{"id":21544,"date":"2025-07-19T13:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T13:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/21544\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T13:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T13:37:08","slug":"basketball-development-from-all-angles-in-south-dakota-reflected-in-college-success-mitchell-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/21544\/","title":{"rendered":"Basketball development from all angles in South Dakota reflected in college success – Mitchell Republic"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second story in a series taking a behind-the-scenes look at summer basketball in South Dakota.<\/p>\n

MITCHELL \u2014 For those who dive deepest into the pool of offseason basketball opportunities, ambitions to continue their careers as student-athletes at the collegiate level usually go hand-in-hand.<\/p>\n

As such, it only makes sense that a steady evolution in the developmental scene that helps shape prep basketball players has forced a change in college recruiting practices and, therefore, how top prep talents go about landing on collegiate rosters.<\/p>\n

During his 25 years as head coach of the South Dakota State University women\u2019s basketball program, Aaron Johnston has had a front row seat to the changing landscape, as he and his staff navigate it practically year-round in their recruiting pursuits.<\/p>\n

Earlier in his career, Johnston recalls that coaches would frequently visit individual camps where top players from the region would attend and be placed on pickup teams and showcase their abilities. However, over the past two decades, those have largely disappeared, replaced by organized traveling club teams that attend regional and national tournaments. More recently, individual skills trainers have also carved out a niche at the forefront of the developmental scene.<\/p>\n

In the current landscape, it\u2019s not altogether unusual to find that the most dedicated of student-athletes find time to fit in high school team activities, club team practices and individual skill workouts into a single day routine during the offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see that young people are putting more time, energy and resources into improving,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cI think young players are far more developed now than maybe they were at times in the past, and that’s because they have so much more exposure to basketball. With clubs, with camps, with trainers, all the opportunities that exist now have a chance to be really positive for kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s still some truth to the longstanding sentiment that the right eyes will find top talent where it may be, coaches admit that, given the ever-growing club circuit, playing for one of those traveling teams is perhaps the best way for a hopeful recruit to make themselves known. At present, the vast majority of college basketball players at practically all levels compete for a club team during the offseason.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to discount the high school experience and the role it has in developing a player. However, in its current structure, coaches can attend one weekend-long club tournament and come away having watched hundreds of different players from a large region. It\u2019s exposure on a scale surpassed only by the potential reach of social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number of really good players has definitely increased, which has helped the overall quality of the game,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cI think the very best players from each era would still be among the very best players (in any era, including present day), but there are just so many more really good players, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ZaneAlm_CadenHinker-4.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Augustana’s Caden Hinker (20) snags a rebound with Sioux Falls’ Zane Alm (15) nearby on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023, at the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls.<\/p>\n

Landon Dierks \/ Mitchell Republic<\/p>\n

Development for that growing number of top talents can start early, with some club programs now offering traveling opportunities to youths as young as the fourth and fifth grade.<\/p>\n

In the eyes of Northern State University men\u2019s basketball coach Matt Wilber, himself a former basketball trainer prior to his 11-year stint leading Dakota Wesleyan men\u2019s basketball from 2013 to 2024, priorities should often lean toward individual skill development, especially for players looking to establish themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there\u2019s a balance, and you need both to get better, but if you’re not skilled enough to impact the game, you need to start by working on your skill development,\u201d Wilber explained. \u201cI tend to believe that at the younger levels, you need skill development. Then, as you progress and get older, that’s when you can start looking into the development through club teams and games.\u201d<\/p>\n

From there, it\u2019s a cycle as the player works their way up through the ranks.<\/p>\n

With basketball opportunities already dominating the offseason calendar, Dakota Wesleyan University women\u2019s basketball coach Jason Christensen thinks there could be even more if the South Dakota High School Activities Association were to relax the rules on coaching contact during the offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a kid wants to go out and play a lot of basketball, they have that choice,\u201d Christensen said. \u201cHonestly, having been on both ends of it, I think, if anything, the activities association handcuffs our high school coaches by limiting their contacts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"011125.DWUWBB-1.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Dakota Wesleyan’s Rylee Rosenquist (32) drives with the basketball past a Hastings defender during a Great Plains Athletic Conference women’s basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, at the Corn Palace.<\/p>\n

Landon Dierks \/ Mitchell Republic<\/p>\n

At a certain point, most student-athletes have to make a choice whether they want to focus on one sport or compete in a variety of activities. Though there\u2019s a growing acceptance among some coaches for single-sport athletes, in many cases, pursuing other activities or interests isn\u2019t a red flag for coaches; it\u2019s the sign of a healthy, balanced approach by the student-athlete.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want them out playing (basketball), but sometimes I also get real hesitant on kids that just concentrate on one sport starting early on,\u201d Christensen said of what he looks for in student-athletes. \u201cFor example, we’re recruiting a kid right now that’s playing softball, soccer and AAU basketball this summer. To me, that\u2019s a sign of a well-rounded kid, and to have a chance to play multiple sports is a good thing for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those who opt to specialize in basketball, it has the added benefit of showing college coaches that a student-athlete is highly motivated to further their career on the hardwood. That level of commitment is crucial to succeed at the collegiate level. Though there are no guarantees that specializing in basketball will result in a scholarship offer, nor is it required to make it to the next level, it certainly doesn\u2019t hurt a prospect\u2019s chances of landing on a college roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are ups and downs with everything, but when you’re playing in the spring and summer outside of your high school team, you’re showing that you’re willing to go do that full time,\u201d Wilber said. \u201cI think that\u2019s important because in college, that’s what it’s going to turn into. The demands of playing a college sport are an everyday thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat being said, sometimes our guys have to take breaks at the college level,\u201d he added, \u201cand even professionals take breaks from their sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"120724.SDSU.MensBasketball_vsEWU-2.jpg\"<\/p>\n

South Dakota State guard Joe Sayler (3) attempts to finish between two Eastern Washington defenders during an NCAA men’s college basketball game as part of the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024, at First Bank and Trust Arena in Brookings.<\/p>\n

Landon Dierks \/ Mitchell Republic<\/p>\n

It should come as no surprise that South Dakota\u2019s strong basketball development scene and the student-athletes it has produced have made a major impact close to home at the next level.<\/p>\n

Both of the state\u2019s Division I institutions \u2014 SDSU and the University of South Dakota \u2014 are regularly among the top contenders for the Summit League men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball regular season and tournament titles. On the women\u2019s side, both the Jackrabbits and Coyotes have recent trips to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. Just this past season, SDSU finished as the 23rd-ranked team in the nation, according to the AP poll.<\/p>\n

According to a Mitchell Republic analysis, SDSU women’s basketball had eight of its 15 players in 2024-25 from South Dakota, the highest rate since 2009-10 when the Jacks had nine in-state players. In all, the state’s four Division I men’s and women’s basketball programs has 19 South Dakota-raised players on their roster in 2024-25, the most in 11 years. <\/p>\n

Eight consecutive Gatorade boys basketball players of the year from South Dakota stayed in-state to play with a South Dakota program (a streak that ended with Griffen Goodbary’s commitment to Drake University in the spring), while nine of the last 12 Gatorade girls basketball winners stayed in-state to play college basketball. <\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t stop there. The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and and Great Plains Athletic Conference are regularly among the best basketball leagues nationally at the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels, respectively. Even further, programs such as the Dakota State University women’s and Black Hills State University men’s teams have had their moments in the spotlight in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

Such widespread success is hardly an accident or coincidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur area has got a ton of basketball talent for all levels,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cThat’s a reflection of what’s happening at the developmental level because so many of these players on all of our teams are local players, and all of these organizations that are helping develop them have been fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second story in a series taking a behind-the-scenes look at summer basketball in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[402,398,400,401,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-21544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-basketball","11":"tag-ncaabasketball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}