SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Believe it or not, the college basketball season is just around the corner. Teams in the Summit League are in the final phases of their offseason prep.
South Dakota State is starting the season with a new head coach in Bryan Petersen, who’s been an assistant for the Jackrabbits for the past six years. He inherits a program that bowed out in the first round of the Summit League Tournament last year to North Dakota.
South Dakota, meanwhile, returns for the fourth year under head coach Eric Peterson’s direction. The Coyotes made it to the semifinals of the Summit League Tournament last year, getting knocked out by Omaha.
Both programs know they have a lot of work this season to make it back to the top of the Summit.
“As games get closer and closer, we’re adding some special situations. We’re adding some things that we’re going to need to have ready for games. But I would say the biggest focal point of our offseason has been our players getting better, getting connected as a team and a staff, and then obviously, just kind of putting in our base principles,” Petersen said.
“Every year, you’ve got to look at your team and figure out what you can get better at. You can’t get better at everything. You’ve got to pick two or three things, and I think we really took the next step in those things. This year, I think we need to share the ball a lot better, which will help us shoot the ball from three a lot better. Those were two areas we really struggled in last year,” Peterson said.
South Dakota State opens the season with an exhibition at home against Mayville State on October 29. Their first competitive game will come on November 3 at the Sanford Pentagon as a part of the Field of 68 Opening Day Maration.
South Dakota, meanwhile, will open the season at home on November 3 as well against Utah Tech.
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