The University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University basketball teams were picked atop The Summit League preseason basketball polls.
The USD women were tabbed No. 1, while the SDSU men were picked No. 1 in the men’s poll. USD’s Hannah Sjerven was named the preseason player of the year and SDSU’s Douglas Wilson was picked as the men’s preseason player of the year.
The league's nine head coaches and sports information directors along with two media members from each school's coverage area voted on the awards.
South Dakota, the 2019-20 women’s regular season and tournament champion, topped the poll for the second-consecutive year after tallying 587 points. The Coyotes received 25 of the 36 first-place votes, while the remaining 11 went to in-state rival South Dakota State, who held down the second spot (566 points; 11 first-place votes).
Joining Sjerven on the preseason All-Summit League first-team were teammate Chloe Lamb, Oral Roberts guard Keni Jo Lippe, Omaha forward Mariah Murdie and South Dakota State forwards Paiton Burckhard and Myah Selland.
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Selland, who was named to the Preseason All-League First Team for the 2018-19 season, started in all nine games she appeared in before suffering a season-ending injury. The Letcher native averaged 13.8 points, five rebounds and three assists per game in the nine contests.
The preseason All-Summit League second-team is made up of the South Dakota State forward duo of Tylee Irwin and Tori Nelson, South Dakota guard Monica Arens, North Dakota forward Julia Fleecs and Western Illinois forward Evan Zars.
South Dakota State, under the guidance of second-year head coach Eric Henderson, topped the Summit League men’s basketball preseason poll. Wilson, who led the Jacks to a share of the 2019 regular season title, is the reigning Summit League Player of the Year after averaging 18.6 ppg and 6.4 rpg during his first season in Brookings.
SDSU received 33 of 36 first-place votes, topping the poll with 608 points. Sophomore Noah Friedel joined Wilson on the preseason all-league first team, while junior forward Matt Dentlinger earned a spot on the second team.
