Sundell returns as leader on Bison front

By Jon Dykstra | June 30, 2023 |

Zachary Lucy/NDSU ATHLETICS
Jalen Sundell sets to snap the ball against North Carolina A&T in Fargo, North Dakota, on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022.

MARYVILLE, Mo. — You can tell that Jalen Sundell had been with North Dakota State for five years now and has three national championships in that time with the way he answers questions about team goals going into his senior season.

“Well Jon, you might hate this answer,” Sundell responded. “But we talk more about the process than we do goals. Our No. 1 goal is to beat Eastern Washington, our first game of the year. And then after that, we will worry about whoever we play next and try to beat them.”

Luckily, Sundell has a little sister who is also a pretty accomplished athlete in her own right, and Kansas State’s starting point guard is allowed to look a little further down the Bison’s road than her big brother is.

“Oh man, I’m hoping for a national championship, of course,” Serena Sundell said.

Jalen Sundell wanting to stay focused and savor every game shouldn’t be a surprise as the last postseason game he played was the 2021 38-10 win over Montana State in the national championship. Last season, he started the first five games of the season before a season-ending broken foot.

That injury caused him to have to watch the national championship game — where rival South Dakota State beat the Bison 45-21.

“The recovery process — I think I got the green light two or three weeks after our season ended,” Sundell said. “It was unfortunate that it was right after the season and I couldn’t make a return for the last game or something like that.”

After having to sit, that left no doubt for Sundell that he was coming back for his sixth year and going to try to win a fourth national championship.

“After I broke my foot, it was a pretty easy decision to come back,” Sundell said. “I think I would have come back either way, but I didn’t really want to end my career at NDSU playing five games in a season.”

Sundell has started 25 career games — all at center. After his injury last year, Brandon Westburg stepped in and played well at center. The senior’s emergence may allow Sundell to show his versatility with the left side of the Bison line having graduated.

“We’ve always been taught that we have to be able to play multiple positions,” Sundell said. “I think I’ve taken snaps at every position in-game so far.”

Among those gone are left tackle Cody Mauch — a second round NFL Draft pick by Tampa Bay. Mauch is the latest in a long line of Bison offensive linemen in the NFL. It was the third straight year one was drafted with Dillon Radunz, a 2021 second rounder; Cordell Volson, a 2022 fourth rounder; and Mauch.

“We’ve had some phenomenal players on our offensive line,” Sundell said. “… The guys that I’ve been able to learn under — Cody, Cordell, Zack Johnson, Tanner Volson — learning from them has shown me what it takes to be a leader and a good offensive lineman. It is a high standard and it doesn’t just happen overnight.”

Sundell says he is embracing the versatility that this season’s offensive line could have. Spoofhound fans will remember that Sundell was the left tackle and the state’s Offensive Player of the Year — a rare feat for a lineman — and led Maryville to a state championship as a senior.

“A lot of the things that they teach us here are not only football stuff, but they are things that you can take with you the rest of your life,” Sundell said. “It’s self discipline. It’s learning to be on time. It’s learning how to be a leader, how to take responsibility, take criticism. And these are a lot of the same things that Coach (Matt) Webb taught when I was in high school. That’s why I think it was such an easy transition for me when I got here. It is learning how to be a good Bison.”

As Sundell said, the path towards more postseason success gets started at the Minnesota Vikings’ US Bank Stadium on September 2 when North Dakota State takes on Eastern Washington.

“One of the biggest things that just amazes me with our program is how we — however many are in our program, 130 plus coaching staff — how we can all be collectively working toward one goal is something pretty unique,” Sundell said.

While Sundell couldn’t speak on any of his own team’s end of season goals. He returned Serena’s favor and put some goals on the board for K-State women’s basketball.

“I would love to see them make a deep run in March Madness, if not have a chance at winning the thing,” Jalen Sundell said. “Serena has been improving and this is coming from a guy who doesn’t get to watch all her games. My parents watch every single game so they don’t see the big changes as much as I do whenever I’m tuning in once every few games, but I can tell how much she’s improved from being a freshman. Her finishing in the paint has improved so much. I’ll see her pull out moves that I’ve never seen before. She is just more creative and finishes better in the paint.

“And then all the other girls too. The twins have gotten better and Ayoka Lee is coming back which is a big deal with a superstar coming back. I think they have all the tools to make a really deep run. From talking to my sister and hearing the things that Coach (Jeff) Mittie preaches on, I think that it is a lot of the same things that we preach on here, so I think that they have all the ingredients and the recipe for a big year.”