Zeke Mayo doesn’t want to brag, but there’s no avoiding it. He’s a player that doesn’t shrink when the lights are brightest.
“I’m not trying to sound cocky but I feel like I was made for those kinds of moments,” the South Dakota State rising junior said. “I’ve worked all my life to be at that stage and be ready.”
You don’t have to go far to find someone who agrees. There was plenty that Eric Henderson liked when he was recruiting Mayo as a prep player in Kansas: the way the ball came out of his hand, how he could get by people, his competitiveness. But there was also something else.
“We thought he was a competitor that liked the big moments,” the Jackrabbits head coach said. “That stood out right away.”
How you define “big moments” for Mayo has been a sliding scale in his first two college campaigns. From a complementary part of a historic team as a freshman to leading force and all-league player as a sophomore, Mayo now seems poised to become the face of the Summit League – and perhaps mid-major basketball – as he enters his junior season.
It did start humbly. Or, as humbly as it could for a player that was a vital part of a 30-win team.
Mayo arrived in Brookings in the summer of 2021 and joined a roster that was ready to explode. The Jackrabbits had a former Summit League Player of the Year in Douglas Wilson, a burgeoning star – and future player of the year – in Baylor Scheierman and experienced role players in the backcourt (Alex Arians) and frontcourt (Matt Dentlinger). Still, Henderson and his staff were confident their incoming freshman guard could add something to the mix.
“You have to earn everything you get, but we were optimistic [Mayo] could come in and play right away,” Henderson said. “We thought we needed another scorer, a guy that could shoot it at a high level.”
He did just that.
Mayo played 23 minutes in the 2021-22 opener, scored in double figures in his second game (against Alabama no less) and by late December had worked his way into the starting lineup, ultimately starting 21 games that season. He became so important to one of the country’s best offensive attacks, and SDSU’s pursuit of a perfect league record, that he barely came off the floor in the Jackrabbits’ down-to-the-wire win over North Dakota State in the Summit League Tournament championship game.
Few freshmen shot it better while contributing to winning teams than Mayo did that season. His output from three-point range among freshmen playing 25-plus minutes a game on 2022 NCAA Tournament teams (41.7%) was bettered by only eventual first-round NBA picks Jabari Smith and Malaki Branham.
A new reality, a new role
The program, however, found itself in transition after that record-breaking season with the two main engines of its offense – Scheierman and Wilson – no longer there. There were minutes available, and the Jackrabbits needed a new star. The Jackrabbits had Mayo, and he had that impressive rookie campaign in his back pocket.
And while a seamless evolution while switching roles that drastically isn’t a given, Mayo sure made it look easy at times.
The Lawrence, Kan. native became the primary offensive option for SDSU, spearheading another potent attack while nearly doubling his scoring average (18.2 PPG). There were times he willed the Jackrabbits to victories virtually by himself, such as wins against Eastern Washington and Western Illinois in December where he eclipsed the 30-point mark amid furious second-half comebacks.
His scoring numbers were gaudy, as he hit double figures in every Summit League game but one and joined an exclusive list of Jackrabbits to notch a 40-point game, doing so against NDSU in February. This was all done while creating for others (3.4 APG) and without losing any of the shooting prowess (42.4 3P% in league play) he’d shown as a freshman.
He also made huge strides rebounding the basketball, particularly on the defensive end, which was something Henderson and the SDSU staff had challenged him on. He was a top-10 overall rebounder in the Summit (6.2 RPG), and one of its most effective on the defensive glass.
And those stats weren’t empty calories from a team standpoint. The Mayo-led Jackrabbits peaked down the stretch, reeling off a seven-game winning streak at the end of the regular season to comfortably finish second (13-5) in the Summit standings.
Mayo, for one, did not doubt that he could make that sort of jump.
“It was definitely a big change for me,” he said. “I had to adjust and it took me a while to step up and become the guy for our team and our program, but I knew all along that I had it in me. Our coaches put their trust in me and instilled confidence in me.”
To his coach, the smooth transition was especially impressive because even more was put on Mayo’s plate than may have originally been planned. Charlie Easley, one of SDSU’s other experienced ball handlers, missed a chunk of last season with an injury.
“Having the ball in his hands as much as he did last year because of injuries and being our primary playmaker as a true sophomore, it was a great experience for him,” Henderson said. “You could see that he learned from his failures, and as he continued to get more and more comfortable as our main playmaker he started having success later in the year, and that was great to see.”
Becoming a leader
To call the 2023-24 season the next chapter in Mayo’s book may be underselling it. There has already been so much packed into his first two years: the evolution from complementary player to star, going from a principal in the pursuit of perfection to an antagonist as the Jackrabbits challenged Oral Robert’s own pursuit of perfection a year ago.
You’re not talking chapters at that point, you’re talking volumes.
But there’s still more out there as November nears for Mayo and the Jackrabbits. One of the things that attracted him to Brookings was the program’s run-and-gun, up and down style of play. Now, as the player with the keys to the offense, Henderson wants to see Mayo continue developing as a playmaker at the helm of that up-tempo attack.
Those are the questions Henderson is posing.
“We want to play faster and for Zeke, how does he as a point guard make that happen,” Henderson said. “We want more possessions in a game, and how is he going to be able to impact the game as a playmaker by creating more possessions.”
The fifth-year head coach is also excited to see his star continue to develop as a leader in the more intangible aspects of the game. Part of that could come from being more vocal.
“He’s a worker and a guy who leads more by example and that’s great, but when you have the ball in your hands as much Zeke, it’s important you create that energy and positive energy for everybody,” Henderson said. “He’s done a great job of that and it’s exciting as he continues to move forward with his game because that’s a big part of it.”
Mayo does have role models to look back on as he becomes not only the face of the program, but another potential Summit League Player of the Year to hail from the program. Scheierman and Arians took the young guard under their respective wings when he came on campus in 2021. The tutelage wasn’t only limited to how to play on the perimeter, which helped Mayo earn that immediate spot in the rotation.
It was also how the two veterans led that historic SDSU team.
“They were so vocal, they had intentions with everything they did,” Mayo said. “It was more how they wanted to be there, not that they had to be there, and just their approach to everything. It really stuck with me.”
Mayo now unequivocally becomes that example for a team that’ll feature five freshmen and two redshirt freshmen.
“We have so many young guys and I try to be an example for them,” he said. “I just try being the best version of myself for my teammates and coaches, and approach every practice like it’s my last.”
Whatever the role, the best version of Mayo has usually meant big things for the Jackrabbits.
