Gymnasium, as part of the Senior Night ceremony. Graduate transfer Jacob Shields, a Houston native who played the previous two seasons for NSIC member Concordia St. Paul, was not able to have any family members make the trip from Texas.
 
The Wieck family crafted a solution: Laura and Anya stood in as Jacob's family, walking with him to center court.
 
"That was one little piece of the love I've received here," says Shields, who admitted to being down in the dumps the previous few days, since his family could not attend.
 
"JDubs family [a.ka. the Wieck clan] stepped in and held me up. I'll remember that forever. When you're far from home, it's a great thing to be surrounded by people who genuinely care about your wellbeing outside of the sport. I wish I could've been a part of that type of culture for all my years of playing."
 
The 6-foot-6 Shields, who has emerged as the team's primary reserve forward, knew he was joining a special program early on.
 
"My first impression was 'okay these young guys are talented, what is missing?' They weren't lacking leadership, as all are natural leaders, whether it's physical or emotional," says Shields. "I wanted to see what I could add and it turned out to just be confidence and bring grit and toughness. They were building great culture way before we stepped on the court."
 
It's often a fine balance between a coach being close with players without having a lack of control. No such problem within the UMD program.
 
"Coach Wieck being such a great players coach does not mean we get to do what we want," says veteran small forward Drew Blair, another former transfer who first got to know Wieck during the high school recruiting process.
 
"We still have great respect for coach Wieck and are going to do what he says. We trust him so much, like he trusts us. He's going to push us but he's also going to make sure we are fresh, prepared and having fun."
 
STRONG BODY; STRONG MIND
 
UMD's high-flying offense features 70 plays (yes, 70) … and in the future there could be more.
 
"I'm like a football offensive coordinator at heart. I wish I could run 100 plays," admits Wieck, sheepishly, with a tinge of mad scientist. "But we've also found success in letting guys improvise at times to maximize their skills."
 
"We try to mix the two styles: quick hitters/sets while also letting guys play with freedom. They really enjoy that type of system."
 
Andrews is quick to note that "70-plus plays is not easy to remember, and the coaches have recruited high-academic guys who can quickly learn new plays and learn a lot of plays overall."
 
For opponents, facing a UMD squad with five potential 20-point scorers is challenge enough. But the Bulldogs deep playbook makes them even tougher to prepare for and defend on the fly.
 
"If something's not working offensively, there are so many other things we can go to," adds Andrews. "We're a hard team to scout."
 
UMD's impressive numbers extend beyond the stat sheet … to the report cards and test scores. The 2020 fall and 2021 spring semesters yielded the two highest team grade-point averages (3.61 and 3.48) in program history.
 
Andrews – a pre-civil engineering major with a 3.89 cumulative GPA through his first three semesters – recently was named to the prestigious CoSIDA Academic All-District team, qualifying him for the Academic All-America ballot coordinated by the College Sports Information Directors and to be announced in mid-March. He was the only non-senior named to the Academic All-District 7 team.
 
Sophomore Jack Middleton, a business major, is a 4.0 student at UMD. Freshman Joshua Strong, the primary guard off the bench, amassed two years of college credits while at Champlin Park High School, in addition to scoring a 35 on his ACT.
 
As things turned out, Andrews is not the only civil engineering major on the team. His roommate, Joshua Brown also has tackled the challenging major, gaining inspiration from his high-GPA classmate.
 
"Austin is on top of his studies and gets things done right away. Most people struggle with procrastination, but he is a great example of how to balance athletic and academic excellence," says Brown, who registered 34s on his math and science ACTs and is inspired by his aunt Jennifer Heard, who is a civil engineer.
 
Andrews credits his own "lifelong love for math, science and physics" as the impetus for his choice of major. And he already has some postgraduate employment goals.
 
"My dream job would be designing professional athletics stadiums or fitness facilities," says the goal-driven sophomore. "As a civil engineer, you work with architects and design teams on amazing projects.
 
"The great civil engineering program here was a big part of my decision to attend UMD. And there's also a very good master's program that I may pursue."
 
MAKING MOVES in the OFFSEASON
 
UMD's 2020-21 season always will be viewed as an outlier, a 6-7 campaign (played only during the second semester, due to Covid) sandwiched between the 22-9 season in 2019-20 and the current 25-5 ledger … for an impressive, combined win-loss mark of 47-14 in those two relatively "normal" seasons that represent the highest win totals in the program's 25 season at the Division II level.
 
The Covid delay in 2020-21 essentially stunted the traditional preseason development and team building, for a 15-man roster that included nine players in their first or second year of college basketball. Four of those youngsters, all in-state products – point guard Middleton (Edina), shooting guard Brown (Minneapolis), and the 6-foot-6 post player duo of Charlie Katona (Shakopee) and Andrews (Edina) – emerged as starters a year ago. Then-freshman guard Zach Lea (Chaska) logged four starts of his own in that 13-game shortened season.
 
When the bizarre 2020-21 season had come to an end, the first and second-year players had combined to play 75 percent of the team's minutes (freshmen alone logged 62%). When the team reconvened in the fall of 2021, the returning players suddenly were a veteran core who had combined to score 95 percent of the points in the Covid season.
 
With a clear focus on elevating their individual games, the upstart Bulldogs went to work during the summer of 2021. Andrews, Middleton and Lea built up their bodies while working with trainer Nate Huot in the Edina area, several times a week. As summer turned to fall, the benefits were readily apparent.
 
"We'd spend the second hour lifting, and I would leave those workouts feeling so refreshed," says Andrews. "Working with Nate helped the three of us come to back to school with a different mindset – the improvements were both physical and mental."
 
"I increased my athleticism, vertical leap and strength, to the point where I've had 20 dunks this season. I'm much quicker, able to guard on the perimeter and make the right pass out of double-teams, while also becoming a better ballhandler and rebounder."
 
Brown took a more old-school, yet equally effective approach to his summer workouts. There was no specialized trainer, and no cadre of fellow college athletes there to push him. He simply had a connection for gaining access to his high school gym. His father Deane works at Park Center H.S. and even helped train Joshua at times during those long summer days.
 
Often with nobody watching, Brown made the necessary moves to improve his game.
 
"I needed to get stronger and become a better all-around scorer – getting to the rim, going off the dribble and using pick-and-roll, instead of relying on three-point shots," admits Brown, who as a freshman launched 77 percent of his shots from beyond the arc. This season, with a more diversified shot selection, only 56% of his shots have been 3s.
 
Goal number-2 for Brown was improving ball skills and cutting down on turnovers … another ringing success. As a first-year player, he totaled twice as many turnovers as assists. This season, his totals have included 10 more assists than turnovers.
 
Brown's improved strength and athleticism also has allowed him to become a lockdown, full-court defender, marking opposing point guards and dangerous wing players.
 
"Moving forward, I want to become a more positive leader who makes a strong impact on my teammates, as someone they can count on and someone who is always striving to improve my game," adds Brown.
 
FITS LIKE A GLOVE
 
All five UMD starters are averaging double-digits scoring, led by first team all-conference performers Blair (18.6 points per game) and Andrews (18.1). The backcourt duo of Brown (15.0) and Middleton (10.4) also can deliver key baskets, as can Katona (11.5).
 
Blair (season-high 33 points) and Andrews (32) each have scored 20-plus points in 13 games this season, with Brown hitting for 20-plus seven times (high of 25, in NSIC title game) while the other starters own two 20-point games each (Katona's high has been 28).
 
The two starting big men have combined for 133 assists, with Austin's 85 narrowly trailing Middleton's team-high 92. All five starters enter the NCAAs with at least 48 assists.
 
Middleton, ranked 18th nationally with a 2.7 assist-to-turnover, is praised by Wieck for "poise, dependability and the quiet leadership that we need on this team." The floor general is not encumbered by a dominating ballhandling role seen with traditional points guards. Many set plays even are initiated by the team's top scorer, Andrews.
 
"One thing that makes us special: no matter who is getting the defensive rebound, everyone else can just run and we can push it in up court," observes Brown.
 
"We don't just have to find one guy and get it to him to start the transition. We have multiple players who can push the ball and facilitate the break, which helps push the pace even more."
 
The 6-foot-5 Blair – who regular buries three-pointers several feet behind the arc – is the team's most noticeable sharpshooter, but his three-point total (71) is only three more than Brown. Middleton has chipped in 53 baskets from long range, while post player Katona and reserve guard Strong each have made 23 threes.
 
Blair initially played at Northwest Missouri State, but he transferred to UMD after one semester. Wieck, who earlier had recruited Blair while at Minnesota State-Moorhead, actually arrived in Duluth only a few months before Blair, who has two years of eligibility remaining after this season. 
 
Andrews could have pursued playing at some Division I schools, after playing on some elite teams with both Eden Prairie High School and the DI Minnesota AAA team. His parents, Mark Andrews and Mandi Ellington, both were star parents at Moorhead, so the NSIC family connection has remained intact. Known for his crafty footwork in the post and an assorted of deceptive moves, Andrews could develop into UMD's next All-America talent.
 
BIGGEST LITTLE CITY YIELDS LESSONS
 
Most Division II teams play exhibitions versus DI opponent, typically in the preseason. UMD's 2021-22 was bisected by a mid-December trip to Reno to face the University of Nevada, a program helmed by Wieck's former college head coach Steve Alford (who has nearly 650 career wins across 29 seasons at five colleges, including six years at UCLA).
 
The Bulldogs headed to Reno sporting a 11-0 record and average winning margin of 22 points. The visitors stayed competitive with their DI hosts into the second half, suffering a 92-68 loss that ripe with important lessons.
 
"Playing that game in the middle of the season kept us grounded and we knew we still had the work to do," says Brown. "When you're winning, it's hard to pinpoint what you need to work on, but after that loss we immediately refocused on ball movement, sticking to the scouting report and sharing the basketball."
 
Losing was a new experience for this edition of the Bulldogs, but they "did a good job putting that loss in our back pocket," notes Blair.  "You look at game film differently when you are stacking comfortable wins. And we had to quickly erase that losing feeling and still had to face two good teams on the road."
 
UMD's five-day, three-city road trip prior to Christmas featured their only flights of the season. Several players were battling the flu and there were early wakeup calls, including a 3:00 a.m. flight from Reno to Aberdeen, S.D.
 
With built-in excuses, the Bulldogs could have rationalized losing the other games on that trip. Instead, they delivered key wins at defending conference champion Northern State (69-66) and 2021-22 league favorite Minnesota State-Moorhead, a 92-72 domination.
 
"When you play against a team like Nevada, with bigger and stronger players, your weaknesses are readily exposed," observes former men's basketball head coach Gary Holquist (and current senior development officer for athletics). "But this team took those lessons and bounced back.
 
PROGRAMS ON SIMILAR PATHS
 
Another aspect of the UMD athletics family is seen in the close relationship, and similar traits, between the Bulldogs men's and women's basketball programs. Both teams returned their entire starting lineups from 2020-21. Each team played in NSIC title games a week ago. And their win-loss records are stunningly similar: 25-5 for the men and 24-4 for the women (each had four regular-season losses).
 
A year ago, during Covid, both UMD basketballs teams were isolated on a nearly vacant campus, even remaining there for the entire Christmas break. They lived in empty dorms and took online classes.
 
"Those players were stuck in the bubble and the only people they really saw or interacted with were members of both basketball teams," explains Wieck. "Amidst that adversity, I think that experience helped bring our programs close."
 
Wieck is a big-time fan of how seventh-year head coach Mandy Pearson has built the UMD women's basketball program.
 
"Mandy has knocked it out of the park, with unprecedented success," adds Wieck. "She has built her program with high level D1/D2 borderline players from Minnesota and Wisconsin, which is exactly what we have tried to do."
 
"She does a great job staying in the moment, not looking too far ahead. Mandy spends so much extra time with her players in workouts and off the court, which is something we try to emulate."
 
A COACHING ODYSSEY
 
As a youth, growing up in eastern Iowa, Justin Wieck enjoyed basketball, but his true passion was baseball. A shortstop and pitcher, his high school actually played its seasons in the summer. There were no marathon AAU summers for this future collegiate basketball coach, whose life has come full-circle with a side gig as his son's little-league baseball coach.
 
Although Wieck's father Jeff had coached some in high school, he never steered Justin towards coaching as a future profession. But basketball definitely was in the family genes, as his mom Karna was an accomplished high school player in her day.
 
"Both of my parents are very influential in who I have become," says the appreciative son.
 
An Iowa City native and huge Hawkeyes fan, Wieck naturally jumped at the chance to walk on at the University of Iowa in 2004, thanks to connections his Kirkwood Community College coach Doug Wagemester had with then Iowa assistant Greg Lansing. The hometown product earned a scholarship for his senior season, when the Hawkeyes won the Big Ten Tournament and earned a second straight trip to the NCAAs.
 
Looking back at his own playing career, Wieck can't help but notice parallels between those Iowa teams and his current UMD program. Both rosters have been stocked with "solid, hard-working local talent who take great pride in putting on their jerseys, competing for titles and going to school at their home-state institution."
 
Late in his senior season ("way back in 2006"), Wieck was caught off-guard by comments from both Alford and assistant coach Craig Neal, who inquired if the spirited walk-on had ever considered coaching as a postgraduate career. He initially dismissed the notion – "that was nowhere on my radar" – but did start to pay more attention to his coaches' daily activities and the various tasks that go into the profession. As that historic season neared its end, he shifted gears and decided to stay in his hometown for a few more years as an Iowa graduate assistant coach and then video coordinator.
 
Ah, yes, video. A technology that launched with the likes of clunky Betamax/VHS machine and a chain of Blockbuster Video stores to the current status of online streaming and watching movies on smartphones. In the realm of collegiate athletics, especially basketball, the video component has undergone just as striking of a transformation.
 
As a bright-eyed 24-year-old, Wieck suddenly found himself immersed in what now is an archaic system: cutting, editing clip-by-clip and then cataloging video tapes of each opponent … all by hand, on a trusty laptop … and now, all done by a centralized, third-party service. For two full seasons, most days from 7:00 a.m. to midnight, his eyes hurt from staring so much at computer screens.
 
Wieck's early years in coaching included overseeing Iowa's video operation: contacting schools who would be playing the Hawkeyes opponent and getting them UPS tracking number of FedEx labels to ship old-school HVS game tapes. Upwards of eight satellites were programmed for recording games from all over the country. Cupboards in the coaching offices were overflowing with game-tape libraries.
 
Now, all of that drudgery is expertly handled by national, centralized companies. But those two tireless years continue to pay dividends for the ascending head coach of the Bulldogs.
 
Wieck had an eye-opening introduction to coaching, highlighted by the realization that in-season Sundays are in stark contrast from his playing days.
 
"When I started coaching at Iowa, I was out with my family on Sunday going to church and getting a nice meal, just relaxing," recalls Wieck, with a laugh.
 
"But then I got a call from coach Alford, asking where I was. He said, 'you're not a player anymore' and told me to get my butt into the office. So that was like five hours working on a Sunday. As players, you realize maybe only 5% of what goes into being a coach."
 
Wieck remains grateful to the "classic basketball junkie," coach Alford. "I got a taste of coaching that first year and knew it was something I wanted to keep pursuing – I can never thank him enough."
 
A Big Ten All-Academic honoree during his playing days, Wieck was destined to enter a career in finance before embarking on what is now a 16-year coaching odyssey. Along the way, he has used a keen acumen and attention to detail while absorbing plenty of knowledge about the game. Much of it traces back to his baptism by fire while editing thousands of hours of game film.
 
Back in those Iowa coaching days, Wieck went into deep detail on the playbooks of great Big Ten coaches the likes of Tom Izzo and Matt Painter. Many of UMD's current set plays are modeled after those of former Michigan coach John Beilein (as the saying goes, imitation is the best form of flattery).
 
"As each year goes by, you broaden your knowledge and pack more into the old memory bank. The more tape you watch, the more you absorb," says Wieck, no doubt straining from apparent brain freeze.
 
Earlier this season, Wieck scribbled a late-game out-of-bounds play, straight from memory. It was a last-second lob, executed six years ago at Minnesota State-Moorhead, where he was an assistant at the time. Wieck had not used the play at all in roughly 2,000 days … but it worked to perfection.
 
DIVISION II DREAM JOBS
 
Alford left Iowa for New Mexico in 2007, and his replacement at Iowa, Todd Lickliter, was fired in 2010. "When the head coach is fired, the whole staff usually gets fired," notes Wieck, who was 26 at the time and looking to start a family.
 
"At that point in life, you are supposed to be following a career path. It definitely was a time for soul-searching," recalls Wieck, who applied for every job that opened up.
 
He earned an interview fellow NSIC school, Northern State. For a young man who had never ventured north or west of the state of Iowa, he suddenly was 10 hours from home, interviewing with Northern's new head coach Paul Sather, up in Aberdeen, S.D.
 
He didn't get that job … but he did end up going to Northern State. Quite fortuitously for Wieck, Sather also was hiring for a new second assistant position. He circled back to Wieck and added him to the Wolves coaching staff.
 
If Northern State had not opened up that second assistant position, it's highly likely Wieck would not be at UMD today. His introduction to Division II, and specifically the Northern Sun conference, left a profound impact on his future coaching trail.
 
"I knew nothing about Northern State, but I was eager to take a shot and go somewhere else – I had lived within 30 minutes of Iowa City my entire life," says Wieck.
 
"In turns out, going to Northern was the best thing that could have happened for my career path. Like any typical DI coach, I was telling myself that I'd bounce back and return to DI soon. But once I got there, I quickly learned how good Division II basketball is. I realized how much I enjoyed it and how different the experience was, in a positive way. There was a true work balance that you really can't find in Division I."
 
"I told my wife: 'I want to be a head coach in this league. I'm not interested in going back and chasing a Division I job."
 
Sage advice from Sather remains with Wieck to this day: "Paul taught me to trust your guys; be yourself personality-wise; love your players; and put everything you can into their experience and development."
 
After two seasons at Northern State, Wieck knew a college head coaching position, at any level, might be a strong next step. He journeyed north of Northern State, to NAIA Jamestown in North Dakota. Similar to the strides back by many college players, the first-time head coach learned some important lessons going from year-1 to year-2.
 
His debut season as a head coach included having to deal directly with off-the-court issues for the first time. In general, his time in Jamestown clarified the need to be more demanding and firmer with the players.
 
"When you're an assistant, you are pretty close to the players and can be that voice they can go to when they have issues." explains Wieck. "Going into my second year at Jamestown, I had to coach those guys a little harder and really saw the payoff from pushing our guys in the right way. Those two years helped me become a much better coach."
 
Even though Wieck had spent the previous 10 years of his life as a college player or coach, possibly his most important lesson did not come until seasons 11 and 12, while working at an NAIA outpost 90 miles west of Fargo and only 100 miles from the Canadian border.
 
"In those two seasons at Jamestown, I learned the importance of setting the tone for what your culture is going to be: how hard you are going to play; what are you going to emphasize," he says. "That experience impacted how I built things at UMD, from day one."
 
The circle of coaching spun again when Wieck went to work for former Iowa assistant coach Chad Walthall, back in the NSIC at Minnesota State-Moorhead. Walthall handed over the keys of the offense to Wieck and the Dragons breathed plenty of fire, winning three conference titles in his four seasons on the Moorhead bench.
 
"Our current system at UMD gained its infancy during my time at MSU-Moorhead," says Wieck, reflecting on an offensive firestorm that quickly grew from an infant to an overgrown teenager.
 
"I'm addicted to the offensive side of the game. Chad gave me free reign with the offense, and that helped me immensely in preparing to be a D2 head coach."
 
That chance arrived on May 1, 2018, as Wieck was introduced as the 17th head coach in UMD men's basketball history. Eight years earlier, he had confided in Laura that such a destination was his ideal goal: becoming a head coach in the NSIC.
 
"Even though I had been to UMD with other teams, I had never really been to Duluth before," recalls Wieck. "I instantly fell in love with the city and what a great place it would be to raise a family. The area has such amazing character, and all the UMD athletic programs have been successful. I just knew it was the place for us."
 
UMD Athletic Director Josh Berlo and UMD Senior Associate Athletic Director and Senior Women Administrator Karen Stromme, were instrumental in hiring coach Wieck along with UMD women's basketball coach Mandy Pearson.  Both are turned out to be slam dunk hires, as both teams compete in NCAA Division II competition this weekend.
 
"I didn't interview for anything else. I was not chasing jobs. If I was going to leave MSU-Moorhead, it was going to be for a really good situation. I Wanted to be really selective."
 
THE FUTURE IS NOW
 
After suffering only four regular-season losses in 2021-22, and with its eight top contributors set to return, the UMD men's basketball program appears to make more big-time history in the near possibly … even, if things fall right, over the next few weeks.
 
The Bulldogs have jumped on the fast track and have no plans for stopping their train of success. "We remain totally focused on the season and want to achieve our goals this year, for our seniors," says Brown.
 
Wieck readily heaps the praise on his squad: "All credit goes to the players. They're wired that way, super-competitive and think they should win every game. They are not afraid of the moment, they crave challenges in life. They're going out to prove how good we are right now, and not waiting until next year or the year after."
 
The program's most notable former coach has observed Wieck "mold his squad with 'long' and athletic kids to fit the way he wants to play, pushing the pace while creating a lot of possessions, which is completely different from the way I coached," says Holquist, with a chuckle. "He really has put all the puzzle pieces together relatively quickly.
 
"And am I surprised that they are 25-5? Yeah. I thought they could be doing this maybe a year from now. But they came out right at the start and established themselves."
 
Joy and confidence often are not emotions typically stirred within players as a byproduct of interacting with coaches. But, as illustrated throughout this long-form feature, the UMD program is far from typical, in many good ways.
 
"Joy is a focus of our program and coach Wieck always encourages us to live in the moment," says Blair, who thinks he and his teammates lost that sense of joy for a while, during the few blips in their 2021-22 season.
 
"The second half of the season we tried to get back that sense of enjoying every win. No college game is easy. Every night is a fight.  The more joy we play with, the better we are going to play."
 
When it comes to confidence, playing with freedom and low levels of stress, well that's another key part of making moves.
 
Adds Blair: "Our coaches do such a great job putting us in good spots to be successful, where we feel most comfortable in scoring. They instill so much confidence in us, because they trust us to make the right play."
 
For Wieck, it's quite simple: "Guys have the 'green light' because they put in the work. There is a lot of trust and freedom that our guys play with."
 
Lead assistant coach Casey Bruggeman has been by Wieck's side since day one. In fact, the UMD coach even considers his trusty aide as "my first recruit."
 
Bruggeman, a former player at Concordia Moorhead, had been a graduate assistant in the NSIC at the University of Mary.
 
"Casey is going to run his own program someday and be a really good head coach, in every aspect of the job," predicts Wieck. "We would not be where we are without him. His fingerprints are all over everything we do."
 
The team's second assistant, Jordan Ashton, came aboard recently when former UMD assistant was hired by the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, where he assists in the player development and video areas (surely an easier gig than it was for Wieck nearly two decades ago?).
 
UMD's two signees for next season – Nick Katona (Charlie's brother) and Caleb Siwek (Rosemount, Minn.) – will boost the program's already strong core of Twin Cities-area talent.
 
"Those two guys will bring the same demeanor, great fits for our locker room and culture, as we continue to stack great classes on top of each other," says Wieck.
 
REBUILDING the ALUMNI BRIDGE
 
One of Wieck's initial, central tasks at UMD was establishing a clear connection with Holquist, and with the program's broader alumni base.
 
"It meant so much when Justin said he wanted me to be a big part of the program's rebuild, even asking that I meet with every recruit that comes on campus," says Holquist, whose 36 years at UMD have included 14 as an assistant coach, 12 as head coach and the past 10 in administration.
 
"He also wanted my help with him getting in front of all the alumni that I had coached. It was Justin's initiative that has brought back a lot of alumni who were on a pause from the program. They now are engaged and involved again with UMD basketball."
 
The alumni connection extends to multiple parents of current UMD players. Green Bay native Richard Steffen, a standout Bulldogs player from 1990-94, is the father of Mason Steffen, the team's only senior (other than the transfer Shields). Former UMD All-American David Thompson (Hibbing, Minn.) – father of redshirt freshman Mattie Thompson – ranks fifth in program history for career blocked shots, with 115 from 1984-88.
 
And another redshirt freshman, Noah Paulson, grew up hearing plenty about UMD. His father Damien Paulson (Culver, Minn.; 1991-95) was an all-conference performer for the Bulldogs. But the true star of the family is Noah's mom Jodi Paulson (formerly Ierino; 1992-86). A Duluth native, Ierino still ranks fourth in the UMD women's basketball record book for career points (1,245) and career field-goal pct. (57.3), plus sixth in career blocks (79).
 
"You can tell that our athletic department is really healthy, because we have so many sons and daughters of alumni who are following in their footsteps as student-athletes at UMD," says the proud administrator Holquist.
 
Richard Steffen has been actively involved in the UMD men's basketball program's alumni council, a group that Wieck created to rebuild connections with former players.
 
"Justin adds a personal touch, even just a meaningful text message can mean so much," notes the elder Steffen. "The alumni are fully re-engaged and in full support of the program."
 
Not to be left out, there's actually a fourth connection to former Holquist-coached players, as Michael Blair (Drew's father) played for him at Wisconsin Eau-Claire.
 
"There isn't a coach in the nation I'd rather have Drew play for – they have a great coach/player relationship," says the elder Blair. "UMD's team camaraderie is outstanding. The teammates love each other, and the staff cares for the players. It's all built on trust and respect. It's genuine."
 
"The coaching staff and administration treat the student-athletes like men. They hold them accountable yet communicate in a way that develops and helps maintain individual confidence and positive self-esteem."   
 
Mason Steffen is the only current UMD player who was not recruited by Wieck, although his actual playing career has coincided with Wieck's four seasons. As a freshman in 2018-19, he played alongside older teammates who had endured a 4-25 season two years earlier. Those present for Wieck's first season enjoyed a 17-10 campaign, followed by 22-9 in 2019-20.
 
"When coach Wieck arrived, he was ready to change the vibe and that started with getting the team to buy into his vision," recalls Steffen. "He had the guys excited to come in and work on their game. Restructuring the culture was emphasized every day and practice and everyone was excited to be a part of it.
 
"From day one, the coaches made being a part of the team like being a part of a family. That allowed for a more genuine buy-in from the players, which has allowed success to follow."
 
Year-1 of the Wieck era featured a slower tempo to fit the UMD personnel. "But at the end of the day, it's not about my style or what I want to do.," clarifies Wieck. "I need to put our players in the best position to be successful. Those guys that first year or two bought into what we were planning."
 
As a heavily invested UMD alum, in addition to the added perspective as a player parent, Richard Steffen has high praise for the fact that the coaching staff has "never treated Mason any differently than any of the kids they have recruited. That speaks volumes about their character as people, mentors and leaders."
 
The elder Steffen also credits the team atmosphere for helping keep his son positive and engaged, despite not logging as many minutes as in past seasons: "Mason has found other ways to bring value to the team and that does not happen when you find yourself not playing, if the program does not have amazing culture."
 
Impressively, there is even a third level of the UMD alum Steffen's appreciation for the current UMD coach. Mason is pursuing a postgraduate career as a holistic performance coach, focused on nutrition, meditation metal, health, etc.
 
"This is Mason's next chapter in life and any parent wants their children to find their passion," adds the proud father. "Coach Wieck has been nothing but supportive and encouraging, even allowing Mason to structure some exercises and projects for his teammates."
 
Not surprisingly – yet, in the larger landscape, it is – the families of these 15 UMD families have grown quite close over the past couple years. Regular group text messages send well wishes or convey details for where the crew will be congregating pre- and post-game. At last week's NSIC Tournament in Sioux Falls, many of the parents even took an excursion to Top Golf.
 
In the past two years, many of the player fathers have participated in a dad's weekend at one of the family lake houses.
 
"All of the families treat the players like sons of their own, "adds Michal Blair. "It all reminds me that UMD is an exceptional place, a place that my son calls home."
 
In separate interviews with Andrews, Blair and Brown, they each repeated one key element central to the team's success: "we all share the ball."
 
Seems only fitting. After all, the best families are sharers.


 
This piece is contributed by Pete LaFleur.  About LaFleur.
Pete LaFleur – as his family will tell you – has been making sports lists, studying the history of sports and, most importantly, writing about sports since childhood. His life entered a new realm when he realized people actually would pay him to do these wonderful tasks, initially as a student assistant in the Notre Dame Sports Information (SID) Office, a profession now more commonly known as college athletics media relations. He went on to spend nearly two decades working in media relations for three Division I athletic departments, including a dozen years at his alma mater, and earlier at the University of Virginia and University of San Francisco, where he received a masters in sports administration. Since gaining his "freedom" from the SID lifestyle, Pete has returned to his home state of Colorado, where he has remained active in college athletics through various "side gigs" – ranging from writing and photography to website creation and popular social media platforms (his assorted "360" brand offerings feature more than 30,000 combined Twitter followers, most notably at @CB360updates, a.k.a. CollegeBaseball360). Pete's true passion for sports writing revolves around creating priceless memories for the subjects of his stories, while hopefully informing and often inspiring readers. And, yes, he loves learning about new sports, much like his namesake Peter LaFleur (no relation) from the highly-acclaimed sports documentary "Dodgeball."