North Dakota Lands Chad Calcaterra

North Dakota's weakness heading into next year was in the frontcourt, but perhaps that is a little stronger after last week's apparent signing of big man Chad Calcaterra. Calcaterra is a 6'10'' center that played last season at Western Nebraska Community College after spending a year at Colorado State.

Calcaterra then transferred to WNCC, where he saw limited playing time. Calcaterra averaged 8 minutes and 3.6 points per game as a sophomore.

“He’s a phenomenal athlete who possesses the height and strength,” Beck said. “He can finish on the rim. He’s also a great student and person. I think he can have a lot of success there — maybe even more than he had here.

“At a JuCo, sometimes teams don’t have 6-10 players and matchups become difficult. I imagine (at UND) he’ll see more players his size and play more extended minutes.”

Last year, he averaged 3.6 points per game in eight minutes. His freshman year at CSU, he averaged 3.5 minutes and 1.4 points per game in 15 games.

He has good athletic skills, but doesn't really seem to have developed that into strong basketball skills. He will have two years at North Dakota to do it, and will provide quality depth at the very least.

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