Tjelde Signs With Northern

MSU-Northern Coach Shawn Huse is pleased to announce the signing of 6-foot-5 forward Jeff Tjelde, of Fairview. He averaged 18 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 5 assists while leading the Warriors to a State B Runners-Up finish. For his efforts, he was named First Team All-State this year and First Team All-Conference for the second year in a row.

“Jeff possesses excellent shooting accuracy from the perimeter,” said Coach Huse. “He has a great build for a college basketball player already, has shown solid shot-blocking capability, is a tough defender, and rebounds very well. His ceiling is very high and as good as he has performed so far, his full potential is still pretty untapped. He continued to develop and excel and do more things the deeper the season went this year. From everything I have seen and learned, he is just now coming into his own and I look forward to seeing what he is fully capable of.”

An all-around athlete, Jeff helped the football team win the 8-man State Championship this year as the starting quarterback and safety, and has become a big track performer posting impressive numbers this Spring. On top of it all, he is an exceptional student in the classroom. He plans to pursue the Civil Engineering Technology degree at Northern, while potentially studying other Trades fields as well.

“Jeff is an outstanding all-around person,” added Huse. “We are getting a quality student-athlete at Northern by him signing on with us. I have been nothing short of impressed the more I have gotten to know about him throughout the recruiting process. Getting the opportunity to work with him, and watch our guys work with him, on a daily basis is something I am really looking forward to. We are very excited to have Jeff on board with our squad right now and into the future.”

After another good start in their early preseason, the 2023-24 Lights battled valiantly through an injury-laden year which saw them playing without three starters at one point … including the loss of their second leading scorer for the entire conference schedule.