Summit League Basketball: Player of the Year Rankings

The Summit League season is winding down and it is time to showcase the conference’s best talent.

If you look at the Summit League from a national perspective, only one name comes up over and over again. Mike Daum is clearly this conference’s best overall player, and he has South Dakota State in a good position to make the NCAA Tournament. However, is he the Player of the Year in the conference? Believe it or not, there are other extremely talented players in the conference. Will Daum win his second consecutive individual crown? Or will he be unseated? Let us start with one honorable mention.

Honorable Mention – Zach Jackson – Omaha

The junior forward is going to be a really good player next season in his senior campaign. What drives him down to the honorable mention category and not number five is how poorly Omaha has played all season. Let’s say a player averages 30 points a game, but his team only wins 10 games in a season. Does he deserve the MVP? No, because his team stinks, the deserved MVP is usually a guy who has huge numbers on a good team. Not saying this is the exact situation with Jackson and Omaha, but you get my point.

The Mavericks have only won nine games this season, four of them in conference play. Jackson averages 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, on 53 percent shooting no less. However, Omaha is not a good team, so his performances matter and are impressive, but he is not a Player of the Year candidate. Jackson did win conference Player of the Week once this season, so that is something to be proud of.

I know that may sound harsh, but it is true. Besides, Jackson and Omaha are going to be better and more experienced next season. Talk to me a year from now and I will bet Zach Jackson will be on this list and not as an honorable mention.