My son played four years at NDSU, 2003-2006, enjoyed the experience and would recommend it to others. First, NDSU has a great ballpark. It is shared with a Northern League independent minor league team and is located on campus and is a wonderful facility. Second, NDSU is in transition from D2 to D1; my son played D2 in 2003 and 2004 and in 04 they were conference champions. At D2 they were a good team. He played D1 in 2005 and 2006. The staff opted to schedule very difficult teams right from the start, and wins were few and far between. My son's opponents have included Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky, Missouri, Wichita State, Creighton, Southern Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Northern Iowa, Sacramento State, Portland, St. Mary's (CA), and numerous other D1 schools. The team has struggled in the transition, but that is to be expected. The 06 team was considerably stonger than the 05 team.
Because of the transition, we were not in a conference, which made it more difficult to schedule home games. However, NDSU has been admitted to the Midcontinent Conference (beginning in the 2008 season), where it will be immediately competitive (except against **** Roberts)and the overall schedule will be easier than it was in 05 and 06. Also, the 07 schedule has 22 home games and is somewhat easier than the 05 and 06 schedules. NDSU finished second in the 2006 D1 Independent Tournament at the end of the season, and I think you will see them continue to improve.
My son's stats reflect the differences between D2 and D1. As a freshman he hit .256 as a part-time player. He started as a soph and hit .360. As a junior in D1 he fell to .219, but rebounded as a senior to .304 and started every game (217 AB). Other guys on the team had similar experiences with the transition.
NDSU is located in Fargo, ND (about 100,000 population), a pleasant and convenient community located on the Minnesota border (don't judge it by the movie). NDSU recruits heavily in Minnesota and the Twin Cities. Minnesota is much more populated than North Dakota, and half the team is from Minnesota. The D1 transition has also brought in more players from other states.
NDSU has approx 14,000 students and good academic offerings and good athletic facilties (the "Fargo Dome" is an indoor football facility, and NDSU's football team is currently ranked 5th in D1AA -- but they don't have to play Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, etc, etc)
Be aware that winters are cold and juggling academics and baseball travel is a challenge, but it can be done. (My son is a 5th year architecture student.) All in all, my son had a great experience playing baseball at NDSU and wouldn't trade it for the world.
