SDSU first, USD sixth in men’s basketball preseason poll

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (SUMMIT LEAGUE) — South Dakota State was picked as the favorite in the 2022-23 Summit League men’s basketball preseason poll and Jackrabbit junior Zeke Mayo was pegged as the Preseason Player of the Year, league officials announced Tuesday. The voting panel included the League’s nine head coaches, sports information directors and select media members.

Mayo is the league’s top returning scorer after averaging 21.1 ppg against League foes for an SDSU squad that went 13-5 and finished as the runner-up in the 2022-23 regular season standings. Mayo was the only Summit League player to average 20.0-plus ppg, 6.0-plus rpg and 4.0-plus apg a season ago.

Head coach Eric Henderson is entering his fifth season at the helm of a program that had an eight-year run of winning at least a Summit League regular season or postseason tournament title snapped in 2022-23. The Jackrabbits topped the poll with 600 points and received 27 of 36 first-place votes.

Oral Roberts, who was picked second, won both the regular season and postseason tournament titles for the first time since the 2007-08 season. The Golden Eagles, who will be under the direction of first-year head coach Russell Springmann, garnered 510 points and seven first-place votes.

North Dakota State, a postseason tournament finalist for the fifth consecutive year in 2023, received the remaining two first-place votes and sat third overall with 482 points. The Bison finished third a season ago with an 11-7 mark in Summit League play.

In the closest margin between two spots, St. Thomas edged North Dakota for fourth place in the poll, tallying 386 points, which was just 12 more than the Fighting Hawks garnered to place fifth. The Tommies tied for fourth in just their second year as a league member with a 9-9 mark, while UND tied for eighth with a 6-12 ledger.

South Dakota tied for sixth a season ago and the Coyotes were picked sixth in the preseason poll, finishing with 274 points.

Omaha placed seventh (252 points), Kansas City was pegged eighth (201 points) while Denver rounded out the poll in ninth (161 points).

Points for the preseason poll were compiled on a 9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, while all-league teams were compiled on an 11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. The top six vote-getters earned first-team honors and the next five were selected to the second team. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes or team.

2023-24 Preseason Summit League Player of the Year

Zeke Mayo, South Dakota State

Preseason All-Summit League First Team

Luke Appel, South Dakota State, RSr., F (11.1 ppg/4.2 rpg/1.4 apg)**
Parker Bjorklund, St. Thomas, Gr., F (15.9 ppg/5.4 rpg/0.6 bpg)#
Frankie Fidler, Omaha, Jr., F (16.8 ppg/5.8 rpg/2.9 apg)#
Zeke Mayo, South Dakota State, Jr., G (21.1 ppg/5.8 rpg/4.0 apg)#*
Issac McBride, Oral Roberts, Sr., G (12.6 ppg/2.8 rpg/2.3 apg)#
Boden Skunberg, North Dakota State, Sr., G (15.4 ppg/5.4 rpg/1.2 apg)#

Preseason All-Summit League Second Team
Tommy Bruner, Denver, Sr., G (16.2 ppg/3.1 rpg/3.8 apg)#
William Kyle III, South Dakota State, So., F (9.3 ppg/5.6 rpg/1.3 bpg)#
Andrew Morgan, North Dakota State, Jr., F (10.1 ppg/5.1 rpg/0.3 bpg)#
B.J. Omot, North Dakota, So., F (12.6 ppg/4.3 rpg/1.0 bpg)#
Kareem Thompson, Oral Roberts, Gr., G (8.1 ppg/6.1 rpg/1.7 spg)#
*Preseason Player of the Year automatically earns a spot on first team
#stats are from 2022-23 Summit League games
**stats are from 2021-22 Summit League games

Preseason Poll

Preseason Summit League Notes

• SDSU tops the preseason poll a season after the Jackrabbits did not win a regular season or postseason tournament title for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
• SDSU tops the preseason poll a season after the Jackrabbits did not win a regular season or postseason tournament title for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
• SDSU junior Zeke Mayo is the league’s top returning scorer from both overall (18.8 ppg) and league-only (21.1 ppg) and is the only all-league first team selection back from the 2022-23 season.
• Redshirt senior Luke Appel, the 2022 Summit League Newcomer of the Year, played in only five games last season before an suffering a season-ending injury. He was granted a medical redshirt and joined Mayo on the preseason all-league first team.
• Sophomore William Kyle III, a an all-newcomer team selection a season ago, gave the Jackrabbits a league-high three preseason selections after being named to the second team. Kyle III averaged 8.9 ppg across 32 games and added 38 blocks, which led all league rookies in 2022-23.
• Oral Roberts won both the regular season and postseason tournament titles in 2023, marking the first time the program pulled that off since the 2007-08 season.
• The Golden Eagles are under the direction of first-year head coach Russell Springman, who was on Paul Mills’ staff for the Golden Eagles’ Summit League Tournament titles in 2021 and 2023 as his top assistant.
• Senior Issac McBride is the team’s top returning scorer after averaging 11.8 ppg in overall games and 12.6 ppg in league play. A preseason all-league first team pick this season, McBride was a second team all-league pick in 2023 and an honorable mention selection in 2022.
• ORU graduate student Kareem Thompson joined McBride in earning preseason all-league honors, landing on the second team after averaging 8.5 ppg and career-highs in rebounds (5.7/g) and assists (3.0.g). He also added 46 steals and started all 35 games for the Golden Eagles.
• NDSU has a pair of double-digit scorers returning and both earned preseason all-league recognition. Senior Boden Skunberg was named to the first team after averaging a career-high 15.1 ppg for a Bison team that played in the Summit League Tournament title game for the fifth straight year under the direction of head coach David Richman.
• Junior Andrew Morgan also averaged a career-best in 2022-23, scoring at a 10.5 ppg clip after starting 30 of 32 contests.
• Richman is entering his 10^th season at the helm of the Bison and has led NDSU to three NCAA Tournament appearances and 175 wins in his first nine years.
• St. Thomas graduate student Parker Bjorklund garnered All-Summit League second team honors in 2022-23 and is a preseason all-league first team selection. Bjorklund bounced back from some early-season injury woes to average 15.1 ppg and up that to 15.9 ppg in 18 league contests.
• St. Thomas head coach Johnny Tauer is the longest-tenured head coach of a Summit League program, embarking on his 13^th overall leading the Tommies, who are in the third year of their Division I transition. UST tied for fourth in the league standings a season ago at 9-9 in just their second as a league member.
• Omaha’s Frankie Fidler was a preseason all-league first team pick after garnering second team all-league honors a season ago. He averaged 16.8 ppg in league play, which is second highest among all Summit League returners, for first-year head coach Chris Crutchfield.
• Denver senior Tommy Bruner was an all-newcomer selection in his first season at DU after leading the Pioneers in scoring at 16.2 ppg against league foes. He earned a nod on the preseason all-league second team and is the top-returning assist man in the conference (4.2/g) as well.
• Third-year head coach Jeff Wilbrun has led DU to 13 Summit League wins in his first two seasons after the program combined for just seven in the previous three.
• UND sophomore B.J. Omot landed on the preseason all-league second team after being the only freshman in the Summit League to lead his respective team in scoring. In fact, Omot, who started all 33 games for the Fighting Hawks, led all league rookies in scoring, averaging 12.0 ppg overall and 12.6 ppg in league play.
• South Dakota head coach Eric Peterson and Kansas City head coach Marvin Menzies, like Crutchfield, are entering the second year at their respective schools and both will have to replace the program’s top two scorers.
• Junior Paul Bruns is the Coyotes’ top returning scorer after averaging 8.9 ppg in his first season at USD, while Allen David Mukeba is the Roos’ top returning scorer and rebounder after scoring 9.4 ppg and pulling down 7.5 rpg in 22 contests last season.
• Kansas City is also aided by the return of Anderson Kopp, who was averaging 13.0 ppg in four starts a season ago before suffering a season-ending injury.