College Insider: Bison make trade of sorts with Illinois State men's basketball

FARGO — In the end, it was like a Boden Skunberg for Luke Kasubke trade. The former North Dakota State men's basketball player is using his final year of eligibility at Illinois State, something he finalized last month. On Monday, NDSU announced the signing of Kasubke, a transfer from ISU.

Both Skunberg and Kasubke are 6-foot-5 guards, the latter who spent his first two seasons at Kansas State and has played in 99 career games.

NDSU head coach Dave Richman said last week he anticipated bringing in one more player, possibly a junior college recruit in the fall. Turns out Kasubke upped the timeline.

He was a two-time all-state selection from Chaminade High School near St. Louis. He was highly recruited, being a top-200 prospect by several recruiting services and was rated among the top 40 shooting guards in the country including No. 31 by Rivals.com and No. 37 by 247Sports.com. He was rated as the No. 6 prospect in the state of Missouri by 247Sports.com.

He played in 32 games, starting five, last season for the Redbirds, averaging 4.0 points in 17.7 minutes per game. He was more productive the prior year averaging 6.8 points starting 13 of 31 games shooting 36% from 3-point range.

Kasubke has one year of eligibility remaining. He is NDSU's fourth incoming player from the portal joining Northern State forward Jacksen Moni, VMI guard Brennan Watkins and Indiana State guard Masen Miller.

"Luke's toughness, maturity and experience will bring tremendous value to our already-strong roster," Richman said.

Minnesota State Moorhead senior Braxton Bruer capped his Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference track and field championships career with another conference crown.

It's an event in which he's thrived during his career with the Dragons. Bruer breezed to victory in the men's 800 meters last weekend in Mankato, Minnesota, winning the race in a time of 1 minute, 52.77 seconds.

“It’s kind of a good capper," said Bruer, a 2019 West Fargo High School graduate.

Bruer's victory was his first conference crown in the outdoor 800 to go along with his three indoor conference titles in the event.

“The outdoor race has always evaded me a little bit," Bruer said. "The NSIC has been pretty loaded with talent.”

Next up for Bruer is the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships, which are May 23-25 in Emporia, Kansas. Bruer is looking to add to an another All-American honor to his 800-meter resume. He already has three in the race, including a first-team indoor honor earlier this year.

Bruer's goal in his final outdoor championships is to advance to the finals.

“The whole goal is to make it out of the prelims," said Bruer, who plans to pursue a post-collegiate running career. "I feel like when I'm healthy, I can race with anybody. In the finals, anything can happen. ... It’s a pretty volatile race."

North Dakota State has seen multiple wrestlers enter the transfer portal. On Monday, the Bison got one back. Former North Dakota five-time state champion Kyle Burwick is going to use his last year of eligibility at NDSU, making the move after spending three seasons at the University of Wisconson and two years at Nebraska.

He had a 29-25 record with the Badgers and was an NCAA national tournament qualifier in 2021 and 2022. He got his undergraduate degree from Nebraska and plans on furthering his education in the teaching field at NDSU.

"It's something I've been thinking about," Burwick told Forum Communications. "Pretty far away from home and it was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. But I knew I wanted to come back and get my teaching certification done. It was kind of a no-brainer for me."

Burwick won his prep titles wrestling for Hettinger-Scranton. He redshirted his first year at Wisconsin and that was followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He wrestled at 133 pounds for Nebraska reaching the dual starting lineup twice this season. He finished 7-3 overall and has a 40-35 career record.

"Getting out of my comfort zone, I grew a lot," Burwick said. "To go back to Fargo and to go back and represent North Dakota, I don't take that lightly.

Minnesota State Moorhead sophomore Shavantae Roberts set schools records in the women's 100 and 200 meters at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championships over the weekend. She set both marks in last Friday's prelims with a 11.51 seconda in the 100 and a 23.79 in the 200. ... The Green Bay Packers have claimed former NDSU defensive lineman Spencer Waege off waivers from the San Francisco 49ers, the NFL club announced Monday, May 13. The 6-foot-5, 295-pound Waege spent most of last season on the San Francisco practice squad.