South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2020-2021 Overall Rank: #97
Conference Rank: #1 Summit
Head Coach Eric Henderson hit the ground running in year one as head coach of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits as he led them 22 wins and a share of the Summit League title. Henderson was named the Coach of the Year in the Summit League and Frost Arena has continued to assert itself as a very difficult place to play as South Dakota State went 16-0 at home last season. The Jackrabbits will head into the 2020-21 season with a 24-game winning streak, which is one of the best in the nation in that category.
2019-20 Record: 22-10, 13-3
Coach: Eric Henderson
Coach Record: 22-10 at South Dakota State, 22-10 overall
Key Departed Players:
Brandon Key, Guard, 6.6 ppg
Alou Dillion, Forward, 3.5 ppg
Owen King, Guard, 1.1 ppg
Key Returning Players:
Douglas Wilson, Senior, Forward, 18.6 ppg
Matt Dentlinger, Junior, Forward, 12.2 ppg
Noah Friedel, Sophomore, Guard, 12.2 ppg
Alex Arians, Junior, Guard, 9.1 ppg
David Wingett, Sophomore, Guard/Forward, 8.4 ppg
Tray Buchanan, Senior, Guard, 6.3 ppg
Baylor Scheierman, Sophomore, Guard, 6.0 ppg
Matt Mims, Sophomore, Guard, 3.0 ppg
Aaron Fiegen, Sophomore, Forward, 0.7 ppg
Key New Players:
Cooper Corneman, Freshman, Guard
William Mfum, Freshman, Guard,
Luke Appel, Junior, Forward, Transfer from Kirkwood CC
Charlie Easley, Sophomore, Guard, Transfer from Nebraska
Projection:
Douglas Wilson will be back and looking to defend his title as player of the year in the Summit League. Wilson averaged 18.6 points per game, 6.4 rebounds and shot an outstanding 62.8 percent from the floor. Noah Friedel was the top freshman in the Summit League last season as he averaged 12.2 points per game and knocked 39.5 percent of his shots from behind the three-point line. Matt Dentlinger is also going to be matchup problem for opposing teams as he shot 62.8 percent from the floor last season, while averaging 12.2 points per game just like Friedel. Alex Arians and David Wingett combined to averaged 17.5 points per game last season and they will be back to round out what should be a balanced offensive attack for South Dakota State. A couple of points of emphasis for the Jackrabbits as they move forward into the 2020-21 season will be the shore up the scoring defense as they allowed 70.5 points per game which ranked 205th overall in the nation and forcing some more turnovers as they only generated 13.0 turnovers per game last season. If they can get that number up to around 16 that will help their offensive attack become even better. In the end, you can expect South Dakota State to convert their experience and balance on offense into another conference title and another trip to the postseason.
Projected Postseason Tournament: NCAA
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 77.9 (27th in nation, 3rd in conference)
Scoring Defense: 70.5 (205, 3)
Field-Goal Percentage: 49.1 (8, 2)
Field-Goal Defense: 42.1 (128, 1)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game 7.3 (162, 6):
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 34.7 (101, 4)
Free-Throw Percentage: 70.7 (185, 7)
Rebound Margin: 4.4 (51, 4)
Assists Per Game: 14.3 (85, 1)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.0 (165, 6)
