SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – South Dakota State was picked to repeat as Summit League Men’s Basketball champions after leading the 2021-22 preseason poll, while Oral Roberts junior Max Abmas, the reigning NCAA scoring champion, was tabbed as the Preseason Player of the Year, league officials announced Tuesday.
The Jackrabbits won at least a share of their fifth straight regular season title in 2021 thanks to a .750 winning percentage in 12 league contests. SDSU received 23 of 36 first-place votes, topping the poll with 636 points, which is voted on by the league’s 10 head coaches, sports information directors and select media members from each program’s coverage area.
North Dakota State was picked second and was followed by reigning tournament champion and NCAA Sweet 16 participant Oral Roberts in third. The Bison racked up seven first-place votes and 606 points, while the Golden Eagles secured the remaining six first-place votes and finished with 545 points.
Abmas, who was the 2021 Summit League Player of the Year and Lou Henson National Player of the Year after averaging 24.5 ppg as a sophomore, was joined on the first team by a pair of Jackrabbits, a pair of Bison and Kansas City junior Josiah Allick. The SDSU duo on the first team includes junior Baylor Scheierman and senior Douglas Wilson, while the Bison tandem of Rocky Kreuser and Sam Griesel fill out the remainder of the first team.
Abmas, Kreuser and Scheierman were each first-team selections following the 2020-21 campaign, while Griesel and Wilson were second-team selections. Allick was an honorable mention pick during Kansas City’s first season back as a league member.
South Dakota, who was picked fourth in the poll with 480 points, led the way with a pair of selections on the second team. The Coyotes’ second-team duo is made up of senior Xavier Fuller and junior Tasos Kamateros. Those two were joined by NDSU’s Tyree Eady, SDSU’s Noah Freidel and Western Illnois’ Will Carius.
Carius, who was an all-league second team pick after his first season with the Leathernecks, and Western Illinois were picked to finish fifth in what will head coach Rob Jeter’s second season in Macomb. WIU received 356 points and was followed by Kansas City (341 points) in sixth, North Dakota (279 points) in seventh and Omaha (255 points) in eighth.
Denver, who is under the direction of first-year head coach Jeff Wulbrun was selected ninth with 217 points, while league newcomer St. Thomas was picked to finish 10
th, rounding out the poll with 120 points.
Points for the preseason poll were compiled on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis, while all-league teams were compiled on an 11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. The top six vote-getters earned first-team honors and the next five were selected to the second team. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes or team.
2021-22 Preseason Summit League Player of the Year
Max Abmas – Oral Roberts
Preseason All-Summit League First Team
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts, Jr., G (24.5 ppg/3.2 rpg/3.9 apg)*
Josiah Allick, Kansas City, Jr., F (15.0 ppg/6.0 rpg/0.3 bpg)
Sam Griesel, North Dakota State, Sr., G (11.5 ppg/6.4 rpg/3.0 apg)
Rocky Kreuser, North Dakota State, Gr., F (15.7 ppg/7.0 rpg/0.7 bpg)
Baylor Scheierman, South Dakota State, Jr., G (15.4 ppg/9.2 rpg/4.0 apg)
Douglas Wilson, South Dakota State, Gr., F (16.8 ppg/5.4 rpg/0.6 bpg)
Preseason All-Summit League Second Team
Will Carius, Western Illinois, Gr., F (14.4 ppg/5.2 rpg/0.6 bpg)
Tyree Eady, North Dakota State, Sr., G (11.5 ppg/5.7 rpg/0.6 spg)
Noah Freidel, South Dakota State, Jr., G (16.0 ppg/4.2 rpg/0.9 spg)
Xavier Fuller, South Dakota, Sr., F (8.9 ppg/4.9 rpg/0.9 apg)
Tasos Kamateros, South Dakota, Jr., F (8.4 ppg/4.4 rpg/0.3 bpg)
*Preseason Player of the Year automatically earns a spot on first team
Preseason Poll
| Rank |
School (1st Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. |
South Dakota State (23) |
636 |
| 2. |
North Dakota State (7) |
606 |
| 3. |
Oral Roberts (6) |
545 |
| 4. |
South Dakota |
480 |
| 5 |
Western Illinois |
356 |
| 6. |
Kansas City |
341 |
| 7. |
North Dakota |
279 |
| 8. |
Omaha |
255 |
| 9. |
Denver |
217 |
| 10. |
St. Thomas |
120 |
Preseason Summit League Notes
- SDSU has won at least a share of seven of the last eight regular season titles, including five straight, after winning nine of 12 league contests during a 2021 league slate that had four games cancelled by Covid-19.
- SDSU’s Wilson was a second-team selection during his second season in Brookings where he averaged 16.8 ppg and 4.9 rpg in league action. He was the 2020 Summit League Player of the Year.
- SDSU’s Scheierman led all league players with 4.7 apg in league action, ranked second in rebounding at 9.4 rpg to go with a 15.1 ppg average. He’s the top returning rebounder in the league and shot 43.8 percent from 3-point range.
- ORU’s Abmas led the nation in scoring at 24.5 ppg, including a 27.2 ppg average in 15 Summit League contests. He led the 15th-seeded Golden Eagles to a Sweet 16 appearance following a run to the Summit League Championship as the No. 4 seed where he earned Championship MVP honors.
- ORU was the third Summit League team to reach the Sweet 16 and the lowest seed to ever do so after beating No. 2 Ohio State, No. 7 Florida before falling to No. 3 Arkansas by two points in the South Regional semifinal.
- NDSU’s Kreuser ranked 10th in league action in scoring (15.8 ppg) and fifth in rebounding (7.4 rpg). He led the Bison in both categories.
- NDSU’s Griesel averaged 12.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 2.6 apg in 16 starts for the Bison in league play.
- KC’s Allick shot 54.9 percent from the field in league play, which is tops among all returners. He averaged 14.4 ppg and 5.3 rpg for the Roos in league action.
- USD’s Fuller and Kamateros both started all 25 games for the Coyotes, who finished second in league play a year ago. Fuller averaged 8.9 ppg, while Kamateros chipped in 8.4 ppg.
- Eady was one of three Bison to average in double figures, scoring at a 10.9 ppg clip in league play and 11.5 ppg overall.
- Freidel averaged 16.0 ppg in 14 contests, which included 12 starts. He shot 38.3 percent from 3-point range.
- Carius averaged 2.5 makes per game from 3-point range and led the Leathernecks in scoring (14.4 ppg) during his first season with the program. He upped that average to 16.4 ppg in 14 league contests.
- Denver first-year head coach Jeff Wulbrun has nine newcomers on his roster of 15 players. Tristan Green (5.9 ppg) and Taely Gatlin (5.3 ppg) are both returning starters and the Pioneers’ top returning scorers.
- St. Thomas will begin its first season as a league member and take part in an 18-game league slate that will feature home-and-home matchups with all 10 league members. Johnny Tauer enters his 11th season at the helm of the Tommies and owns a 152-28 (.844) all-time record. His squad won the 2016 DIII National Championship and won eight of nine MIAC regular season titles.
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