Zach Kraft has grown into a UND basketball hometown hero, a role missing for decades
· Yahoo Sports
Mar. 7—GRAND FORKS — While he was still at Grand Forks Red River High School, Zach Kraft set up a chalkboard in his dad's office.
Kraft put down five goals. Most were prep-related: reach 1,000 points, win the state championship.
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At the very top was a target that was somewhat out of his hands.
"At the top of the chalkboard was, 'I'm going to commit to UND," Kraft said. "It was definitely the college I wanted to play for."
Kraft was close to committing to Minot State when Fighting Hawks head coach Paul Sather called and offered him a spot as a preferred walk-on. He committed shortly thereafter.
Kraft hasn't just achieved his chalkboard goal. He's become a key piece for the Hawks, and one of the best local men's players for the program in recent memory.
Kraft redshirted in his first season at UND. He played in 30 games last year and averaged 11.4 minutes per game.
Kraft has carved out a role in the starting lineup as a redshirt sophomore. His 3-point shooting, one of his clear strengths in high school, remains of of his greatest assets: he's shooting 40.6% from deep this season.
Elite 3-point shooting is a valuable asset, but not enough to merit a starting role in Division I basketball by itself. Sather told Kraft as much when he committed.
However, Kraft's defense has taken a step this year. He's gone from 170 pounds to 185, improving strength and speed in the process.
"I think just the game as a whole is really slowing down," Kraft said. "I remember playing in games last year, and I was really sped up. I think just me redshirting my freshman year and then slowly making appearances in the games last year really helped with how my game has translated into this season. ... We've had a lot of good weight trainers to work on speed and agility and stuff, and I think I've improved in that way. That's also helped my defense."
Kraft ended the 2025-26 regular season with 373 career points.
The Red River graduate still has much of his collegiate career ahead of him. But with the strong collegiate start he's had, the question arises — is he already one of the best Grand Forks natives to play at UND? Who was the last great?
Herald sports editor Tom Miller, Hawks radio broadcaster Paul Ralston and long-time stat keeper Kent Keys have all lived in Grand Forks for decades.
Naturally, each has a lengthy history with UND basketball.
When posed with the question, "Who are the best Grand Forks natives to ever play at UND?" the three had a handful of answers.
Craig Skarperud came up often. Skarperud played for the Hawks from 1969-72 and scored 1,065 career points. The Red River graduate was inducted into the UND Hall of Fame in 1992.
Of the 39 members of the Hawks' 1,000-point club, Skarperud is the only Grand Forks resident on the list.
That comes with an asterisk: not including East Grand Forks natives.
The list expands when including players from across the river. Miller, Ralston and Keys were all quick to mention Dave Vonesh, the legendary East Grand Forks native who scored 2,053 points over his four-year career.
Only Scott Guldseth has more career points, scoring at 2,190.
Jon Haaven is another East Grand Forks resident in the 1,000-point club. His career spanned from 1951-57, interrupted by two years of military service.
But focusing on just Grand Forks residents, Skarperud is the clear standout.
Jon Tufte, an all-stater at Grand Forks Central as a senior in 1968, was teammates with Skarperud at UND. He played from 1969-72.
Mike Montgomery of St. James also played at UND for two years in the early 70s.
Since that time frame, though, it's hard to find great locals who stuck around town. There have been greats through the years. Miller was quick to point out Central's Glenn Hansen and Red River's Reed Monson, who are the obvious examples. But Hansen went to LSU, and Hansen moved to France during college.
Ralston mentioned Jon Godfread, who graduated from Red River in 2000 and went on to play at Utah and Northern Iowa.
Kraft is arguably the best Grand Forks native to play for UND in the Division I era. Though talented players have come out of the area over the last few decades, many chose out-of-state or Division II schools.
Of those who have stuck around, Kraft may be the best local since Skarperud.
"It's awesome, because he was not a kid recruited heavily at all," Sather said. "He plays with such a pace. He competes. And when you play that hard and you move the way he moves and still can shoot at that level, and he was doing it (in high school) — it's fun to see it translate for him. And the fact that he's a Grand Forks guy is awesome, too. But I'm just happy for him because he's got a deep belief in himself, he's really worked at it. It's fun to see him have to fight through and grind for this opportunity and he's taken full advantage of it."