SummitMBB Weekly Release (PDF)

THE SUMMIT LEAGUE PODCAST
The Summit League Podcast is a bi-weekly, five-episode series airing through the remainder of the basketball season. Host Matt Pocket brings listeners closer to the coaches, players and analysts with interviews providing in-depth information and entertaining stories from topics both on the court and off. To listen, visit thesummitleague.org/podcast or www.soundcloud.com/thesummitleaguepodcast

NOTEWORTHY
A record three Summit League players (SDSU's Mike Daum, FW's John Konchar, and USD's Matt Mooney) were named to the Lou Henson Award All-America team by CollegeInsider.com ... For the third consecutive season, The Summit League equaled its all-time high with five National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) all-district selections (Daum and Mooney as first teamers, Konchar, FW's Bryson Scott and NDSU's Paul Miller on the second team) ... The Summit was represented across three different postseason tournaments for the fourth straight season ... South Dakota State reached the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year, the longest streak since 2008 ... A pair of league squads (Fort Wayne in the CIT and South Dakota in the CBI) hosted postseason first-round games, the highest total since 2014.

SUMMIT LEAGUE AWARDS

Player of the Year
    Mike Daum, South Dakota State
Transfer of the Year
    Austin Ruder, Oral Roberts
Freshman of the Year
    David Jenkins Jr., South Dakota State
Sixth Man of the Year
    Albert Owens, Oral Roberts
Defensive Player of the Year
    Brandon Gilbeck, Western Illinois
Coach of the Year
    T.J. Otzelberger, South Dakota State

First Team
Mike Daum, South Dakota State; John Konchar, Fort Wayne; Paul Miller, North Dakota State; Matt Mooney, South Dakota; Joe Rosga, Denver; Bryson Scott, Fort Wayne

Second Team
Daniel Amigo, Denver; Trey Burch-Manning, South Dakota; Tyler Hagedorn, South Dakota; Zach Jackson, Omaha; David Jenkins Jr., South Dakota State

Honorable Mention
Brandon Gilbeck, Western Illinois; Emmanuel Nzekwesi, Oral Roberts; Triston Simpson, South Dakota; Reed Tellinghuisen, South Dakota State; Kobe Webster, Western Illinois

All-Newcomer
Nick Fuller, South Dakota; Cameron Hunter, North Dakota State; David Jenkins Jr., South Dakota State; Sam Kearns, Oral Roberts; Kobe Webster, Western Illinois

HONOR ROLL

AP ALL-AMERICA
Mike Daum, South Dakota State (hm)

LOU HENSON AWARD ALL-AMERICA
(Mid-Major Player of the Year)
Mike Daum, South Dakota State
John Konchar, Fort Wayne
Matt Mooney, South Dakota

Senior CLASS All-America
A.J. Jacobson, North Dakota State (1st)

NABC REESE'S COLLEGE ALL-STAR GAME
Bryson Scott, Fort Wayne

WATCH LISTS
OSCAR ROBERTSON TROPHY
(NATIONAL POY)
Mike Daum, South Dakota State
*One of 14 players and two from mid-majors listed

CITIZEN NAISMITH TROPHY
(NATIONAL POY)
Mike Daum, South Dakota State
*One of 30 players and two from mid-majors listed

KARL MALONE AWARD
(NATION'S TOP PF)
Mike Daum, South Dakota State
*by Naismith Basketball HOF, 1 of 21 listed

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Date        Name (Pos.)    School
Nov. 13    Bryson Scott    Fort Wayne
Nov. 20    Mike Daum    South Dakota State
Nov. 27    Tyson Ward    North Dakota State
Dec. 4      Bryson Scott    Fort Wayne
Dec. 11    Paul Miller    North Dakota State
Dec. 18    Mike Daum    South Dakota State
                Emmanuel Nzekwesi    Oral Roberts
Dec. 26    Mike Daum    South Dakota State
Jan. 2      Emmanuel Nzekwesi    Oral Roberts
Jan. 8      Mike Daum    South Dakota State
Jan. 16    Mike Daum    South Dakota State
Jan. 23    David Jenkins   South Dakota State
Jan. 30    Paul Miller    North Dakota State
Feb. 5     Mike Daum    South Dakota State
Feb. 12   Zach Jackson  Omaha
Feb. 19   John Konchar  Fort Wayne
Feb. 26   Mike Daum    South Dakota State

RANK AND FILE
The Summit League's final positions in national ranking metrics:

    KenPom.com    14
    Sagarin Ratings    16
    RPI (rpiratings.com)    19

No. 1
South Dakota State ended the season with the nation's longest active D-I home court win streak (20)

TRENDING

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER RECORD
The 2018 Summit League Men's Championship Game set a new attendance record with a crowd of 11,114. It marked the second-largest crowd in Summit League Tournament history.

GOING 3-on-3
Four former men's basketball standouts competed in the Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship as part of The Summit League's squad at the Final Four. Denver's Daniel Amigo, Fort Wayne's Bryson Scott, South Dakota's Nick Fuller and South Dakota State's Reed Tellinghuisen made up The Summit's team and in a pool four with teams from the SEC, MAAC and Northeast conferences.

SCHOLAR BALLERS
With the selections of A.J. Jacobson and Paul Miller, North Dakota State ws the only D-I team to have multiple Academic All-District honorees chosen by CoSIDA.

IN A CLASS BY THEMSELVES
North Dakota State's A.J. Jacobson and Oral Roberts' Albert Owens, were named to the list of 30 Senior Class Award candidates. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

DAUMINATION
South Dakota State's Mike Daum put up video game numbers throughout the season. Since 2010, Daum leads ALL NCAA Division I players with THIRTEEN 30-point double-double performances (surpassing former Creighton star Doug McDermott) and NINE 35-point double-doubles (five more than any other player). Additionally, Daum also leads the nation during that span with FOUR 35-point, 15-rebound games.

RPI SUCCESS
The Summit League peaked at No. 12 in the Jan. 3 RPI rankings (RPIratings.com) and achieved its seventh consecutive season with a top-20 finish by finishing No. 19. The season's high-water mark was the league's best since ending the 2015-16 campaign at No. 12.

PACE THE NATION
The Summit League finished the season among the nation's top five in a quartet of KenPom.com statistical measures, ranking 1st in Turnover% (15.6), 2nd in FT% (74.8) and Efficiency (108.1), and 3rd in 3P% (36.4).  Last season, the Summit topped six categories, including all three shooting measures (FG%, 3P%, FT%) and efficiency, turnover pct., and tempo.

MASTODON CHARGE
With a 20-point road win at Indiana on Dec. 18, Fort Wayne became the first Summit League team since 2011, and third overall, to defeat the same "power five" opponent in consecutive seasons. The Mastodon victory margin was the largest over a Big Ten opponent since 1994.
 
ACADEMIC ALL-SUMMIT LEAGUE
North Dakota State's A.J. Jacobson led the quintet of academic all-league team selections by claiming his third consecutive honor. To be eligible for the Academic All-League team, a student-athlete must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 (on a 4.0 scale), completed at least one full academic year at the current institution and participated in 50 percent of his team's competitions. The full 2017-18 squad:

    A.J. Jacobson, North Dakota State
    Paul Miller, North Dakota State
    Albert Owens, Oral Roberts
    Jake Pemberton, Denver
    Reed Tellinghuisen, South Dakota State

B1G STAGE, B1G WINS
The Summit League has defeated Big Ten opponents in three consecutive seasons, dating back to the 2015-16 campaign. With South Dakota State's Nov. 21 victory over Iowa and Fort Wayne's Dec. 18 rout at Indiana, The Summit League notched multiple B1G victories for the second straight year.

TAKING ON THE BLUEBLOODS
A number of traditional powers and prominent teams are on The Summit League schedule this season. Eight games against preseason top-16 teams, including No. 1 and four of the top five, occurred during a five-week stretch from Nov. 13-Dec. 21. Below is a list of the big names and big games (with preseason AP ranking).

    Nov. 13:     North Dakota State at (10) USC
    Nov. 17:     Omaha at (16) Louisville
        South Dakota State at (4) Kansas
    Nov. 22:    Fort Wayne at (5) Kentucky
    Dec. 2:    South Dakota at (1) Duke
    Dec. 5:    South Dakota State at (7) Wichita State
    Dec. 18:    Omaha at (4) Kansas
        North Dakota State at (3) Arizona
    Dec. 19:    South Dakota at (21) UCLA
    Dec. 21:    Oral Roberts at (15) Minnesota

WELCOME ABOARD
The Summit League announced the addition of the University of North Dakota as its 10th member last season. The Fighting Hawks will begin league play across 17 league-sponsored sports in 2018-19.

#MARCH2THESUMMIT

Everyone loves a success story and The Summit League Basketball Championships in Sioux Falls, called "March's best-kept secret" by USA Today in 2014, is one of the best in college basketball. Take a look at some of the numbers generated at what has become one of the nation's premier tournaments:

    • Ranked 8th nationally with 9,165 fans per session in 2016 after placing 9th previous year
    • Set 11 attendance marks in 2015 and broke 10 of those again in 2016
    • Drew league record 11,235 fans at 2017 men's semifinal session
    • Set league championship game attendance record with 11,114 in 2018
    • Eclipsed previous all-time attendance record by 30% at new arena in 2015
    • 4th highest mid-major tournament attendance average in '14
    • 4th best net gain in tournament attendance average over past 5 years ('11-15)
    • Played league-record 10th consecutive tourney in Sioux Falls in '18
    • Exercised contract option to remain in Sioux Falls through 2022
    • Average combined M/W total attendance in Sioux Falls era is 44,492 (5,562 per session)
    • Top 4, and 5 of top 6, men's tournament figures have come in Sioux Falls
    • Record run of 14 straight years in Sioux Falls ('09-22) tops previous high of 5

SIOUX FALLS ATTENDANCE FIGURES
2009-14 at Sioux Falls Arena
2015-pres. at Denny Sanford Premier Center

    Session Avg    High    Champ Game    Total 
2009    4,421    5,986    3,804    17,682
2010    3,574    6,285    3,122    14,294
2011    4,483    6,436    2,105    17,931
2012    5,606    6,614    6,526    22,423
2013    5,928    6,704    6,544    23,710
2014    5,208    6,769    4,263    20,832
2015    8,903    10,153    9,033    35,612
2016    9,165    10,306    10,188    36,661
2017    9,978    11,235    9,441    39,912
2018    9,103    11,114    11,114    36,412

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
The Summit League features the NCAA's most unique collection of one-of-a-kind nicknames among its member institutions. Within U.S. college athletics, three names are exclusively held by Summit League schools: Mastodons (Fort Wayne), Jackrabbits (South Dakota State) and Leathernecks (Western Illinois). In addition, the name Coyotes (South Dakota) is unique to NCAA Division I.

IN THE NBA ('17-18 SEASON)

George Hill
Cleveland Cavaliers
2008 #SummitMBB POY

Nate Wolters (South Dakota State)
Utah Jazz
2013 #SummitMBB POY

IN THE NBA G LEAGUE ('17-18 SEASON)

Jalen Bradley (Oral Roberts)
Sioux Falls Skyforce

Taylor Braun (North Dakota State)
Salt Lake City Stars
2014 #SummitMBB POY

Tra-Deon Hollins (Omaha)
Fort Wayne Mad Ants

#SummitMBB