TAMPA, Fl. --- On Friday morning, D2Football.com released its Elite 100 watch list.
This list signifies the best 100 players at the NCAA Division II level according to the staff of D2Football.com and Josh Buchanon.
South Dakota Mines' football players,
Jayden Johannsen, and
Grant Smith were selected to the list.
Johannsen is coming off a year in which he was near the top of the country in many major statistical categories among quarterbacks, including passing touchdown (28, 8th), passing efficiency (151.3,22nd), and total offense per game (338.6, 2nd). He earned a national player of the week honor, and RMAC Offensive Player of the Week three times, along with being named All-RMAC Second Team and earning a Harlon Hill Nomination for just the second time in school history.
Grant Smith did not play last year due to an injury suffered during the 2022 season; however, he was a force to be reckoned with the last time he was on the field. Smith had been drawing interest from professional scouts and earned a D2Football.com Preseason All-America selection in 2021 and was named to this same list by D2Football.com prior to the 2022 season.
The Hardrockers start their season at home on September 1st against Valley City State. That game is scheduled for a 6:07 p.m. kickoff time. Midco Sports will be airing that game on all of its affiliates throughout the state of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
Football tickets are still available for the 2023 season at this link, above, or at ticket central on gorockers.com
The full list from D2Football.com can also be found above.
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 13 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.
