Sequoyah's Rudd signs with South Dakota State
Dec. 22—When Sequoyah senior Dawson Rudd tweeted his commitment plans last Wednesday, he was only about 10 minutes removed from making perhaps the biggest decision of his life.
But after thoroughly combing through 13 scholarship offers and three preferred walk-on invitations, his mind was made up. He wanted to be a Jackrabbit.
He announced his decision via Twitter on Thursday night and made it official Friday afternoon, signing his National Letter of Intent to play football at South Dakota State University, a consistent program in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) ranks.
In doing so, Rudd — who was listed at 6-foot-5, 255 pounds this season — became only the second Sequoyah player in school history to sign with a Division I school without first utilizing a JUCO pipeline. The first was Tim Martin, who was a defensive lineman at the University of Tulsa from 1995-1998.
"Everybody thought that I already knew and just wasn't telling people, but I really didn't," said Rudd, who was recruited as an offensive lineman. "It was last minute. The tight ends coach reached out to me — I believe it was Oct. 29 — and started texting me and wishing me good luck and everything and said he'd love to have me for a visit. From there, we started talking, and I visited there three or four weeks ago. They offered me while I was there, and nowhere I went really compared to them. You can do anything you want on like a Zoom call or phone call or videos of campus, but nothing beats being there in person.
"It was pretty tough to decide, but I think I made the right choice. With a team that has so much historical success, it's great to be a part of."
Under coach John Stiegelmeier, who has been at the helm since 1997, the Jackrabbits have reached the FCS playoffs 10 of the past 17 years, including nine-consecutive appearances. They advanced to the semifinals in 2017 and 2018 before making the 2020-21 championship game, where they fell to Sam Houston State 23-21.
This season, South Dakota State was eliminated in the semifinals by Montana State.
Weber State, located in Ogden, Utah, was in contention for Rudd's services, but it was South Dakota State's overall proximity to Claremore, in addition to the relationships he formed with Jackrabbit coaches and players, that ultimately swayed him north instead of west.
Although the drive to Brookings, S.D., is nearly 10 hours, it is much more manageable than either having to drive 18-plus hours to Ogden or pay for a plane ticket.
Not to mention the population of Brookings is much more closer to that of Claremore.
"It's still really far, but it's closer, I guess," Rudd said. "Really the big thing was the people when I was up there. The players and the coaches, like everyone I met was just great. Everyone wanted to meet me, and everyone wanted to get to know me. I'm not saying it wasn't like that at Weber, but I didn't really get to meet that many people at Weber.
"It was like Claremore," he added about Brookings. "It was pretty similar size, and it was a pretty nice town and I really liked it. Everything about it was pretty good, and I enjoyed it. It kind of reminded me of Claremore, which is good."
As for the role Rudd will play for the Jackrabbits, he said they plan to redshirt him his freshman year in order to increase his weight to the 290-300-pound range.
After that, it'll be up to him to combine the skills he learns in his new environment with the foundation he created at Sequoyah. If he can do that, a starting role could be in his future.
"He said second year I'll be competing for a lot of reps and maybe getting a starting spot," Rudd said. "That'd be my redshirt freshman year.
"It's a really good position to be in, and I'm really blessed to be in it. I'm just thankful I have the opportunity to play at the next level."
