USD Basketball

[91jack]

I went to the Argus Leader to see the box score from the USD-Marquette game. I was looking to see how they did and who did most of their damage. I noticed that the seniors scored 32 of their 68 points. Cain is a beast and he scored 19 of them. The other player that's stats caught my eye was Jake Thomas(true freshman). He had 12 points(2nd on team), 7 rebounds(led team) and 3 assists(tied for team lead). The Marquette coach talked about Cain and Smith in the low post. Next year, both those guys will be gone.
The other thing I noticed was next years roster. I don't know who they have for recruits but SDSU will only have Palarca, Selken, Tivis and Wolters that will be shorter than USD's 3rd tallest returner. They have Tetzlaff(6-7), Krutwig(6-6) and Bouie(6-4) for their height. There are 5 other players on their roster and they are all 6-3 or shorter. I guess SDSU was a short team during the transition but they didn't have players like Cain and Smith to build off of.
I wonder if this year will be better than the next couple for them. USD has been excepted in the Summit League so they have that going for them. I just thought that the height differential was strange but I guess that's only 8 players for next years rooster so things could change drastically.

[jackmd]

Re: USD Basketball

Vermillion, S.D. – South Dakota head coach Dave Boots announced on Friday, Nov. 13, that three recruits have signed a National Letter of Intent to join the Coyote men’s basketball squad. Steve Tecker of Brule, Wis., Trevor Gruis of Ellsworth, Minn. and Jared Bartling of Sioux Falls, S.D., will begin their South Dakota career during the 2010-11 academic year.

“This class will bring us size and athleticism,” Boots said. “Trevor and Jared are very athletic at 6-9 and both play hard. Steve is a strong and athletic wing who does a lot of things for a team. All of them will fill some needs that we will have for next year.”

South Dakota will have two scholarships left for the late signing period in April. Below are biographies for USD’s Fall 2009 signees.

Steve Tecker – Guard – Brule, Wis.
A 6-foot-5 guard, Steve Tecker led Northwestern High School to a school-record 25-1 overall record and an appearance in the state semifinals as a junior in 2008-09. He was a unanimous selection to the Division 2 all-state team by the Wisconsin Coaches Association after averaging 21.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.2 steals during the season. Tecker also earned third-team all-state honors from the Associated Press, while the Duluth Tribune named him its player of the year. He was selected to the first-team all-area by the Eau Claire Leader and Superior Telegram and is currently ranked the No. 6 player in the state of Wisconsin by Wissports.net. As a sophomore, Tecker averaged over 17 points to earn first-team all-conference honors while helping Northwestern to a 15-6 record. During his freshman year, the team notched a 20-4 record behind an average of 15 points from Tecker and made the regional finals. He also earned first-team all-conference accolades. A three-year varsity starter, Tecker has scored 1,188 points and collected 584 rebounds in his prep career for Coach Dan Cowley. He is the son of Johnny and Deanna Tecker.

Tecker on USD: “I really liked the players and coaches at South Dakota. I think I could be able to come in there and play some minutes and contribute to the team right away, and I always wanted to play in Division I, so USD is a good fit. I was excited to sign early so I can concentrate on my final high school season now.”

Trevor Gruis – Center – Ellsworth, Minn.
One of the top centers in the state of Minnesota, Trevor Gruis has helped Ellsworth High School and Coach Tyler Morris to the state title game the past three seasons. As a junior he led the Panthers in rebounds, blocks and assists by averaging 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists per game, while Ellsworth posted a 28-4 record and second-place finish at state. He was named to the Fab 40 for the state of Minnesota by Minnesota Breakdown, while earning all-state tournament, all-conference, all-area and all-state honors. As a sophomore, the 6-foot-9 Gruis averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds per game to assist Ellsworth to its second-straight state title with a 30-2. He was named to the all-area, all-conference and all-state tournament team. He was also part of a Panther squad that went 31-3 to capture a state tile during his freshman year. Gruis has totaled 1,072 points, 702 rebounds and 271 assists during his three-year prep career. He is the son of Layton and Missy Gruis.

Gruis on USD: “I wanted to come to USD because I liked the coaching staff a lot, and then when I met with the players they were great to. Playing at the Division I level is going to be a great challenge for me as a player, and it’s close to home so my family can come and watch me.”

Jared Bartling – Center – Sioux Falls, S.D.
The Coyotes again sign one of the best recruits in the state of South Dakota with the 6-foot-8 Jared Bartling. Under Coach Bob Wilber at Roosevelt High School, Bartling earned all-city and All-Greater Dakota Conference honors as a junior when he averaged 9.9 points per game and 9.1 rebounds per game and led the Rough Riders to a 13-10 record. He also set a school record with 23 rebounds against Yankton, and posted 18 points and 21 rebounds against Huron later in the season to earn KSFY Player-of-the-Week accolades. Roosevelt posted an 18-8 record during his sophomore year to earn a conference title and advance to the quarterfinals of the state tournament. As a freshman, Bartling helped the Rough Riders notched a 16-7 mark. In the classroom, he has been a member of the honor roll three years. He is the son of Mike and Joan Bartling.

[CCdeville]

Re: USD Basketball

who did these recruits have offers from? I know Gruis had NDSU/SDSU on him early, then they both backed off. NDSU got Bjorkland, SDSU got their big man.

[Coyote_Fan]

Re: USD Basketball

So far this year I would rank the players as follows based on how they have performed so far

1. Cain
2. Jake Thomas (true freshman)
3. Cutler (new to program/Jr Coll Xfer)
significant gap
4. S Smith
4. Bouie (jr coll xfer)
significant gap
6. Gentry (not having good year so far)
7. Krogman (borderline D1/D2 player)

not getting much PT

Krutwig
Tetzlaff
J Boots

So far the team has lost to Texas Tech, Oregon State and Marquette and beaten Texas A&M Corpus Christie for D1 teams.

[SDSUAlum08]

Re: USD Basketball

I was not impressed with Jared Bartling. And considering SDSU/NDSU backed off of Gruis, I think we have to be VERY happy with who we've signed.

[filbert]

Re: USD Basketball

One of the great things about college athletics is that you never really know what you're getting in a high school senior athlete--I mean, you can't be certain how much (or how little) they will develop from then until their Senior Day/Night game at the collegiate level.

Sometimes under-recruited kids come in and work their butts off, and wind up starting and starring in front of kids in their same recruiting class with more talent but for whatever reason don't capitalize on that raw ability.

You never know . . .

[bub94]

Re: USD Basketball

Some players fit coaches schemes better than others. Haven't seen any of USD's recruits play so I can't say anything about them. The other thing you can say about USD is they are willing to take JUCO's on their team. So they might look for aged leadership with height that way.

[SDSUAlum08]

Re: USD Basketball

One of the great things about college athletics is that you never really know what you're getting in a high school senior athlete--I mean, you can't be certain how much (or how little) they will develop from then until their Senior Day/Night game at the collegiate level.

Sometimes under-recruited kids come in and work their butts off, and wind up starting and starring in front of kids in their same recruiting class with more talent but for whatever reason don't capitalize on that raw ability.

You never know . . .

I can definitely agree with that. I know that from experience.

[jackmd]

Re: USD Basketball

Cain is a stud and a great kid from a great family. They were our neighbors in Rochester and he was about 6 foot tall in 6th grade. I could still dunk back then and he was just starting to be able to, 6th grade! We'd go over to the neighbors drive way and wear out his hoop. As Tyler matured Meister was one the assistant coaches at John Marshall and I would talk to Kurt about getting Tyler in a Jackrabbit uniform. Then he broke his hand his junior year and we looked elsewhere. I thought he would end up at Minnesota State with Morgenthaler but Boots convinced him to be a Coyote. The rest is history.

One other tidbit, just to the other side of the block lived an even taller kid named Longar Longar. Quite a bit of talent in that little neighborhood.

[1bunnies]

Re: USD Basketball

Cain is a stud and a great kid from a great family. They were our neighbors in Rochester and he was about 6 foot tall in 6th grade. I could still dunk back then and he was just starting to be able to, 6th grade! We'd go over to the neighbors drive way and wear out his hoop. As Tyler matured Meister was one the assistant coaches at John Marshall and I would talk to Kurt about getting Tyler in a Jackrabbit uniform. Then he broke his hand his junior year and we looked elsewhere. I thought he would end up at Minnesota State with Morgenthaler but Boots convinced him to be a Coyote. The rest is history.

One other tidbit, just to the other side of the block lived an even taller kid named Longar Longar. Quite a bit of talent in that little neighborhood.

Are you sure is wasn't Taller Taller. Just kidding.

[JackJD]

Re: USD Basketball

When the Summit League announced that USD would be a member starting with the 2011-12 year, I had to admit that the Coyotes will not hurt, and will likely improve, the stature of the league generally, particularly in the league's marquee sports, men's and women's basketball. The 'Yotes are going to miss Cain when he graduates but I think Coach Boots has been recruiting players that could make the team competitive in its first year in the league.

[trueblue]

Re: USD Basketball

I think Boots' track record shows that if the guys he is recruiting now are not getting it done/will not get it done in the Summit he will go get some guys who he thinks will. Whether it be by the JUCO route or high school. There are a number of guys recruited to USD who did not cut it in Boots' mind and moved on to other schools. Colby Fitzgerald among others recently.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: USD Basketball

Serious question not intended as smack:

How long will USD play zone defense? Even in a low-mid-major like the Summit, a zone is going to get picked apart 80% of the time, unless you've got 6'5"+ across the board.

[Coyote_Fan]

Re: USD Basketball

Serious question not intended as smack:

How long will USD play zone defense? Even in a low-mid-major like the Summit, a zone is going to get picked apart 80% of the time, unless you've got 6'5"+ across the board.

I am not a fan of the zone unless man to man is a also played very well along with it. It gets a little difficult to critisize it too much since Boots won about a third of the North Central Conference titles in his time at USD in the NCC. Eventhough teams knew it was coming they still lost to it alot more than they beat it.

[filbert]

Re: USD Basketball

I am not a fan of the zone unless man to man is a also played very well along with it. It gets a little difficult to critisize it too much since Boots won about a third of the North Central Conference titles in his time at USD in the NCC. Eventhough teams knew it was coming they still lost to it alot more than they beat it.

I agree with C_F on this. The zone can be a very effective defense as a change-up to throw at a team after they settle in against your man-to-man (or vice-versa.) I think it's awfully difficult to win in D-I with a zone as your base defense unless you have Syracuse on your jersey.