Daum, Jenkins Jr. headline Summit League awards

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SIOUX FALLS – Mike Daum has been named the Summit League Player of the Year, David Jenkins Jr. was tabbed as Freshman of the Year and head coach T.J. Otzelberger earned Coach of the Year honors while three Jackrabbits were named to the All-Summit League teams, announced Wednesday by the league office.

Daum was named to the All-Summit League First Team, Jenkins Jr. was a second team and all-newcomer selection and Reed Tellinghuisen picked up the honorable mention nod.

“We’re humbled for the recognition our team received,” Otzelberger said. “As with all individual awards, we understand that without each individual member of our team contributing none of these awards would be possible.”

Daum earned the top honor for the second straight year after leading the league in points (23.6) and rebounds (10.1) per game, notching 12 double doubles in 14 Summit League contests as one of three players nationally to average a 20-point double-double. The junior is a seven-time Player of the Week this season and has missed double figures just once while hitting 81 3-pointers and finishing the regular season 167-for-198 (84.3 percent) from the charity stripe. He is sixth in Division I in points per game this season.

The Kimball, Neb., native broke the 2,000-point barrier on Feb. 1 and ranks as the nation’s fifth-highest active scorer in total points. He has scored 30 or more 11 times and was the November and December Summit League Athlete of the Month. In league play this season, Daum averaged 26 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.

The big man is a three-time First Team All-Summit League performer and the sixth repeat Player of the Year in Summit League history.

“Mike has established himself as one of the premiere players in The Summit League and across the nation,” Otzelberger said. “His hard work and tremendous character has allowed him to continue to take his game to new heights.”

Jenkins capped an impressive regular season with Freshman of the Year, All-Summit League Second Team and Summit League All-Newcomer team honors while averaging 15.9 points per game.

From Tacoma, Washington, Jenkins is shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 38.8 percent beyond the arc, sitting second on the team with 76 3-pointers. He has hit at least two 3s in 21 contests and has reached double figures in scoring 25 times, twice passing the 30-point mark.

The guard ranks seventh nationally in scoring among freshman and is closing in SDSU’s freshmen scoring record, entering the tournament just 25 shy of Daum’s 2015-16 total. He set the school’s freshman single-game record of 31 points at Colorado in December en route to earning National Freshman of the Week honors from CBS Sports and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and matched the scoring total Dec. 8 at Denver.

Named the Summit League’s Player of the Week once this season, Jenkins averaged over 17 points per game in league play and is just the second freshman ever at State to earn all-league honors (at both Division I and II).

“David has demonstrated in a short period of time that he is one of the dynamic scorers in The Summit League,” Otzelberger said. “The confidence and continual improvement he has shown through the season has been remarkable.”

Tellinghuisen averaged 12.2 points and 4.5 rebounds per contest on his way to an honorable mention selection, picking up all-league honors for the first time in his career.

The Sac City, Iowa native is third on the team in scoring is shooting 48.3 percent from the field while going 57-for-143 beyond the arc. He has scored in double figures 21 times this year and put together a double-double at UMKC (Dec. 22) with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Tellinghuisen has sank two or more 3-pointers in 19 games this season.

After joining the 1,000-point club last season, the senior has risen to 14th (1,394) on the scoring chart this season and is less than 30 away from the top 10 in school history. The 6-7 guard has started more games than any other Jackrabbit (123) for his career and is second in the record books in games played (135), minutes played (3,943) and 3-pointers made (246).

“Reed has been an unbelievable performer in The Summit League over the last four seasons,” Otzelberger said. “This recognition is well deserved for a player who has impacted our program in so many ways and has established himself as a winner.”

In his second season at the helm of the Jackrabbits, Otzelberger’s squad reached the NCAA Tournament last year with a late charge, winning nine of its final 11 games before the national tournament and carried that success into the 2017-18 campaign. 13 league wins is tied for second-most in the school’s Division I history, and the Jackrabbits reached the 25-win plateau for the fourth time in the last seven years. SDSU has put together two eight-game winning streaks this season.

Otzelberger has gone 43-23 on the sidelines for SDSU and has coached the team to a 26-2 record in Frost Arena over the last two seasons while compiling the nation’s longest active home-winning streak of 20.

His squad has been ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Men’s Mid-Major Top 25 16 times this season and has been in the top 10 the last eight polls. The Jacks are ranked fourth in the latest version and boast an RPI of 53 headed into the league tournament.

“It’s an honor to receive this award in a league with so many outstanding coaches,” Otzelberger said. “This award reflects the quality and timeless efforts of our assistant coaches, support staff and most importantly our student-athletes.”

The Jackrabbits will look for their ninth straight win entering The Summit League Championship Saturday. No. 1 seed SDSU takes on No. 8 seed Western Illinois at 6 p.m. in the quarterfinals at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Player of the Year

Mike Daum, South Dakota State

Defensive Player of the Year

Brandon Gilbeck, Western Illinois

Freshman of the Year

David Jenkins Jr., South Dakota State

Transfer of the Year

Austin Ruder, Oral Roberts

Sixth Man of the Year

Albert Owens, Oral Roberts

Coach of the Year

T.J. Otzelberger, South Dakota State

All-Summit League First Team

Mike Daum, South Dakota State

John Konchar, Fort Wayne

Paul Miller, North Dakota State

Matt Mooney, South Dakota

Joe Rosga, Denver

Bryson Scott, Fort Wayne

All-Summit League Second Team

Daniel Amigo, Denver

Trey Burch-Manning, South Dakota

Tyler Hagedorn, South Dakota

Zach Jackson, Omaha

David Jenkins Jr., South Dakota State

Honorable Mention All-Summit League

Brandon Gilbeck, Western Illinois

Emmanuel Nzekwesi, Oral Roberts

Triston Simpson, South Dakota

Reed Tellinghuisen, South Dakota State

Kobe Webster, Western Illinois

Summit League All-Newcomer Team

Nick Fuller, South Dakota

Cameron Hunter, North Dakota State

David Jenkins, Jr., South Dakota State

Sam Kearns, Oral Roberts

Kobe Webster, Western Illinois

Photo from www.gojacks.com.