UND football eyes offensive line, establishes South Dakota presence in latest batch of 2023 recruits

Jun. 29—GRAND FORKS — The UND football program went looking for offensive line prospects in the 2023 recruiting class and even dug in to enemy Missouri Valley Football Conference territory to do so.

The Fighting Hawks' latest batch of commitments, which includes three offensive lineman and two from South Dakota, brings the UND 2023 recruiting class to eight members.

Jason Maciejczak, a 6-foot-4, 320-pound guard, who held an offer from Kent State, was one of the prospects to hail from South Dakota.

"I think the first thing was the coaches," Maciejczak said. "(UND offensive line coach Joe Pawlak) was a big selling point. I was up there last year for their late individual camp in July. From then until now, (Pawlak) has talked with me every week. They've really built that relationship."

After committing to UND recently, Maciejczak was in the moving process as his family is moving from Box Elder outside Rapid City to Pierre.

His dad, Dan, was head coach at Box Elder and will be an assistant at T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre. Riggs has won five consecutive state titles.

Dan was an All-American at Chadron State College.

Jason also competes in track and field. He was runner-up at state in the shot put and discus.

At Box Elder, Maciejczak was a starter since eighth grade on both sides of the ball.

He's played tight end, linebacker, offensive line and fullback.

"I moved around and tried to help us any way possible," Maciejczak said.

He missed half of last season with an ankle injury. After surgery, he said the ankle is better than ever.

"I'm really excited," Maciejczak said. "I just went to three camps in 10 days. All that travel and camp life ... the recruiting process is getting old. There's nothing I don't like about UND."

Maciejczak said it'll be fun to play the South Dakota schools in the MVFC.

"I don't want to say they treated me bad, but they didn't recruit me as heavy as other schools," Maciejczak said. "Those games will definitely be a chip on my shoulder. Nothing against them but those games will be fun."

Lance Rucker, linebacker, Omaha: The Hawks picked up the program's first linebacker of the 2023 recruiting class in 6-foot-3, 210-pound Millard South prospect Lance Rucker.

"(UND) gave me the options I need and career to be successful in life," said Rucker, who plans to major in criminal justice.

In high school, Rucker played defensive end and some tight end. He projects as an outside linebacker in UND's 3-4 defensive scheme.

Millard South was 9-1 last fall.

Rucker also plays basketball at Millard South.

"I'm excited because I know it's a new home and a place where I can make great things happen," Rucker said.

Sam Hindbjorgen, defensive end, Sioux Falls: UND, which only had one player from South Dakota on the roster last fall in rookie linebacker Jaden Fertl, picked up a second South Dakota commitment in 2023 in Sioux Falls Lincoln product Sam Hindbjorgen.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Hindbjorgen held offers from St. Thomas and Northern State.

"(UND) has everything I'm looking for," Hindbjorgen said. "Academically, it's superior. I got a pretty good offer, and they're a pretty good football team. They're doing a lot to build up the football team and getting talented commits. I'm looking forward to helping build the program."

Hindbjorgen has started at defensive end since his sophomore season.

Ben Buxa, center, Lake Mills, Wis.: A rare Division I recruit out of Lakeside Lutheran High School, Buxa credited UND offensive line coach Joe Pawlak for building a strong recruiting relationship.

Buxa, who's 6-foot-3 and 280 pounds, projects as a center in college.

"Coach P was so great in the whole process," Buxa said. "I really loved coach P, as well as coach Freund and coach Schweigert. I really like their ideals of a football team. They want to be the most physical team out there."

Lakeside Lutheran plays at the Division 4 level in Wisconsin's eight-class system.

Buxa, who also had an offer from Fordham and the top Division II programs in the Northern Sun, will be a four-year starter at tackle.

He also competes in track and field. He qualified for state and finished sixth in the discus and 10th in the shot put.

"I'm absolutely fired up about this," Buxa said. "North Dakota is really exciting right now. I believe we have something going really good. I think we're in a good place right now, and I'm super excited to be a leader on this team. I want to win some championships."

Jacob Lopau, offensive line, Cold Spring, Minn.: A 6-foot-7 offensive lineman from ROCORI High School worked well for UND once before.

Former UND standout Matt Waletzko, who was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the past NFL Draft, was also a 6-7 tackle from Cold Spring.

Lopau also held an offer from Northern Iowa.

A starter at left tackle, Lopau led ROCORI to a 5-4 record in 2021.