South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2013-2014 Overall Rank: #117
Conference Rank: #2 Summit
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Scott Nagy has done a tremendous job at South Dakota State. It all started with current Milwaukee Bucks guard Nate Wolters. Nagy convinced the under recruited Wolters to come to Brookings and he led the Jackrabbits to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. The majority of the players from those teams are gone but there is plenty of talent. Nagy might have even found the next Wolters in Anders Broman. Broman is the career leading scorer in Minnesota High School History, with 5,119 career points. He averaged over 30 points per game in all four years he was in high school. He should be a name to watch for the Jackrabbits this season.
2013-14 Record: 19-13, 10-4
2013-14 Postseason: CBI Tournament (Lost to Old Dominion in First Round)
Coach: Scott Nagy
Coach Record: 341-208 at South Dakota State (341-208 overall)
Who’s Out:
The Jackrabbits lose three starters and a key bench player off last season’s team, the last of the core of the teams that went to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2012 and 2013. Forward Jordan Dykstra, the teams leading scorer, 16.0 points per game, and rebounder, 7.6 rebounds per game, last season is gone, as is Brayden Carlson, who was second on the team in scoring at 14.9 points per game and led the team in assists at 2.9 per game last year. Forward Chad White is the third starter gone. He averaged 9.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game last season. Rounding out the key departures is last season’s top reserve, Marcus Heemstra, who averaged 5.1 points and 3.3 rebounds. Guard Matt Donlan, who decided to transfer during the offseason after playing in seven games last year, is the only other departure.
Who’s In:
Nine new faces will be eligible this season for South Dakota State. Headlining the group is George Marshall, a transfer from Wisconsin. Marshall, who will be eligible after the first semester, played in all 35 games for Wisconsin as a redshirt freshman, but saw his minutes drop off considerably at the beginning of last season, leading to his transfer. Three other players are eligible after redshirting in their first season on campus. Two local products, Lane Severyn and Skylar Flatten, who both earned multiple All-State selections in South Dakota during their high school careers, lead the group, while 6-foot-8 Logan Doyle will bolster the frontcourt. The freshman class consists of three players, all of whom stand at least 6-foot-6 or taller. Forward Reed Tellinghuisen averaged over 25 points per game as a senior in Iowa, while a pair of 6-foot-9 forwards Mike Daum and Ian Theisen add some much needed size. Rounding out the group is Deondre Parks, a two-time juco All-American, and Keaton Moffitt, a juco transfer who redshirted last season.
Who to Watch:
Seven players are back after seeing playing time last season and all of those players should see increased roles. Cody Larson is back after starting all 32 games in his first season with the Jackrabbitts. The Florida transfer averaged 13.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last year. He will be joined in the starting lineup by point guard Jake Bittle. Bittle Started 20 of the 23 games he played in last season and was second on the team in assists, 2.3 per game. A trio of bench players, Anders Broman, Zach Horstman and Connor Devine, look set to join them in the starting lineup. Broman, known for his scoring outburst as a prep senior in Minnesota, should slide into the shooting guard role in his second season in campus, while Horstman, who averaged just over three points per game last year should be the small forward. At the center spot, Connor Devine, a 6-foot-10 Alaska native, should be the guy. Devine nearly averaged a triple double in high school and should provide a big boost with his shot blocking and rebounding. Rounding out the team are Corey Jacobsen and Joshua White, who both saw limited action last season.
Final Projection:
South Dakota State loses a lot of production from last year’s team, but Nagy has done well to replace it. Broman and Devine were big time high school players and they look set to play big roles this season. In 2012, Nagy made the NCAA Tournament using a team that was both undersized and lacked depth. That has changed drastically over the past two years. Nagy has recruited well and has a team that will be deep and has size. The players are mostly unproven at this level, but the potential is there for this Jackrabbit team to be very good.
Projected Postseason Tournament: CBI/CIT
Projected Starting Five:
Jake Bittle, Junior, Guard, 8.5 points per game
Anders Broman, Sophomore, Guard, 3.9 last season
Zach Horstman, Senior, Guard, 3.1 points per game
Cody Larson, Senior, Forward, 13.1 points per game
Connor Devine, Sophomore, Center, 1.6 points per game
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 72.3 (125th in nation, 3rd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 68.7 (136, 4)
Field-Goal Percentage: 44.7 (143, 5)
Field-Goal Defense: 44.5 (217, 4)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.5 (134, 3)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 34.5 (157, 5)
Free-Throw Percentage: 75.6 (11, 1)
Rebound Margin: 5.3 (21, 1)
Assists Per Game: 13.2 (125, 3)
Turnovers Per Game: 11.9 (130, 4)
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