RAPID CITY, S.D. --- The South Dakota Mines men's basketball team starts its' season with a pair of tough contests on the road Friday and Saturday evening. They take on Texas A&M – Kingsville and Texas A&M International at 6:00 p.m. each night.
South Dakota Mines was selected 11th in the RMAC preseason poll but look to outplay that selection.
The Hardrockers did not graduate any seniors from the 2021-22 season.
Point Guards:
Kolton Frugoli is expected to be a big contributor as the floor general. He dished 2.9 assists last year while grabbing 4.4 rebounds per game and hopes to improve his shooting numbers from last season.
Ale Rama is an honorable mention all-rmac performer and was second on the team in scoring with 15 points per game. He shot 43.5% from three and dished 3.1 assists per game.
Off-Guards:
The Hardrockers bring back several guys with experience at the wings this season.
Returning are
Bryce Sherrell,
Keagen Smith,
Trase Olsen, and
Brevin Walter.
Sherrell played in 22 games, averaging just over 13 minutes per game.
Keagen Smith played in 25 games, averaging 232.9 minutes per contest. He shot 44.4% from the field and over 33% from three last season, scoring just under 8 pointes per game with 4.3 rebounds.
Trase Olsen hopes to carve out a bigger role this season, playing in 12 games and playing 7.9 minutes per contest.
Walter was an honorable mention all-conference selection last season after leading the team in scoring with 16.5 per game.
Kyle Harris, Jaka Prevodnik are newcomers with Kyle Harris transferring from Phoenix College and Prevodnik coming from Division I University of Hawai'i at Manoa. Abel Hutchinson comes in as the only freshman joining the roster.
Forwards:
Kolten Mortensen,
Brannagh Walsh, and
Jaxon Lloyd return at the forwards spots for the Hardrockers.
Kolten Mortensen has been named an all-conference honorable mention in back-to-back years. He is a player who can beat the defense in a variety of different ways as he can beat you in the post and from the three as he shot 52.8% last year and 44.5% from three, on his way to averaging 14.5 points per game to go along with 7.6 rebounds.
Brannagh Walsh joins him as a returner who made good contributions last year. Walsh played in just over 15 minutes per game, playing in 26 games and starting in 9. He shot 40% from the floor despite shooting just 23.8% from the three-point arc.
Lloyd appeared in 18 games in 2021-22, averaging 8.8 minutes per game.
Centers:
Tommy Rau returns for the Hardrockers as a sophomore who played limited minutes in his first year.
Jasper Reinalda joins as a transfer from Division I Montana State University.
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.
