South Dakota State clinched its second straight Summit League title by knocking off North Dakota State, 73-67, in the championship game on Tuesday night. Here are five things you probably didn’t know about the Jackrabbits:
1. They’ve only been Division I for six years. The Jackrabbits were a Division II team for years but joined the Summit League in 2007, and won the conference last season.
2. They’ve got a once-in-a-generation player. Senior guard Nate Wolters is a sight to behold, ranking fourth in the nation in points per game (22.7). He put up 53 points against IPFW on February 7. Wolters can score in a variety of ways, and at 6-4, could be an interesting NBA prospect.
3. It’s not ALL about Wolters. 6-8 forward Jordan Dykstra is a solid second scoring option (12.5 ppg) and also grabs nearly 8 boards per game. But yeah, most of it is about Wolters, who is tremendous.
4. They’ve got a real shot at pulling off an upset. SDSU beat New Mexico at the Pit in Albuquerque, which is one of the toughest things in college basketball to do. They also nearly knocked off third-seeded Baylor in the first round last season, losing 68-60.
5. The school is older than South Dakota itself. It was built in 1883, six years before the state of South Dakota was even incorporated. Back then, they called it Dakota Agriculture College. It became South Dakota State when well, South Dakota became a state in 1889.
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Kels Dayton is a freelance writer whose work has also appeared in SLAM Magazine. You can check out more of his work at RoundballDaily.com. Follow him on Twitter @RoundballDaily.