SIOUX FALLS – The Summit League released its men’s basketball preseason poll Wednesday morning, with South Dakota State earning the top spot while garnering 34 of 36 first-place votes. Mike Daum was named the league’s Preseason Player of the Year and joined teammate David Jenkins on the All-Summit League Preseason First Team.
The poll is voted on by league coaches, sports information directors and select media.
Jenkins is a first-time preseason honoree while Daum earned his third-consecutive Preseason Player of the Year nod.
Daum, a two-time Summit League Player of the Year and Associated Press All-American, is back for his senior year after exploring the NBA Draft waters. The Kimball, Nebraska native led the team with 23.9 points per game and scored 836 points a year ago. With 2,232 career points, he is closing in on Nate Wolter’s all-time SDSU scoring record of 2,363.
Daum set an SDSU record for single-season 3-pointers (96) in 2017-18 as well, and is in the hunt for the school’s career free throw and 3-pointer records.
“Daum has proven himself to be more than just a great individual player who produces on the stat sheet,” head coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “He has led his team to three NCAA Tournaments, which is a testament to his character, work ethic and continued development. We’re looking forward to a great senior season for Mike.”
Jenkins, the 2018 Summit League Freshman of the Year, returns as the team’s second-leading scorer. He reset Daum’s freshman scoring record last season with 565 total tallies, averaging 16.1 points per game. Jenkins finished eighth nationally among freshmen in scoring average and hit 84 3-pointers last year.
“Jenkins established himself as one of the premier guards in The Summit League and one of the top freshman guards on the national level last season,” Otzelberger said. “David continues to work and develop at a high level each and every day and we’re counting on him in a major way this season.”
All-Summit League Preseason First Team
Mike Daum* South Dakota State
Trey Burch-Manning South Dakota State
Zach Jackson Omaha
David Jenkins South Dakota State
John Konchar Purdue Fort Wayne
Joe Rosga Denver
* Denotes Preseason Player of the Year
All-Summit League Preseason Second Team
Brandon Gilbeck Western Illinois
Tyler Hagedorn South Dakota
Emmanuel Nzekwesi Oral Roberts
Tyson Ward North Dakota State
Kobe Webster Western Illinois
The Jacks are the three-time defending Summit League tournament champions, and last year earned the program’s first-ever outright Summit League regular season title, going 13-1 in league play. State carries the nation’s longest active home-winning streak (20) entering the season and has gone a combined 26-2 at Frost Arena under Otzelberger, now in his third season at the helm.
Otzelberger is 46-24 in his coaching career and leads a team with four returning starters into the 2018-19 campaign after earning league Coach of the Year honors a year ago.
South Dakota State was a near-unanimous top selection in the preseason poll (with coaches not allowed to vote for their own program), finishing with 570 total points. This marks the fifth time SDSU has been picked at the No. 1 spot since joining The Summit League in 2007-08.
“It’s flattering to see the respect our program has received with the preseason poll announcement,” Otzelberger said. “Our success as a group, however, will be defined by how we come together and the work ethic we exhibit on a daily basis. It should be an exciting year in The Summit League and we’re looking forward to the challenges presented by many great opponents throughout the conference schedule.”
South Dakota was second with 470 tallies, Denver garnered 454 points and Purdue Fort Wayne and North Dakota State rounded out the top five with 384 and 280 points, respectively.
2018-19 Summit League Preseason Poll
1.South Dakota State 570 (34); 2. South Dakota 470 (1); 3.Denver 454 (1); 4. Purdue Fort Wayne 384; 5. North Dakota State 280; 6. Oral Roberts 215; 7. North Dakota 186; 8. Omaha 177; 9. Western Illinois 161.
Key Returners
In addition to Daum and Jenkins, the Jackrabbits return a core group of key contributers from last year’s team.
Tevin King entered last season known primarily as a lockdown defender for the Jackrabbits, but showed off a new facet to his game as he finished fourth on the team in scoring (9.1 points per game) while shooting 52.2 percent from the field in 2017-18. King was second among Jackrabbits in rebounds (196) and had a team-best 59 steals as well.
Skyler Flatten is back after earning a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA. He led The Summit League in 3-point percentage (49.1) last year, averaging 6.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game for the league champions.
Brandon Key rounds out the returning senior class after leading SDSU with 112 assists. Well-known for his agility on the court, Key is back after a strong finish to the season that saw him reach double-figures in scoring in three of the final seven games, including a 16-point showing against Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament. Key shot 45.9 percent from the field a year ago and finished with 19 steals.
Beau Brown missed 15 games last season due to injury, but is healthy for his junior campaign. He appeared in seven games in 2017-18 and is expected to compete for playing time this year.
Changing Faces
2017-18 saw the program graduate its winningest senior class in the team’s Division I history, but a familiar face will be on the sideline as Reed Tellinghuisen, an All-Summit League performer a year ago, steps in as the team’s graduate assistant coach.
Four redshirt freshmen will make their official debuts as Jackrabbits after sitting out the 2017-18 season: Alex Arians, Matt Dentlinger, Alou Dillon and Ryan Krueger.
Arians was a First Team WBCA Division II pick as a senior in Madison, Wisconsin (Edgewood High School) and was his conference’s player of the year in 2016-17.
Dentlinger left Kuemper Catholic High School (Carroll, Iowa) as the program’s career-record holder in points (1,311), rebounds (754) and blocks (239) while earning All-State honors as a senior.
Dillon is healthy after fighting through an injury last season, having arrived at State after earning WBCA All-State First Team honors and his conference’s player of the year award in 2016-17 while playing for Wauwatosa West High School (Wauwatosa, Wis.).
Krueger scored over 1,400 points in his career and left as his Hortonville (Wis.) High School’s all-time leading scorer. He was named First Team All-State and First Team All-Conference as a senior.
In addition to the four redshirts, South Dakota State has four true newcomers to the program in 2018-19.
Owen King was a four-time all-conference performer at Caledonia Area High School, voted Associated Press All-Second Team and was a final-five pick for Minnesota Mr. Basketball in 2018. He left high school as the program’s all-time scorer (2,437 points) and in addition to basketball honors was named the 2018 AP Minnesota Football High School Player of the Year.
Aaron Fiegen (Madison, S.D.) was a two-time, Class A First Team All-State honoree and was a finalist for the KELOLAND/Sanford Pentagon High School Player of the Year in 2018.
Matthew Mims was named the 2018 IBCA State Class 3A Player of the Year from Xavier High School. He was a two-time, First Team All-State and All-Conference selection in his career and won the 2016 and 2017 state tournaments with his program.
Michael Carter III arrived from Washington in the offseason and will sit out the 2018-19 season due to the NCAA transfer rules. He has three years of eligibility remaining after playing in 17 games for the Huskies last year.
Schedule Run-Down
The 2018-19 campaign features 15 nonconference games, 16 Summit League contests and 15 home matchups, tied for the most at Frost Arena in SDSU’s Division I history.
The Jackrabbits will host teams from the SWAC, MEAC, WAC, and Big Sky conferences over seven nonleague contests, with an exhibition matchup Nov. 1 against South Dakota Mines. SDSU’s road docket features four teams that have made at least one NCAA Tournament in the previous four seasons.
SDSU opens the regular season at home for the second-consecutive season, hosting three games in the same week against Grand Canyon (Nov. 6), Alabama State (Nov. 8) and Bemidji State (Nov. 10). GCU went 22-12 last season in the WAC and ASU is back at Frost for the second-straight year.
The Jackrabbits begin the road portion of the upcoming campaign Nov. 16 at Florida Gulf Coast as part of a week-long trip to the Sunshine State. SDSU closes the week with a three-day stay at the Gulf Coast Showcase, Nov. 19-21. SDSU will play three games in Estero, Florida as part of the holiday event, with the field revealed at a later date.
After a road trip to Florida and the Thanksgiving holiday break, SDSU returns to Brookings Nov. 28 for an afternoon matchup against Kansas City. The Jackrabbits have won eight of the last nine matchups against the Kangaroos, including an 85-60 victory at UMKC last season.
SDSU opens December with its final neutral-site contest of the 2018-19 season, taking on Northern Iowa Dec. 1 at the U.S. Bank Stadium Basketball Classic in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
From there, South Dakota State heads for Memphis (Dec. 4) before returning home to face Southern Dec. 7 and Savannah State Dec. 11.
Nevada, which reached the Sweet 16 in last year’s NCAA Tournament, will host SDSU on Dec. 15 and the Jackrabbits wrap up the trip West on Dec. 18 at Eastern Washington.
South Dakota State closes the nonleague slate Dec. 22, as 2017-18 NCAA Tournament qualifier Montana comes to town.
The Jacks begin Summit League play with three consecutive road games at Western Illinois (Dec. 28), Purdue Fort Wayne (Jan. 3) and in-state rival South Dakota (Jan. 6). The home league opener is set for Jan. 10 against Denver, and Oral Roberts comes to town that same weekend (Jan. 12) before the Jacks head out on the road for a game in Grand Forks, North Dakota at Summit League newcomer UND on Jan. 16.
From there, South Dakota State turns its attention to North Dakota State and Omaha at home, Jan. 24 and 26, respectively. The second pass through the league begins with a Jan. 31 affair in Tulsa, Oklahoma at ORU and a trip West to pit SDSU against Denver on Feb. 3.
State returns to Frost Arena for a single-game Feb. 9 against North Dakota and hits the road for its final two regular season games away from Brookings, taking on Omaha in a Valentine’s Day matchup Feb. 14 before traveling to NDSU on Feb. 16.
The Jackrabbits will wrap up Summit League play with three consecutive games at Frost Arena, taking on Purdue Fort Wayne Feb. 21, South Dakota Feb. 23 and Western Illinois March 2.
The 2019 Summit League Championship will be held March 9-12, at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls.
