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<\/p>\nMITCHELL \u2014 For Sam Nicholson, Year 1 was about laying a foundation. Year 2 is about building on it.<\/p>\n
As the Dakota Wesleyan University men\u2019s basketball head coach enters his second season leading the Tigers, the uncertainty that comes with being a new head coach has been replaced by continuity, roster moves and a clearer vision for what he wants his program to become.<\/p>\n
That vision received a boost this offseason through the transfer portal, where Nicholson and his staff added two experienced players who they believe can immediately play with an already seemingly deep roster. The headline addition is a familiar face.<\/p>\n
Desman Botts, a 6-foot-4 junior wing, is returning to Dakota Wesleyan after spending last season at Dakota State University. Botts originally began his collegiate career with the Tigers before transferring to Dakota State, where he showcased his athleticism and efficiency throughout his 2025-26 sophomore campaign. In 14 games with the Trojans, Botts averaged 8.4 points per game while shooting 64.4% from the field and pulling down 3.6 rebounds per contest. His top performances included a career-high 30-point outing against No. 15-ranked Carroll (Mont.), where he converted on 13 of 15 shots from the floor. He also scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting against Bellevue (Neb.).<\/p>\n
Nicholson believes Botts brings something the Tigers desperately wanted to add to their roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cDesmond was an easy one to get, because he played here as a freshman, and his length and athleticism are really going to stick out on the roster,\u201d Nicholson said. \u201cHe is an extremely athletic defender, and we need that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond the statistics, Nicholson sees Botts as an elite athlete capable of guarding an opponent\u2019s top scorer every night while also creating offense by attacking the basket. His return gives DWU another versatile piece on the perimeter and strengthens a roster that already returns the majority of its core.<\/p>\n
The Tigers\u2019 second transfer addition comes in the frontcourt. Braelyn Dale, a 6-foot-7 senior forward originally from Perth, Australia, arrives in Mitchell after spending the previous three seasons at Minot State University, a Division II program in Minot, North Dakota.<\/p>\n
While Dale\u2019s production was limited, much of that was due to playing behind Sam West, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference player of the year during the 2024-25 season. Across three seasons, Dale appeared in 26 games and scored 26 points while gaining experience in one of Division II\u2019s most competitive conferences.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had watched Braelyn in high school, and I actually tried to recruit him previously, so there is kind of a prior connection there that made it an easy transfer addition,” Nicholson said. \u201cWhat sticks out about him the most is his physicality. Offensively and defensively, he\u2019s going to be a bruiser and doesn\u2019t really back down from anyone. I think he\u2019s got a really good shot with us to be an impact guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dale earned NSIC all-academic team honors during the 2024-25 season. Prior to Minot State, he gained international experience by appearing in seven games at the FIBA U18 European Championship Division B, representing the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
Nicholson and his staff also signed 10 freshmen for the 2026-27 season, including seven South Dakota products.<\/p>\n
The incoming class is highlighted by Wessington Springs standout Parker Graff, a 6-foot-1 left-handed guard, who Nicholson believes can impact the game in a variety of ways as a pure scorer who can shoot it from deep.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wessington Springs’ Parker Graff (2) attacks the lane between several Viborg-Hurley defenders during a DWU Classic high school boys basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, at the Corn Palace.<\/p>\n
Landon Dierks \/ Mitchell Republic<\/p>\n
The Tigers also added Tiegen Nyhaug of Beresford, Memphis Bylander of Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Kyler Carlson of Estelline\/Hendricks, Ryder Johnson of Groton, Karson Paye of Dell Rapids, Zane Messick of Hill City and Donovan Nelson of North Central in Roscoe.<\/p>\n
Out-of-state additions include Brock Collison of Pierce, Nebraska, Porter Vogel of Rock Rapids, Iowa, and Matt Burkhart of Burlington, Wisconsin.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the most encouraging piece for Nicholson was not who he added, but who he kept.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot losing a single player to the transfer portal is a great sign for our team,\u201d Nicholson said. \u201cAs kids get older, obviously, their path kind of changes, but to not lose anybody, we took a lot of pride in that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Tigers do have one key departure to account for, and that is the team\u2019s leading scorer from a year ago, Anthony Riggans, who graduated after receiving a second-team all-GPAC nod. Gavin Strand and Jadon Amiot also graduated, while Aiden Costain and Landon Thury both chose to continue their academic careers at South Dakota State University.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Dakota Wesleyan’s Ethan Determan (10) puts up a left-handed floater against Mount Marty during an NAIA men’s college basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, at the Corn Palace.<\/p>\n
Landon Dierks \/ Mitchell Republic<\/p>\n
Despite those departures, Nicholson believes the returning core gives the Tigers an opportunity to take a significant step forward. And one player who could feel like a major addition despite already being on the roster is Ethan Determan.<\/p>\n
The Harrisburg native missed the entire 2025-26 season with an injury, but his return could have a huge impact on DWU\u2019s depth and scoring.<\/p>\n
As a sophomore during the 2024-25 season, Determan appeared in 30 games and averaged 7.3 points on 47.8% shooting from the field. He was also nearly a 40% shooter from beyond the arc for the Tigers. For Nicholson, getting Determan back healthy is almost like adding another transfer.<\/p>\n
Nicholson also expects continued growth from a talented backcourt led by senior guard Oliver Vincent and sophomore point guard Easton Neuendorf. Vincent returned from injury midway through last season, and Neuendorf, a Hamlin product, emerged as one of the GPAC\u2019s most promising young guards as a freshman.<\/p>\n
Returning alongside them is the team\u2019s most experienced player, Randy Rosenquist Jr., who is set to become a four-year starter after earning second-team all-GPAC recognition last season. Steele Morgan, a Mitchell native entering his senior season at forward, also returns alongside guards Tyson Stevenson and CJ Banks. Dakota Wesleyan\u2019s frontcourt depth should also improve with the continued development of Gavin Hinker, a Mitchell product, and Noah Oberfeld, who each provide physicality and versatility.<\/p>\n
Combined with the additions of Botts, Dale, and the return of Determan, the Tigers appear significantly deeper than they were a season ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year was a lot of let’s see how things go, and now we feel much better about the plan,\u201d Nicholson said about heading into his second year at the helm. \u201cThe standards are going to be much higher, and we just wanted to get a system put in place. And now, we\u2019re going to learn everything faster.\u201d<\/p>\n
The overall combination of experienced players, proven transfers and a sizable freshman class gives Nicholson more options than he had a year ago.<\/p>\n
For Nicholson, that continuity and roster flexibility allow the focus to shift from establishing a culture to demanding more from it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think last year, my main goal was developing the trust and the relationships that come with being a head coach,\u201d Nicholson said. \u201cThis upcoming year, I think it will be a lot of holding a higher standard and trying to push a little harder to get the best out of our players. Let\u2019s trust the process a little more, let\u2019s trust what our coaching staff is seeing and let\u2019s enforce it a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MITCHELL \u2014 For Sam Nicholson, Year 1 was about laying a foundation. Year 2 is about building on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,93968,4251,231,772,1544],"class_list":["post-765893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-college-basketball","tag-dakota-wesleyan-university","tag-local-sports","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-basketball","tag-ncaab"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116782352761557186","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}