Zeke Mayo named Summit League MVP

SIOUX FALLS — South Dakota State had a trio of individuals recognized on  March 7 as a part of The Summit League's Men's Basketball All-League awards announced by the conference office. 
 
Junior Zeke Mayo was bestowed with the most notable individual award as The Summit League's Player of the Year. Mayo, who was previously chosen as the Preseason Player of the Year ahead of the 2023-24 slate, is the fifth Jackrabbit to be named the conference's Player of the Year. Mayo joins Nate Wolters (2013), Mike Daum (2017-19), Douglas Wilson (2020) and Baylor Scheierman (2022) to be honored as The Summit League Player of the Year. 
 
Mayo was one of the leaders for the Jackrabbits in multiple categories during SDSU's Summit League campaign that ended with a regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Across 16 games Mayo averaged 21.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals. Mayo shot 47% from the floor, nearly 39% from 3-point range and 85.6% at the free throw line. 
 
Mayo finished first among individual players in the league in 3-pointers per game (2.6), third in scoring, fourth in minutes played (37.1), fifth in assists, ninth in steals and 14th in rebounds. 
 
The Lawrence, Kan., native scored in double digits in all but one game during the conference schedule. Mayo had 10 20-plus scoring performances, a double-double and five seven-plus rebound efforts on the Jackrabbits' way to a 12-4 league record.

 
Mayo is a First Team All-Summit League recipient for the second consecutive season. Along with Mayo, sophomore forward  William Kyle III was also named First Team All-Summit League. 
 
Kyle III, an All-Newcomer Team choice a season ago, scored 14 points and averaged a team-best 7.1 rebounds during conference action. Kyle III scored in double digits in all but two contests and notched his career-high of 26 points along with three double-doubles against Summit League foes. The Bellevue, Neb., native was fifth in the conference in rebounding and was first in both field goal percentage (62.6%) and blocks per game (2.3).
 
Mayo and Kyle III continue an impressive stretch for the Jackrabbit program. SDSU has had 14 straight seasons in which it's had at least one player named to the conference's First Team. 
 
Kyle III was a standout on the defensive side of the floor and for his performance was chosen as The Summit League Defensive Player of the Year. He is just the second Jackrabbit to earn the award, joining Cody Larson who was honoree in 2015. 
 
Kyle III made The Summit League's All-Defensive Team and was joined by teammate Charlie Easley. The Summit League All-Defensive Team is in just its third year being awarded.  
 
Easley had multiple career-high marks during the 2023-24 season. During the league schedule, Easley averaged 13.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and a conference-high 1.9 steals per game. He played 32. 4 minutes per game, the second most on the team. Easley also had eight games with multiple steals. 
 
The Lincoln, Neb., native was an honorable mention to The Summit League's all-conference team.
 
South Dakota State begins its Summit League Men's Basketball Championship on March 9. The Jackrabbits will face either Oral Roberts or South Dakota at 6 p.m.