NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of South Dakota of last decade

3. Colton Iverson – Minnesota / Colorado State

Our next player is another one of the early examples that transferring can work out well in your favor, even transferring down. Iverson is a 6’10 forward from Yankton who originally featured at Minnesota, spending three years playing for the Golden Gophers under Tubby Smith. With limited opportunities, Iverson transferred, spending his final year in a more featured role at Colorado State.

Iverson started nearly every game as a freshman, averaging 5.4 points per game on a 22-win team with other offensive pieces. He played a majority of the games during his time at Minnesota but didn’t really get that chance to break out, receiving limited minutes for this Big Ten school. After sitting out a season to transfer, he arrived in Colorado State in 2012 and was an instant impact piece for new coach Larry Eustachy. He averaged 14.2 points and 9.8 rebounds a game, including a career-high 29 points at Wyoming. The Rams then won an NCAA Tournament game against Missouri before losing to eventual champion Louisville in the second round.

After leading the Mountain West in rebounding and field goal percentage, Iverson was named First Team All-MWC as well as the conference’s Newcomer of the Year. Many of the metrics rated him as the conference’s best offensive player and he was certainly a splash addition for the Rams. Finally given his chance to shine, Iverson was then drafted very late in the 2013 NBA Draft, though he’s spent nearly all of his post-collegiate basketball career playing overseas.