USD, SDSU basketball: 5 takeaways from Summit League men's and women's basketball media day

On Tuesday, every men's and women's basketball program in the Summit League sent their coach and a player representative to the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls for the conference's annual preseason media day.

Here are five takeaways from media day:

Grace Larkins stepping into a bigger leadership role for South Dakota women's basketball

As a sophomore, Larkins had an outstanding season.

She became the first guard in Summit League history to rank in the top three in points, rebounds, assists and steals; before last season no player had ranked in the top five in all four categories. Larkins and National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark were the only players to average 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

And heading into the new season, Larkins seems to have found her voice as a leader.

“Off the court, I think with her teammates she’s really shown a development of leadership,” South Dakota women’s basketball coach Kayla Karius said. “(She’s been) pulling people along and really raising the level every single time she's on the floor.”

Larkins admitted she hasn’t been very vocal in the past, but she said her breakthrough happened midway through last season.

“It's been a roller coaster in a way, like, I never expected to have to do that,” Larkins said. “But it was a blessing.”

Zeke Mayo continuing to grow as a playmaker for SDSU men's basketball

South Dakota State guard Zeke Mayo was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year on Tuesday.

Mayo led the Jackrabbits in points, rebounds and assist averages last season and elevated his game even more in conference play. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 21 points, six rebounds and 4.1 assists per game in Summit League action.

“I felt like it was destined,” Mayo said about receiving the award after the season he had last year. “I try to stay humble about it (though) and I mean, I'm in competition with some great, great players …  I'm blessed to be chosen by each and every one of these fantastic coaches.”

SDSU men’s basketball coach Eric Henderson said he’s been impressed with how much his star guard has improved his playmaking in his time with the program.

“Last year as a sophomore, when Baylor (Scheierman) left, he kind of got thrown into that mix of being one of our true playmakers,” Henderson said. “(It happened maybe) a little bit before he thought he would be, or we thought he would be, but he handled it so well … and how much he's grown with a ball in his hands, and being able to make those plays has been pretty special to watch.”

Coyotes' men’s basketball entering a season of unknowns

Before Summit League Media Day, the conference released its annual preseason poll – which is voted on by coaches and members of the media – and South Dakota was voted to finish sixth.

Coyotes men’s basketball coach Eric Peterson, who’s entering his first full season as the program’s head coach, said that spot in the poll is a sign of respect from the other coaches, given the changes taking place in the program.

“We lost all five starters,” Peterson said. “We lost 82% of our scoring (and) 74% of our rebounding. So, being six? Pretty happy with that, but (there’s) a lot of unknowns.”

With a whole new roster and starting positions on the line, Peterson said practices have been fiercely competitive. The new head coach also said he’s liked the size that he’s added to the roster.

“Our team looks different this year,” Peterson said. “We're bigger, we're longer, a little bit more athletic. Our average size last year was about 6-3, which is bottom eight in the country. This year, our average size is about 6-7, which will probably be in the top 50 in the country. So we look a lot different, and we'll be able to do some more things offensively and defensively with our size.”

Peterson is hoping that size will help them be competitive against the team's Summit League adversaries.

The team will look to guard Max Burchill to step up and lead as the longest-tenured Coyote on the roster.

“It's a lot of unselfish basketball,” Burchill said to describe his team’s play. “Nobody's really out there to get theirs, or, you know, do the best they can to go pro or whatever. It's kind of just getting the best shot and getting the best look possible. And just communication on defense has been really good because we all just want to win.”

SDSU women’s basketball will have to overcome early-season injuries

On Sept. 29 South Dakota State announced senior Kallie Theisen and junior Haleigh Timmer will both miss the entirety of the 2023-24 season after suffering season-ending injuries. Theisen is the reigning Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year and appeared in all 35 games.

Replacing their on-court production will be a tall task, but the Jackrabbits will be up for it.

“It's hard, the injuries are always tough,” South Dakota State women’s basketball coach Aaron Johnston said. “Paige Meyer and Brooklyn Meyer … those two I think are, you know, certainly all-conference caliber players are going to have to do a lot for us. And then around them, you've got other players that have been with us and maybe have (had) limited roles … and now they get a chance as juniors to really contribute more.”

Jackrabbits forward Tori Nelson said we’ll likely see new people in new roles this season.  While she said that will surely present some challenges, Theisen and Timmer have helped get those players adjusted to new roles.

South Dakota women’s basketball hoping to get healthy at the right time

The Coyotes will hope to be healthier this season than they were last year when they only had eight players at their disposal at any given time.

This year, they’re hoping for a cleaner slate – they’ll have 15 players available on game night – but they’ll still have to wait until near conference season to get back to full strength.

“Well we have almost twice as many players this year as we did last year,” women’s basketball coach Kayla Karius said. “It's always a challenge to work those players back in but I think it's just a matter of getting them back into it solely and keeping them in the best possible shape.”

Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFERN31

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: USD,SDSU basketball programs take center stage at Summit League media day