Sioux Falls, S.D. --  It's finally here. The 2020-21 Summit League men's basketball season is set to begin Wednesday with seven teams in action on the opening day of the college basketball season. The toughest of the early matchups will pit preseason favorite South Dakota State against No. 15 West Virginia in the opening round of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls. The Jackrabbits were ranked No. 5 in the initial CollegeInsider.com preseason poll.

Joining SDSU in a multi-team event to open their respective seasons are North Dakota State, Omaha and South Dakota. The Bison will play in the Golden Window Classic hosted by Nebraska, the Mavericks are playing the Gulf Coast Showcase in Ft. Meyers, Fla., while the Coyotes are opening the Little Apple Classic hosted by Kansas State.

Kansas City, who is back in The Summit League this season, is the lone league school opening its season at home against Culver-Stockton. Oral Roberts is playing at Missouri and North Dakota is at Miami (OH). Denver's season opener vs. Colorado Christian was cancelled.

AROUND THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
Wednesday, November 25
Colorado Christian at Denver (cancelled)
Culver-Stockton at Kansas City
North Dakota at Miami (OH) (ESPN3)
North Dakota State vs. Nevada (Lincoln, Neb.)#
Omaha vs. Austin Peay (Ft. Meyers, Fla.)$
Oral Roberts at Missouri (SEC+)
South Dakota vs. Colorado (Manhattan, Kan.) (ESPN+)
South Dakota State vs. (15) West Virginia (Sioux Falls, S.D.) (ESPN2)!

Thursday, November 26
Omaha vs. TBA (Ft. Meyers, Fla.)$
South Dakota State vs. TBA (Sioux Falls, S.D.)!

Friday, November 27
Kansas City vs. Avila University (Kansas City)^
Omaha vs. TBA (Ft. Meyers, Fla.)$
South Dakota vs. Drake (Manhattan, Kan.)
South Dakota State vs. TBA (Sioux Falls, S.D.)!

Saturday, November 28
Regis at Denver
Kansas City vs. TBA^
Waldorf at North Dakota
North Dakota State at Nebraska (BTN+)#
Rogers State at Oral Roberts

Sunday, November 29
North Dakota State vs. Loyola Marymound (Minneapolis, Minn.)

$ Gulf Coast Showcase (FloHoops)
& Little Apple Classic (ESPN Digital)
! Bad Bow Mowers Classic (ESPN Linear and Digital)
# Golden Window Classic (BTN Linear and Digital)
^Negro League Baseball Museum Tipoff Classic (Kansas City)

PRESEASON AWARDS
Preseason Summit League Player of the Year
Douglas Wilson – South Dakota State
 
Preseason All-Summit League First Team
Noah Freidel, South Dakota State, So., G 
(12.2 ppg/4.1 rpg/1.6 apg)
Kevin Obanor, Oral Roberts, Jr., F 
(12.3 ppg/6.9 rpg/0.9 bpg)
Matt Pile, Omaha, Sr., F 
(11.6 ppg/10.0 rpg/1.5 bpg)
Filip Rebraca, North Dakota, Jr., F 
(14.3 ppg/8.9 rpg/1.0 bpg)
Stanley Umude, South Dakota, Sr., F 
(16.7 ppg/6.3 rpg/1.4 bpg)
Douglas Wilson, South Dakota State, Sr., F 
(18.6 ppg/6.4 rpg/0.9 bpg)*

Preseason All-Summit League Second Team
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts, So., G 
(14.5 ppg/2.2 rpg/1.4 apg)
Matt Dentlinger, South Dakota State, Jr., F 
(12.2 ppg/6.0 rpg/1.3 bpg)
Rocky Kreuser, North Dakota State, Sr., F 
(10.0 ppg/6.0 rpg/0.9 bpg)
Marlon Ruffin, Omaha, Jr., G/F 
(8.8 ppg/3.3 rpg/1.3 apg)
Jase Townsend, Denver, Jr., G 
(16.9 ppg/5.3 rpg/2.2 apg)

*Preseason Player of the Year automatically earns a spot on first team

TEAM TRACKER
NOTING THE PIONEERS
• The Pioneers placed eighth in the league a season ago, earning a win over Western Illinois in the regular-season finale to clinch a spot in the postseason tournament.
• Junior Jase Townsend was the top scoring sophomore in The Summit League a year ago, pouring in 16.9 ppg.  He upped that to 18.8 ppg in league play. He is the only Pioneer back that started all 31 games in 2019-20.
• Sophomore Robert Jones capped his rookie campaign with a season-high 21-point outing against North Dakota State in the opening round of the Summit League Men's Basketball Championship. Jones reached double figures in six of his last eight games and the 6-foot-10 forward averaged 9.7 ppg in league play.

NOTING THE ROOS
• The Roos return to The Summit League after placing fourth in the WAC regular season a year ago (8-7).
• Second-year head coach Billy Donlon guide the Roos to a four-game winning streak to close out the regular season before the WAC Championship was canceled due to Covid-19.
• Point guard Brandon McKissic has almost 70 career starts under his belt as a Roo and is the team's top returning scorer at 11.0 ppg.
• McKissic was one of 11 different Roos to earn a start for Donlon in 2019-20 with no one starting more than 25 of the team's 30 games.

NOTING THE FIGHTING HAWKS
• The Fighting Hawks return two starters from a squad that reached The Summit League Men's Basketball Championship title game under first-year head coach Paul Sather.
• Junior Filip Rebraca is the team's top returning scorer (14.3 ppg) and rebounder (8.9 rpg) and led the league in double-doubles with 13.
• The Fighting Hawks will have to replace the league's top scorer in senior Marlon Stewart, who averaged 18.6 ppg en route to first team all-league honors.
• Weber State transfer Caleb Nero is elilgible right away to play for UND in 2020-21 after averaging 6.5 ppg for the Wildcats as a freshman in 2018-19 before sitting out last season.

NOTING THE BISON
• The Bison received votes in the CollegeInsider.com Preseason Mid-Major Top 25 poll after sharing the regular season title and winning the Summit League Championship a season ago.
• Senior Rocky Kreuser is one of two starters back for the Bison and the team's top returning scorer (10.0 ppg). He started all 31 games he appeared in a year ago. 
• Junior Tyree Eady is the other returning starter. He scored 6.7 ppg with 14 of his 19 starts coming in league play.
• Junior Sam Greisel was also a key contributor to the Bison when healthy a season ago. He missed 11 games in the middle of the year, but returned for the championship stretch run.
• Those three will have to help replace a pair of All-Summit League performers in Vinnie Shahid (20.9) and Tyson Ward (19.1) who combined to score 40.0 ppg in league action.  

NOTING THE MAVERICKS
• Senior Matt Pile is a returning three-year starter for the Mavericks, who was the only Summit League player to average a double-double a season ago. The Summit League's reigning Defensive Player of the Year averaged 11.6 ppg and 10.0 rpg.
• Reigning Sixth Man of the Year Marlon Ruffin will likely help fill the void of the departure of a veteran trio in the backcourt that averaged 35.9 ppg a year (K.J. Robinson, J.T. Gibson and Ayo Akinwole).
• Sophomore Zach Thornill (8.1 ppg) and Junior Wanjang Tut (7.1 ppg) both put together solid seasons as first-year starters a season ago.
• Sophomore Marco Smith sat out last season after transferring from Kansas City, who rejoined the league this past summer. He averaged 5.0 ppg in 31 games off the bench for the Roos.

NOTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
• The Golden Eagles have to replace their top two scorers from a 17-win team, but do have a pair of double-digit scorers back in the fold.
• Junior Kevin Obanor averaged double digits as both a freshman (14.4) and sophomore (12.5), while Max Abmas was the top scoring freshman in the league a year ago (14.5 ppg).
• Abmas ranked second among freshman in Division I a year ago with 87 makes from beyond the arc, which is a total that led all Summit League players.
• Sophomore Deshang Weaver returns to the lineup after missing the 2019-20 season to help soften the blow of losing Emmanuel Nzekwesi (16.3) and Deondre Burns (15.3). As a freshman two years ago, Weaver averaged 11.1 ppg and shot 43.8 percent from 3-point range.
• Oral Roberts led all Summit League teams in scoring a year ago, averaging 80.2 ppg.

NOTING THE COYOTES
• The Coyotes have eight new players on their 2020-21 roster and have to replace four starters from a team that finished with 20 wins a year ago.
• Fortunately, the one returning starter is a good one as senior Stanley Umude is a returning two-time, all-league player that has averaged 14.4 ppg and 16.7 ppg, respectively, the last two seasons.
• Sophomore A.J. Plitzuweit is poised to be a key contributor after transferring from the Division II level (Augustana) where he was the Northern Sun Freshman of the Year in 2018-19 (14.5 ppg).

NOTING THE JACKRABBITS
• SDSU was picked to repeat as Summit League regular-season champions after sharing that distinction with NDSU a year ago. 
• The Jacks were ranked No. 5 in the CollegeInsider.com Preseason Mid-Major Top 25 poll thanks to have all five starters back for second-year head coach Eric Henderson.
• Summit League Player and Newcomer of the Year Douglas Wilson Wilson headlines those returning starters after averaging 18.6 ppg and shooting 62.8 percent from the field.
• Junior Matt Dentlinger matched Wilson's efforts from the field and averaged 12.2 ppg in his first season as a starter.
• Sophomore Noah Freidel was named The Summit League Freshman of the Year after really upping his producting in league play. He averaged 7.3 ppg in non-conference games, but more than doubled that in league action (15.3 ppg).

NOTING THE FIGHTING LEATHERNECKS
• Head coach Rob Jeter is only first-year head coach entering the 2020-21 season after taking over the program in April. Jeter is no stranger to DI head coaching experience as he put in 12 years at Milwaukee (2007-19) before serving last season as an assistant at Minnesota.
• Senior Anthony Jones is the only Leatherneck with significant minutes that returns from the 2019-20 season. He averaged 5.0 ppg in 24 games as a junior.
• Jeter does have some high-scoring transfers on his roster. That group is led by Will Carrius, who poured in 1,277 career points at the Division II (Northern Michigan; 105) III (Monmouth College; 1,172) levels. He averaged 25.5 ppg as a junior in 2018-19 and was off to a fast start a year ago, averaging 27.2 ppg through six games before his season ended early.
• Jeter also has a pair of Division I transfers in forward Rod Johnson from Chattanooga and Tammell Pearson from UAB.

SUMMIT POINTS (NEWS AND NOTES)
#BEATTYPE1 GAMES RETURN FOR YEAR THREE
League basketball season will mark the third consecutive that the league's nine men's and women's programs will bring awareness to type 1 diabetes. All 18 programs have once again designated a league game to team up with Sanford Health and bring awareness to the disease that more than 1.25 million Americans are currently battling.

The #BeatType1 initiative is a collaborative effort between the league's nine-member institutions and Sanford Health and administrators from each institution have toured the Sanford Health facilities during visits to Sioux Falls in the past and recorded public service announcements once again that will air at each of their respective institutions during these awareness games.

In total, there were 12 dates set aside by league members ranging from Jan. 2 to Feb. 28.

 #BeatType1 Games

Date	Host	Opponents
1/3	Omaha	Oral Roberts
1/8	South Dakota State	Western Illinois
1/8	Kansas City	South Dakota
1/23	North Dakota State	Denver
1/23	Western Illinois	South Dakota
1/29	South Dakota	Omaha (MBB)
1/30	North Dakota	Western Illinois (WBB)
2/12	North Dakota	South Dakota (MBB)
2/26	Denver	Omaha
2/28	Oral Roberts	Western Illinois

JACKS, BISON EARN SOME LOVE IN MID-MAJOR PRESEASON POLL
South Dakota State was picked fifth in the CollegeInsider.com Preseason Mid-Major Top 25 released on Nov. 23, while the Bison were among 40 other programs that received votes, netting 21 of those.  

The Jacks, who were picked to the win The Summit League, are part of an eight-team field at the Bad Boy Mowers Classic in Sioux Falls that includes two other mid-majors that were ranked in the preseason poll: No. 2 Northern Iowa and No. 15 St. Mary's. SDSU opens its season against No. 15 West Virginia, who is the only team in the field ranked in the Associated Press and Coaches' Top 25 polls.

WELCOME BACK, KANSAS CITY
After spending the previous seven seasons in the Western Athletic Conference, Kansas City is back in The Summit League once again as a full-time member.  The Roos, who were previously a member from 1994-2013, will replace Purdue Fort Wayne, keeping the league's membership number at nine for the 2020-21 season.

DOUBLE-DIGITS
Earlier this Summer, Summit League Commissioner Tom Douple announced that St. Thomas would join the league as the 10th full-time member to start the 2021-22 season. The Tommies will become the first NCAA Division III member to make the leap straight to the DI level after receiving a special waiver.

HIGHEST RETURNING SCORERS BY CLASS
Senior: Douglas Wilson, SDSU (18.6/g)    
Junior: Jase Townsend, Denver (16.8/g)
Sophomore: Max Abmas, ORU (14.7/g)

MAKE ROOM FOR ME
Last season, more than a dozen Summit League players eclipsed the 1,000-career point plateau. Five Summit League players enter the 2020-21 with more than 700 career points and are looking to add that achievement to their resumes.

Here's a rundown of the current DI career scoring leaders among league players:
Stanley Umude, South Dakota (980)
Matt Pile, Omaha (917)
Brandon McKissic, Kansas City (868)
Kevin Obanor, Oral Roberts (782)
Rocky Kreuser, North Dakota State (734)

CARIUS HAS IT COVERED
Western Illinois grad transfer Will Carius has covered all three divisions the NCAA has to offer and arrives in Macomb with 1,277 career points between stops at Northern Michigan (DII) and Monmouth College (DIII).

PROTECT OUR HOUSE
South Dakota State opens the 2020-21 with a 24-game homecourt winning streak, which ranks third among all NCAA Division I teams. Gonzaga owns the longest at 39 and Prairie View is second at 27. The Jacks finished up last year's home  slate with a 16-0 record and were the only SL team not to drop a home tilt. With another 8-0 record in league play, SDSU ran its homecourt winning streak in league games to 28 over the past three-plus seasons.

PILE UP THE HONORS
Omaha senior Matt Pile became the first Maverick and the third Summit League player to earn multiple CoSIDA Academic All-America honors and will look to join North Dakota State's A.J. Jacobson as the only three-time honoree following the 2020-21 season. Pile was named to the first team as a junior and third team as a sophomore.

#SUMMITMBB | #REACHTHESUMMIT