Welcome to this week's edition of the HuskieWire.com Q&A.
Every Thursday, I'll answer your NIU and MAC-related questions right here. Do you have a question about NIU or the MAC? E-mail your questions to me at jsahly@daily-chronicle.com and I'll answer them next Thursday.
Here are this week's questions and answers:
C Cmfp asked: 1. What is Dan Edem's status? Last we heard he had a hand injury. Has he been able to resume practice?
2. Has Jayme Wells practiced with the football team at all this spring?
3. How are the punters and kickers doing this spring? We haven't heard anything about them yet.
4. How are the early arrivals (Jasmin Hopkins, Demetrius Stone, Akeem Daniels) getting acclimated to this level of school and football?
5. Who's leading the competition for the left offensive guard position?
John Sahly: As always, C Cmfp with some good questions.
1. Edem has been able to run and do conditioning, but his hand injury has still kept him from practicing fully.
2. No, as we said on signing day, Jayme Wells will not be practicing with the football team this spring. He is playing baseball and hitting .182 after 19 games with four hits in 22 at-bats.
3. I asked NIU coach Jerry Kill that question after this morning's practice. He said kicker-wise it's been hard to evaluate because both deep snappers (Nolan Owen and Adam Coleman) are out (injury) and there is some competition coming in the fall with freshmen Tyler Anderson and Mathew Sims. In my view, a true freshman will be the starting kicker this season.
But Kill is happy with his punters. Josh Wilber and Ryan Neir have both hit some pretty big punts. I think this is another job that won't get settled until fall camp.
"I think we feel good about our punt team and the kickers still have a lot to learn," Kill said.
4. As far as I can tell, Hopkins, Stone and Daniels are getting acclimated at a normal pace. They've had good days and bad days on the football field. Hopkins and Chad Spann seem to have struck up a big brother-little brother type of friendship or mentorship.
5. Ed Jackson is your leader in the left guard competition right now, but with so many offensive linemen set to join the team in the fall, nothing will be decided in the spring. I will tell you this is the best Jackson has looked since I've been here.
Dan asked: Do we have an update on NIU's master-facilities plan that Jeff Compher mentioned completing when he took the AD position? A completed "visual" might inspire would-be donors to open their wallets to help improve Huskie athletics.
John Sahly: That's probably the most creative "When are we getting an indoor practice facility" question I've seen in a long time. The answer is, I haven't heard anything. Compher hasn't mentioned anything about his strategic plan in our recent conversations, but I'll be sure to ask next time I see him.
