2023/2024 Roster

[JACKGUYII]

2023-24 Men's Basketball Roster - South Dakota State University Athletics (gojacks.com)
Broden Lien no longer on roster as was earlier referenced. One of the taller rosters we have ever had!

[bigticket1]

Saw a tweet today that Luke Appel is fully healthy and cleared as ready to go for the season. Looking forward to seeing him and Kyle on the floor together.

[JACKGUYII]

Will be a very experienced team taking the floor in 2023/2024. Anyone hearing how the new younger players are looking?

[OldHare]

Who will be the redshirt candidates this year? Barnhart may have used his redshirt at Wyoming. He also has an outside shot as a big. He is likely to find some playing time. The experienced guards are Mayo, Mims, & Easley. There is likely a need for a couple of backup SG & PG guards which Alvarez, Garry(RS), Hastreiter(RS), Sayler, and TeSlaa are the candidates. The forward spot has Appel, Kyle III, Mors and Barnhart leading the pack. Kraft, Whorton, & Wilkinson will likely follow that lineup. It is my guess that there are a couple of younger players showing desire and talent required to land playing time. Will the bench become deeper than 8 regulars on the floor?

[bigticket1]

I will be interested to see how much time that Kyle and Appel spend on the floor together. Kyle is mainly a post player, but Appel has enough ball skills to play facing and attacking the basket. Zeke, Mims and Easley starting is a given. Barnhart has the outside shot, but he still likely plays the post, as I'm not sure if he can defend on the perimeter.

[LetsGoRabbits]

I will be interested to see how much time that Kyle and Appel spend on the floor together. Kyle is mainly a post player, but Appel has enough ball skills to play facing and attacking the basket. Zeke, Mims and Easley starting is a given. Barnhart has the outside shot, but he still likely plays the post, as I'm not sure if he can defend on the perimeter.

i think that is a very solid bet for the first game, but.....

i am curious, which of the new / or guys who have not made a significant impact yet, has the best shot / is going to make the biggest contribution? we have 5 guys who have made meaningful contributions in the past- Apple, Kyle, Mayo, Mims, Easley and then a bunch of young guys / new guys who have yet to contribute. will it be new post players who contribute most or young guards? a combination?

some seem to think this group has the talent for Hendo to go with a much deeper rotation, maybe even playing 10 consistently. maybe he will?? but we dont even know yet who is going to be ready to get on the floor and who needs to adjust to college level competition? also i have a little suspicion that Hendo is just more comfortable with something near an 8 player rotation

after the five, Mohrs and Teslaa have the most experience. is that enough to keep them ahead of the others?
i am rooting for all of them to have great jackrabbit careers!!! so DEFINITELY NOT cheering against the non SD kids!!! but i am very much hoping for the SD kids to make an impact would love to see both Garry and Sayler carry on the tradition of great SD guards like the Thomases, Jacobsen, Brown, Kyle Adams, Jeff Booher, Austin Hansen, and Chris Stoebner, and plenty of others i did not list!!! i am guessing Wilkinson gets a year to grow and adjust but will be happy to have him dominate and prove me wrong

excited to steal Kraft out of Fargo and hoping it is a valuable theft!!
i cannot remember us having a player from TX who did well. not going to try to remember the names but have had a few who were not able to reach expectations. hoping Alvarez breaks that trend!!
on the other hand we have always had good success with kids from wisconsin and hoping Whorton keeps it going!!

anyway, anyone have insight or thoughts or opinions? i am really excited to see this team develop and see who are ready to become the next great jackrabbits

[da_coach]

We could go with Zeke - Easley, Mims... but I don't know...that makes us awfully small on the wings.
-But they probably WILL start the year that way. Be very interested to see how the rotation works out. TeSlaa is the only one with any meaningful playing time(of the permeter guys), but Garry redshirted, and we know Sayler can shoot.

Inside... I bet it's Appel/Mors... with WKIII and Barnhart off the bench? But maybe they go with Mors at the 3... to fix that size problem...which makes us really big... but quite a bit slower.

I trust in the staff to make the right decisions.
(I do wish they would play a deeper bench. Like last year, TeSlaa was starting due to injuries, and playing almost 40 minutes, and then one guy came back and he would get in at all)

There's a lot of guys who can play in this squad. Kraft is supposed to be really good. (But I haven't talked to any players or coaches...so this is just me speculating in the wind.)

[OldHare]

Bubz Alvarez could bring in some guard size. There is likely a freshman among this team that could bring some excitement. WK3 brought that buzz last year.

[bigticket1]

We could go with Zeke - Easley, Mims... but I don't know...that makes us awfully small on the wings.
-But they probably WILL start the year that way. Be very interested to see how the rotation works out. TeSlaa is the only one with any meaningful playing time(of the permeter guys), but Garry redshirted, and we know Sayler can shoot.

Inside... I bet it's Appel/Mors... with WKIII and Barnhart off the bench? But maybe they go with Mors at the 3... to fix that size problem...which makes us really big... but quite a bit slower.

I trust in the staff to make the right decisions.
(I do wish they would play a deeper bench. Like last year, TeSlaa was starting due to injuries, and playing almost 40 minutes, and then one guy came back and he would get in at all)

There's a lot of guys who can play in this squad. Kraft is supposed to be really good. (But I haven't talked to any players or coaches...so this is just me speculating in the wind.)

Heard Hendo interviewed on a podcast and he was very complimentary of William Kyle. Said he worked all summer and completely changed his body. Put on weight, is much stronger with more stamina. We'll find out Wednesday night, but would be surprised if he doesn't start.

[LetsGoRabbits]

We could go with Zeke - Easley, Mims... but I don't know...that makes us awfully small on the wings.
-But they probably WILL start the year that way. Be very interested to see how the rotation works out. TeSlaa is the only one with any meaningful playing time(of the permeter guys), but Garry redshirted, and we know Sayler can shoot.

Inside... I bet it's Appel/Mors... with WKIII and Barnhart off the bench? But maybe they go with Mors at the 3... to fix that size problem...which makes us really big... but quite a bit slower.

I trust in the staff to make the right decisions.
(I do wish they would play a deeper bench. Like last year, TeSlaa was starting due to injuries, and playing almost 40 minutes, and then one guy came back and he would get in at all)

There's a lot of guys who can play in this squad. Kraft is supposed to be really good. (But I haven't talked to any players or coaches...so this is just me speculating in the wind.)

Mohrs is a great kid and has excellent intangibles but this is why i always had doubts about him as a big time college recruit. there is not much way around he is too small to go against the big guys and too slow to go against the little guys
he plays his butt off and usually does the little things correctly but in order to really make a difference he MUST SHOOT IT WELL. love the kid and rooting for him hard!!! but i think he is gonna be a great team guy who has a special game here and there but probably questionable as a starter

100% agree with you on highlight #2
and i think all of us are basically speculating in the wind)))

[LetsGoRabbits]

Bubz Alvarez could bring in some guard size. There is likely a freshman among this team that could bring some excitement. WK3 brought that buzz last year.

well again, there are 5 players on the roster who have made significant contributions and i DO think it is possible we see some growth- another level of production from one or more of them. Kyle would be my first guess to show another gear. i think we could also see more from Zeke and Apple might show some growth too. feels like forever since he has been healthy. i dont feel like there is a lot of room for growth for charlie and MM, maybe more consistent shot selection for Mims and just generally consistent health for both.

maybe the excitement does not come from a freshman?? I think Te Slaa could also be that guy and Barnhart, of course, is not a freshman. that said, i do agree with you! the freshman class- Garry, Sayler, Alvarez, Whorton, Kraft, Hastreiter and Wilkinson feels VERY promising and i feel like someone in that group will make an impact this year

but i will also say, i DO NOT expect it, BUT i will NOT be surprised if we have an 8 man rotation that includes none of the freshman
I cannot see Kyle not starting so
Kyle
Appel
and Zeke, Mims, Easley (to start the year)

with Mohrs, Barnhart, TeSlaa off the bench
if this ends up being the group that gets the bulk of the PT i suspect that TeSlaa becomes a starter at some point, or at least gets minutes very close to one or both of Mims and Easley and at least finishing some of the games depending on opponent size and who has the hot hand

i guess i suspect that unless they are REALLY not ready one of the freshman guards has the best chance to get PT because, i feel like Kyle, Appel, Barnhart, and Mohrs will be able to swallow up all the post minutes and there will be little need to put one of the youngsters in there unless they kick the door down

Alvarez has the best height / length of the 3 guards, but i think both Garry and Sayler outweigh him.... BTW both Garry and Sayler are listed at 6'3 and 200lbs, Barnhart, our 7 footer, is also 200 lbs. just found that to be an interesting stat. i really have NO IDEA which one of those 3 guards i expect to be the first one to grab hold of meaningful PT. who ever it is i hope it is because he shoots his way onto the floor!!!!!!!!!!

no matter what they do this year it is hard to not imagine a few years down the road a starting 5 comprised completely from this freshman class

[LetsGoRabbits]

Heard Hendo interviewed on a podcast and he was very complimentary of William Kyle. Said he worked all summer and completely changed his body. Put on weight, is much stronger with more stamina. We'll find out Wednesday night, but would be surprised if he doesn't start.

i dont think it will be a surprise at all if he pushes Zeke for POY. totally believe he has the talent. if i was coaching him, i would have him watching video of Douglas Wilson nonstop trying to get him to play the pick and roll like Douglas did. he is an instinctual shot blocker, but hopefully he has the desire to continue becoming better at positioning and it seems to me he definitely is a kid who is hungry to keep growing and improving

[da_coach]

So since yesterday, heard from a friend, who heard from someone close to the program... (and that's as close as I'll get)

It's Mayo, Charley, Mims, Appel, and Kyle... with Mors, Garry, and Seiler as the top 3 off the bench.

*that's what I heard, don't shoot the messenger.

Also heard, that the team looks absolutely tremendous... and could be one of the better teams we've had. And outstanding depth.
(Note: this came from a source 'close to the team'. So take that what it is worth)

[LetsGoRabbits]

So since yesterday, heard from a friend, who heard from someone close to the program... (and that's as close as I'll get)

It's Mayo, Charley, Mims, Appel, and Kyle... with Mors, Garry, and Seiler as the top 3 off the bench.

*that's what I heard, don't shoot the messenger.

Also heard, that the team looks absolutely tremendous... and could be one of the better teams we've had. And outstanding depth.
(Note: this came from a source 'close to the team'. So take that what it is worth)

thanks for the info coach. nice to hear something. very excited to see this group in action!! it is kinda crazy that the MBB have so much depth and the WBB have basically none, but i feel like both teams end up going usually about 8 deep

as i have said i am not gonna be surprised at all if it ends up that the rotation usually goes just 8 deep and i dont see anything surprising about those 8. believe Garry and Sayler have a shot to be special and definitely hoping for it

one thing for sure, that group is NOT BIG!!! dont think that will be a problem against the Summit league, but i do imagine that probably one, but maybe a combo, of the bigger guys gets a little bigger role in games against teams with significant size

i would say Hendo has pretty much shown that he is more than willing to go with a smaller group. i would say he is definitely a believer in the saying- the size of the fight in the dog is a lot more important than the size of the dog in the fight

to be clear, that group, i believe, would do just fine guarding guards no matter the size
Zeke has decent size
Easley and Mims are the smallest of the 5 guards but have proven they can guard bigger guards quite successfully
Garry and Sayler are both very solidly put together and at 6'3 they are big enough. in high school Garry was recognized as an excellent defender who could not only guard guards but play through switches and hold his own guarding posts when necessary. i am less positive about Sayler, but i think he was also supposed to be a solid defender

it is interesting, if your report is correct that our two biggest guards- TeSlaa and Alvarez- are the two on the outside of the PT window. i think i did say that my NW IA connections were very high on TeSlaa but almost everyone i spoke to said the one potential problem to hold him back was being too skinny and i think he might be beefy compared to Alvarez

regardless who plays this year, i still think this group of freshman have a shot to be a very special group as they go forward

[bigticket1]

I think that Nate Barnhart will be in the rotation. Hendo has said that he has unique skills for a big man because of his passing and perimeter shooting. His build probably limits him playing big minutes, but he has the ability to spread the floor and open up the middle.