Scott Wagner developing with Dakota State men's hoops

Dec. 9—MADISON, S.D. — Two years after becoming one of the best players in Ellendale boys' basketball history, Scott Wagner has been biding his time on the junior varsity roster at Dakota State University (SD).

"I understood that going into it, there were guys that have not only played longer than me, they were more well adjusted, they were bigger than me, stronger than me, faster than me," Wagner said. "I'm alright with taking a step back and watching, being able to learn from those guys and then when it comes to my junior, senior year, I've had some great teachers already. So, when my time comes, I'm very confident, I won't disappoint."

Over his time in the program, Wagner said he had to grow and adapt his game in a multitude of ways. As a Trojan, Wagner said he had to adjust to shooting the ball from outside of the blocks more.

"It's definitely something that I've had to adjust and whether that's me having to lose weight, get stronger and work on just more of my moves because some of the moves I've been doing in high school didn't really correlate back to college because of the level of competition that I've playing in," Wagner said.

In order to get more playing time, Wagner said he needs to continue to improve in all areas. He said in order to continue to grow he has to become more comfortable shooting the ball outside of the paint.

This season, Wagner has had the opportunity to be coached by newly-appointed head coach Darren Tighe who recruited him when he was coaching at Mayville State University.

"It was great," Wagner said. "The first day we knew all about each other and so it felt a lot more comfortable than a lot of the other players. So I really do love coach Tighe and coach (Dalton) Kleinschmidt, he's a hilarious dude. I love coach (Damien) Luna, he's been the JV coach for the last two years. He told me that I can shoot it, if it's open just let it fly. I gotta give a lot of credit to how much I've improved from last year to this year to all three of those guys because they were my savior during the summer. They were always helping me work out, showing me the new offense."

During his career as a Trojan, Wagner has played in three varsity games, scoring eight total points along with two rebounds, two assists and one block.

Dakota State does not have complete junior varsity stats, but Wagner is in the box scores on the university's athletic website for two games this season. He scored 33 total points while adding 17 total rebounds, five total assists, three blocks and three steals in those two games.

When he thinks about what part of his game has improved the most, Wagner confidently says his shot, losing weight and becoming more athletic.

"I've lost some weight in which case that's allowed me to be faster, more explosive," Wagner said. "So, I definitely think the two things I've most improved on is my physicalness and my shooting ability has gone through the roof comparing this to my high school year."

Wagner made his varsity debut on Dec. 6, 2022, at Trinity Bible College in Ellendale which made for a special moment.

"That was something that I was not expecting to do," Wagner said. "I wasn't expecting to get in at all and then some of the senior guys were telling coach to put me in since we were up by 20 or 30 at the point, there was four minutes left in the game I think. ... It definitely was a great experience for me because not only was that my first time ever getting in for varsity, but it was also at my hometown. A lot of my friends and family came and watched me play and so that is something that I'll never forget. Especially being able to score my first varsity point there is just magic."

Tighe said the decision to keep Wagner on the junior varsity this year was to enable him to continue to develop as a player. Tighe said the best part of Wagner's game is his ability to pass the ball and the enthusiasm that he brings to the gym every day.

"I really like the energy that he brings, he's one of those guys that you don't have to tell him to talk or to bring that positive energy on the floor," Tighe said.

In the age of the transfer portal, Wagner could not contain his excitement at the possibility of playing for the Trojans for his entire career.

"I love this team," Wagner said. "I love the coaching. I am more than ready to be here for four years. I don't really believe in transferring and I'm fully confident in the coaches and so I want to ride it out from here with Dakota State."

Tighe said he believes Wagner's role will increase next season.

"He's such a good teammate and such a hard worker," Tighe said. "He's really worked a lot on his body over the course of the summertime to get in better shape. That's really showing so far in his game play, so just to take that next step probably from a leadership standpoint I think is the big thing that we want to see him do."

Wagner is currently an elementary special education major at Dakota State. During his time at the school, Wagner has spent time volunteering with the community.

"During the summer, I worked at Madison's (South Dakota) summer program and I worked with little kids throughout the summer," Wagner said. "So that's definitely something that I have been having to do to get myself ready for when I take that next step. Another thing is with our culture, we do a lot of stuff for the community so that's something that I really love about this team. We want to help the community, we want to show the community our new culture, and I'm proud to say that ... I think we have the community on our side now and they are more than ready to cheer us on."