South Dakota State Basketball: Jackrabbits season review

South Dakota State basketball had another splendid year, as they clinched a berth in the Big Dance for the third time in five years.

Yes, things are always sunny in Brookings, SD when you watch South Dakota State. Scott Nagy built this program into a perennial over his 21 year stint, which saw SDSU climb from the DII ranks to the Summit League. He held a 410-240 record over that stretch of time.

Nagy is gone now though, as he elected to take the coaching job at Weber State.

In his place, is a top-notch recruiter in former Iowa State assistant T.J. Otzelberger.

Otzelberger takes over a program that won the Summit League, but narrowly lost its first round game in the Big Dance. They lose some important pieces, but retained their best players.

So don’t expect the Jackrabbits to fall too much in the post-Nagy era.

Final Season Grade: A-

So, what’s next in Brookings?

Players Gone:

G – Deondre Parks (14.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.5 apg)

G – George Marshall (14.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.8 apg)

G – Jake Bittle (8.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.1 apg)

G – Cory Jacobsen

F – Logan Doyle

F – Connor Devine (2.6 ppg

The graduations of Parks, Marshall, and Bittle are big losses for this team, as they are three of the top five contributors.

Jacobsen was another body in practice, while Doyle and Devine opted to transfer elsewhere.

There is plenty of young talent behind those guards, but their senior leadership was invaluable over the past few runs. This team has recovered from key graduations before, so it is quite likely to happen again.

Players Returning:

G – Reed Tellinghuisen (9.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.2 apg)

G – Keaton Moffitt (5.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.0 apg)

G – Tevin King (3.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg)

F – Ian Theisen (6.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg)

F – Mike Daum (15.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg)

The returning team is still extremely talented at the moment. Leading scorer, Daum, will slide into the starting lineup and might be the preseason Summit POY for next year. Around him are capable guards, Tellinghuisen, Moffitt, and King, who are ready to take a jump in production.

Theisen should start next to the Dauminator and is a solid stretch-4 forward.

This, of course, is entirely dependent on what Otzelberger sees from the returnees and bench warmers. He might just shake things up this summer.

Who’s new:

F – Loudon Love-Vollbrecht (6’8″, 285)

Right now the Jackrabbits will welcome just one player in their 2016 class. Love-Vollbrecht is a bruising physical specimen, but it is obviously unclear how he’ll adjust to the rigors of D-I basketball right away. He could also de-commit from SDSU if he wants to try and follow Nagy or is otherwise unhappy with the coaching change.

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There are over 400 transfers right now with some quality names out there yet. Otzelberger brought eventual pro prospects (both NBA and overseas) such as Diante Garrett, Mike Taylor, and Craig Brackins to Ames and has strong recruiting chops. If he can get quality guys like these to come to Ames, there is a very good chance he’ll have success in Brookings, SD.

I’d like to think this is a home run replacement for a program that was fortunate to have the same coach for over 20 years. Otzelberger doesn’t have head coaching experience before this run, but he’s tutored under names such as Gregg McDermott and NBA coach Fred Hoiberg.

Big things might be in store for the Jackrabbits.

Final numbers to know:

54% – the proportion of scoring currently slated to return in 2016-17. The three seniors that graduated take a lot of production, but there is a solid foundation in place. Look for someone to step up and keep SDSU’s balanced offense running smoothly.

55% – Sophomore-to-be Mike Daum’s shooting percentage as the sixth-man. As the team’s likely center next year, Daum will need to keep his solid shooting average intact against a league that has a couple good defenses and a heap of teams looking to prevent the Jackrabbits dominance. As a bonus, Daum also shot 45% on 65 three-point attempts.

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3 – the number of conference championships the team has won since joining the Summit League in 2007. Expect that number to rise over the next couple of seasons considering the talent still on board and Otzelberger’s skill at bringing in talented players.