BROOKINGS — The South Dakota State women’s basketball team’s roster for the 2024-25 season is something that is rarely seen in college basketball, especially in this day and age.

The Jackrabbits have 10 returning players from a team that went 27-6 and made the NCAA Tournament and in total have eight players in their lineup that have started games.

SDSU returns seven of its top eight scorers from a season ago and will have three players coming back from season-ending injuries. Two of those three players include Kallie Theisen, who was the Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year in 2023, and Haleigh Timmer, who was a second-team All-Summit League selection and Summit League Tournament MVP in 2023.

With all of the returning players, it has made preseason practice competitive, but it also leaves head coach Aaron Johnston with some tough decisions with what his rotation is going to look like.

“It’s a unique year where there’s a lot of really good players,” Johnston said. “For us, I think that gives us a lot of different lineups. We can play really big or we can play small. We have a variety of players that can play multiple positions. So, honestly, practice for us has been about getting our stuff in, but figuring out how we want to play. What lineups are good with this style, what lineups are good with a different style.

“… Last year everything was pretty specific. We had to stay true to one thing and this year we get to do a variety of things. Sometimes that can be good and sometimes you can try to do too many things and have too many options. So, we’re going to have to have some focus on what we’re doing.”

The top returners from last season include junior forward Brooklyn Meyer and senior point guard Paige Meyer. Brooklyn Meyer was the 2024 Summit League Player of the Year after averaging 16.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game last season. Paige Meyer has started 69 games in her three seasons at SDSU and averaged 15.2 points and 4.0 assists per game last year.

With the injuries to Thesien and Timmer coming in the offseason last year, many players had opportunities they wouldn’t have necessarily had last season. Those players included Madison Mathiowetz, Mesa Byom, Jenna Hopp and Ellie Colbeck. Mathiowetz started 32 of the 33 games last year and averaged 11.5 points per game, while shooting 39.3% from three.

She said she learned a lot in her sophomore season and because she knows her role won’t be the same this year, she said she’s going to have to focus on doing what’s best for the team.

“I think all of our roles will be a little bit different, but each of us can still contribute an incredible amount to our team and what we’re trying to get done. At the end of the day, it might not be the same amount of stats or points or minutes on the court, but the efficiency in those minutes and the leadership is what’s going to be important, and that’s what I hope to see myself doing this year,” Mathiowetz said.

Byom started 14 games last year but averaged 20.4 minutes per game. She averaged 7.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. Johnston said out of the returning role players, he’s excited to see Byom continue to develop.

“We’re really excited to see how Mesa grew from the end of last year into this year. She’s practicing with a great deal of confidence and energy,” Johnston said.

After missing last season, Johnston said he thinks some people forget just how good Haleigh Timmer is. She was second on the team in scoring in the 2022-23 season as she averaged 12.1 points per game and shot 46 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from three.

“I think people forget about the impact that [Timmer] has on the floor,” Johnston said. “Defensively, offensively, her shooting. It’s just remarkable how much she’s made us better in practice.”

The five newcomers for SDSU are all freshmen from South Dakota. The freshman class includes Katie Vasecka from Tea, Claire Sheppard from Flandreau, Emilee Fox from Mount Vernon and Jaiden Dunn and Mahli Abdouch from Sioux Falls.

Johnston said he wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of the freshmen made their way into the rotation this year, but it may be tough considering the amount of experience other players have.

“I think all of our freshmen could play. ... But you have so many players that are just as good, but they have two or three years of experience. Like it or not, experience does matter. Not in my comfort level, but in their ability to execute in stressful, pressure situations,” Johnston said.

SDSU has gone to the NCAA Tournament 12 times in the past 16 seasons. With the amount of experience the Jacks have this year, there is potential for this to be the most talented roster SDSU has ever had. However, Theisen said the expectations that the Jacks put on themselves are the same that they have every season.

“I think it’s just another season. Something that makes our program so special is the consistency and the standards are always set very high. I don’t think that’s different this season. We still have high standards and we know we’re capable of a lot, but we have to earn that game by game. We’re excited for the opportunities that we have, but we still need to prove it on the court,” Thiesen said.

SDSU will face a tough non-conference schedule yet again. The Jacks will play at Rice on Monday and the Owls went 19-15 last season and made the NCAA Tournament. After that they’ll play five-straight power four teams.

No. 21 Creighton will come to Brookings on Nov. 8 for the home opener and then SDSU will play Wisconsin on Nov. 13 and No. 11 Duke on Nov. 17 at home as well. The Jacks close that stretch with games against Oregon and Georgia Tech in the Hawaii North Shore Showcase on Nov. 23 and 26. SDSU’s toughest game of the non-conference schedule will come on Dec. 22 when the Jacks play at No. 4 Texas.

The Jacks have stacked their non-conference schedule for many years and Johnston said this is the most excited he’s been to see how his team stacks up against some of the best teams in the country.

“It’ll be fun because we have some players that could probably play or start on some of the teams that we’re playing against,” Johnston said. “When you talk about Texas and Duke and Wisconsin and Oregon and Georgia Tech. [There’s also] some really good mid-majors that are traditionally at the top of their conference in Creighton and UNI and Ball State and Montana. There’s going to be some good tests for us, but again, our team signed up for that.

“In [the recruiting process] we’re always pretty clear about that. We’re going to have to play well. As good as we think we are, everybody we’re playing thinks their team is pretty good too. So, we’ll have to play really well. There’s nothing that I think this team should assume going into the year. If they don’t play well, they’re going to get beat.”

SDSU will host St. Cloud State in an exhibition game on Wednesday. Tip off is scheduled for 6 p.m.