RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota Mines men's basketball team starts its' season with a pair of tough contests at home on Friday and Saturday night. On Friday, they welcome in Texas A&M University – Kingsville, and on Saturday take on Texas A&M International University. Both games are scheduled for 7:00 tip-offs.
South Dakota Mines was selected 9
th in the RMAC preseason poll but look to outplay that selection.
The Hardrockers lose a trio of important seniors and bring back a young team with experience in the program.
Point Guards:
Alejandro Rama is projected to be the starting point guard for the Hardrockers this season. In 2020-2021 Rama averaged 11.3 points per game on 43.5% shooting from the field and led the team with 2.3 assists per game. Rama was selected as an RMAC All-Conference Honorable Mention honoree last season and head coach
Eric Glenn is excited about Rama, "I think he is in the top 3 point guards in the conference" said Glenn, "he is a scoring guard and think he is in position to limit the turnovers and become a bit more of a distributor and make a huge difference for this team."
Kolton Frugoli will back him up as the primary floor general. Bringing back two point guards who were significant contributors a season ago is a big plus for South Dakota Mines. Frugoli played in 15 games last season, averaging 17.8 minutes per game.
Wings:
The Hardrockers bring back several guys with experience at the wings this season.
The Hardrockers bring back
Brevin Walter,
Zach Hidalgo, and
Trase Olsen in addition to incoming freshman Markell Allums and
Bryce Sherrell.
Walter started in 12 games, averaging almost 25 minutes a game, and is the leading returning scorer on the team, with an average of 12.3 points per game last season on 37.2% shooting from deep.
Zach Hidalgo and
Trase Olsen played sparingly last season, combining to play in 8 games and look to emerge and carve out bigger roles for themselves.
Markell and Bryce are skilled freshmen who look to make an early impact.
Forwards:
The Hardrockers bring back 3 significant contributors from last season and two incoming freshmen in
Jaxon Lloyd and
Ryan Bruegger.
Kolten Mortensen was named as an RMAC All-Conference Honorable Mention selection for his play in 2020-21. Mortenson was a scorcher last season, shooting over 55% overall and 48.7% from three-point range. As a result, Coach Glenn would like to see a little more balance out of him, "he surprised even the coaches with how well he shot it last season, rather than focusing on the post so much with him, I'd like to have him be a little more balance with the interior and perimeter game."
Brannagh Walsh joins him as a returner who made good contributions last year. Walsh played in just under 24 minutes per game, playing in each of the 18 games and starting in 11. He shot over 45% from the floor despite shooting just 26.7% from the three-point arc.
Centers:
The two centers on the roster are both returning in
Barrett Keith and
Tommy Rau. Neither was a significant contributor previously, combining to play in just 8 games last season.
Schedule
The Hardrockers start the season off at home this weekend with games against a pair of teams from Texas. On Friday night, the Hardrockers take on Texas A&M University – Kingsville and on Saturday Night Texas A&M International University comes to Rapid City. These games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. In addition, they take on perennial tough opponents in Northern State and Augustana the following weekend.
The full interview with Head Coach
Eric Glenn is posted below.
About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 11 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.
