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

Expectations for the Jackrabbits in 2018-2019

Pros coming into this season:

• They’ll have the best player in the conference, and one of the best players in the country, in Mike Daum.
• They’ll have plenty of veteran talent around Daum in their starting lineup with guys like Skyler Flatten and David Jenkins on the perimeter.
• There aren’t many teams that will be able to challenge their position as the kings of the Summit League (although South Dakota and Denver will be teams to keep an eye on). They have to once again be considered favorites for the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

Cons:

• The Jackrabbits lack depth, which won’t matter against most opponents, but it could spell disaster if injuries come around and no one is ready to step up as a replacement.
• Most of the options off of the bench are freshmen, so it could take time for Otzelberger to determine their roles, and many of them may not be ready to make an impact this season.
• They’re a relatively small team, so they could be taken advantage of by teams with great bigs, especially if they’re in foul trouble.

The bottom line: It doesn’t take a college basketball writer to predict that this team will win the Summit League. Mike Daum is that special and everybody knows it. The real question is: how much noise can this team make in the NCAA Tournament? Because of Daum and the other returning talent from last season’s team that gave OSU a tough game, I think this is the year that the Jackrabbits finally get over the hump and get that first-round upset.