South Dakota State Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Jackrabbits

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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – MARCH 16: Head coach T.J. Otzelberger of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits reacts on the bench in the second half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the first round of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 16, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images) /

Projected starters

Obviously, Mike Daum, who averaged 24 points/10 rebounds last season and should be in the conversation for National Player of the Year this time around, is a lock for a starting job, but there are a couple of other guys you can safely bet on being out there for the opening tip as well.

The first that comes to mind is Senior leader Tevin King. The 6’2″ point guard had a breakout campaign in 2017-2018, making the jump from 4.3 to 9.1 points per game, and he also proved himself to be one of the teams peskiest defenders with 1.7 steals per game (4th best in the Summit League). He should be one of the team’s most important pieces as its experienced and reliable quarterback.

Another guy whose name you can expect to hear in the starting lineups is rising Sophomore David Jenkins. Jenkins had an absolutely monstrous year as a freshman, topping 20 points on 12 different occasions. Jenkins had a shooting line of 49%/38%/80%, and is clearly the team’s second most dangerous offensive weapon. With a player like him around, opposing defenses will have to be very wary of focusing too much of their attention on Daum.

At small forward, expect to see RS-Senior Skyler Flatten. Scoring 6.8 points per game, Flatten isn’t exactly a killer with the rock, but he’s dead-shot from three-point range when he’s left open (49% last year). He’ll be extremely important as a constant shooting threat that will spread out defenses and make life easier for the team’s go-to scorers. Because the Jackrabbits will be relatively small – Flatten will be the second tallest non-freshman at 6’6″ – it’s very possible that he will be asked to play power forward in certain lineups as well.

It’s tough to predict who will be given the Center job to round out the starting 5. It will either go to Matt Dentlinger or Alou Dillon, both of whom are 6’8″ red-shirt freshman. Since the lineup will have plenty of scoring options between its backcourt and Daum, I’d expect to see Dentlinger get the starting nod because of his abilities on the glass and on defense (12 rebounds and 3 blocks per game as a senior in high school). It will definitely be something that’s subject to change depending on the opponent, however.