South Dakota: 25 Student-Athletes to Watch in 2015-16

The South Dakota State University Jackrabbits basketball team came within three points of stunning Arkansas in March Madness. They should be even better with three players in the top 10% of all players at Value Add and a midseason transfer from Wisconsin in George Marshall who went 2nd team all Conference and Deondre Parks led the team in scoring.

The South Dakota Coyotes and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Hardrockers all have student-athletes to watch in 2015-16, starting with All-American hurdler Teivaskie Lewin (pictured).

We ran the Value Add Sports calculations on all returning athletes in the state and emailed sports writers and other experts in the state to help rank the 25 state players to watch on a list we will update here.

Dallas Clark is the greatest player ever from the state according to the December 23, 2012, Bleacher Report.

Jake Bittle ranks in the top 5% of all players after hitting 53% of his shots, 41% of his free throws, and 41% of his three-pointers. That play and the 42% shooting on three-pointers for Reed Tellinghusen should open things up underneath for Cody Larson (13.9 points per game and 7.2 rebounds). The Jackrabbits ranked in the top 20% of all defenses at www.kenpom.com, and that trio can give them enough to win big.

Lewin took 8th-place finish in NCAA 60-meter indoor hurdles and was Summit League Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and Track Championship MVP in 2014-15 before being redshirted for the outdoor season.

1. Teivaskie Lewin, South Dakota, Track, Hurdles
2. Tori Poole, South Dakota State, Soccer, Forward
3. Jake Bittle, South Dakota St., Basket, PG
4. Deondre Parks, South Dakota St., Basket, SG
5. Reed Tellinghuisen, South Dakota St., Basket, SG
6. Jake Wieneke, South Dakota State Jackrabbits, Foot, Rec
7. Cody Larson, South Dakota St., Basket, PF
8. Amber Eichkorn, South Dakota, Track,
9. Matt Mooney, South Dakota, Basket, PG
10. Greysen Hertting, South Dakota, Diving
11. Mach Dojiok, South Dakota, Track
12. Hunter Wilkes, South Dakota, track
13. Yvon Minogue, South Dakota, Softball,
14. Devan Larsen, South Dakota State, Softball,
15. Diana Potterveld, South Dakota State, soccer,
16. Jeremiah Ary, South Dakota State, Track,
17. Alex Wood, SDSMT, Track, Javelin
18. Tre Burnette, South Dakota, Basket, PF
19. Nicole Seekamp, South Dakota, basketball,
20. Tasha Timm, SDSMT, Track, Hammer
21. George Marshall, South Dakota State, basketball,
22. Casey Kasperbauer, South Dakota, Basket, SG
23. Trey Norris, South Dakota, Basket, PG
24. Ian Theisen, South Dakota St., Basket, PF
25. Mikenzie Nordeen, SDSMT, Track, Pole Vault

Some more details on other Jackrabbits include:

Jeremiah Ary, men’s track, the Summit League triple jump and long jump champion during 2015 outdoor season. He won Summit League indoor triple jump title.

Mach Dojiok was the outdoor track MVP of the Summit League. He was the Summit League 800-meter champion, both indoor and outdoor mile champion.

Amber Eichkorn was a 10k All-American who finished 2oth in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She won the Summit League Outdoor 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter championships for second consecutive year in 2015.

Greysen Hertting was the women’s swimming & diving two-time Summit League Diver of the Year and Diver of the Championship. She won her second consecutive Summit League titles in one-meter and three-meter dives in 2015, and a 10-time Summit League Diver of the Week in each of the past two seasons.

Devan Larsen from the softball Summit League home-run champion with a school-record 16.

Yvon Minogue of the softball team went third-team NFCA All-Region and First-team All-Summit League. She hit .470 and collected 93 hits, both Summit League highs in 2015 and led the nation with a Summit League record 26 doubles while finishing second nationally in hits.

Diana Potterveld of the women’s soccer team was the 2014 Summit League Offensive Player of the Year after leading league in points (24) and assists (12) and was named first team Capital One Academic All-America.

Nicole Seekamp from women’s basketball was a first-team All-Summit League performer and led Summit League in assists, steals, and assist-to-turnover ratio in 2014-15.