BROOKINGS — It took him awhile, but Scott Nagy eventually turned South Dakota State basketball into a winner.
And they’ve remained that way ever since.
Nagy took the Jackrabbits to three NCAA tournaments in the 2010s, TJ Otzelberger took them to two more, and Eric Henderson two more before leaving at the end of last season to become the head coach at Drake.
Bryan Petersen, come on down.
A former junior college national championship coach and SDSU assistant for six years under Otzelberger and Henderson, the 38-year-old Petersen is a former Iowa State point guard and a product of the Greg McDermott coaching tree, and takes over a team that won 20 games last year and returns a significant chunk of its roster from last year.
Gone is dominant center Oscar Cluff, but the Jacks return six players from last year’s team plus two redshirt freshmen to go with a handful of newcomers they believe will give them a chance to compete for a Summit League title.
Bryan Petersen is SDSU’s new men’s basketball coach.
Jenn Kenyon/Sioux Falls Live
“This place has been really successful, had really good coaches and really good players,” Petersen said. “The culture is in a really good spot. I’m excited about the challenges, but those are outcomes and things that are further down the line. We’re focusing on the day-to-day stuff. This is a tremendous opportunity and we’re super excited.”
Cluff was a double-double machine, averaging 17.6 points and 12.3 rebounds and even leading the Jacks in assists. He took a nice NIL deal to become a Purdue Boilermaker. He won’t be easy to replace, but the Jacks can be a better team by being more diverse. At times last year they may have relied on Cluff too much, or at least settled for just throwing the ball inside to him on every possession. They won’t have that luxury (or temptation) this year.
South Dakota State’s Kalen Garry (10) brings the ball up the court during the Field of 68 Opening Day Showcase men’s college basketball event on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
Guards Joe Sayler (12.7 ppg) and Kalen Garry (11.7 ppg) are both back, as is steady senior forward Matthew Mors, who was the only Rabbit to start all 32 games and averaged 8.6 points.
“I think we’re going to get more contributors as a collective as opposed to being carried by one person,” Sayler said. “We’ve really made a lot of improvements. I feel like we’re more versatile. Our biggest emphasis right now is defense and rebounding. We’re not the biggest team, especially losing Oscar. So getting after it on defense, crashing the boards, that’s going to be a big part of winning. The better we are at those things the more points we’ll score.”
Petersen made some savvy additions in the transfer portal, bringing in guard Trey Buchanan, who redshirted for the Iowa Hawkeyes last year, All-NSIC guard Luke Haertle from Division II Winona State and 6-9 graduate senior Caleb Delzell, who averaged 9.3 points in helping Upper Iowa earn a share of the NSIC title in 2024.
Haertle and Delzell bring experience and skill, coupled with a hunger to prove themselves at a higher level.
SDSU’s Matthew Mors drives to the basket against USD in a men’s basketball game in Vermillion on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025.
Nathan Swaffar / Mitchell Republic
“They bring it every day,” Garry said of the D2 transfers. “I don’t think there’s a whole lot of difference (in the levels of play). They’re as good as we are. They score the ball, they defend, they rebound. They’re super experienced. They know how to play.”
Sophomore guard Jaden Jackson showed promise last year as a freshman and could be a candidate for a breakthrough season, while 6-10 sophomore Damon Wilkinson will team with 6-10 redshirt freshman Alec Squires to help fill Cluff’s void. Wilkinson averaged 4.9 points last year, shooting .585 from the floor and scoring in double digits three times.
Omaha and St. Thomas are viewed across the league as favorites, but in the portal era college basketball is a year-to-year deal, especially at mid-major schools. The Jacks aren’t worrying about it now – because as a one-bid league their season is going to come down to one week in Sioux Falls, anyway — but the NCAA tournament remains their goal.
Petersen embraces that, and knows what he wants to establish to be in position.
“I want our team to be known for competing together, being connected and being a great execution team,” Petersen said. “That means executing the details. There’s been a lot of great things done in this program. It’s not about what I do, it’s what we do together.”
SDSU MBB
Last year: 20-12
Coach: Bryan Petersen (1st year)
Returning starters: 3
Opener: Nov. 3 vs Merrimack in Sioux Falls
Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.