Summit League Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)

22. Sam Griesel

A 6’6 wing from Lincoln, Nebraska, Griesel began his collegiate career with a successful stint at North Dakota State. His team with the Bison began in 2018 and stretched over the next four seasons, putting up some decent production and impressive results, though his final years were certainly the best.

He was a minor piece of the puzzle early in his career, averaging around 6 points a game in his first two seasons. However, he would help lead North Dakota State to back-to-back Summit League Tournament titles, with a 20-point effort as a freshman in the semifinals. After the start of the pandemic, Griesel took on a bigger role for the Bison, averaging 11.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a junior, with even better numbers in his final year. They’d fall short of postseason glory, but Griesel helped lead North Dakota State into great position again.

After a senior season where he was truly filling the stat sheets, Griesel was named First Team All-Summit and was again part of the All-Tournament team in the league. He was a solid scorer and rebounder and helped the Bison win a ton of games across those four seasons. Our focus was just on the Summit League, but it’s worth noting that he spent this past year at Nebraska and was a decent player in the Big Ten.