A new season of Jackrabbit basketball begins Monday, and with it, a new starting five. This past season saw contributing players in forward William Kyle III and guard Zeke Mayo enter the transfer portal to find new homes with the UCLA Bruins and the University of Kansas Jayhawks respectively.
Kyle proved to be a thunderous force on the glass last season, averaging 13.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks with a 62.3% field goal percentage. The 6’9 forward will give some size to a UCLA squad that lost sophomore big man Adem Bona to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2024 NBA draft.
Lawrence native Zeke Mayo will look to make an impact on his hometown with the No. 1 Jayhawks. His 39.1% from three will certainly appeal to the Jayhawks, who shot 32.9% beyond the arc and his 2024 season average of 18.8 points per game will also provide a valuable scoring spark.
Coach Eric Henderson, now down two of his highest point scorers from a season ago will look to the surplus of incoming freshmen and to his veterans to replicate some of their production.
“Nine of our 15 guys have never played a college basketball game, but I can tell you this much. They are as excited as we’ve ever been… Every day we go into practice, the competitive spirit is incredible, the togetherness is incredible, the amount of growth is incredible,” said Henderson.
Many of the incoming rookie players are coming off of notable high-school careers. Guard Jaden Jackson, who averaged 17.2 points and 2.9 assists is coming off of a back-to-back Nebraska Class A championship campaign and was the 2024 Gatorade Nebraska boys player of the year.
Guard Joe Sayler will look to make an impact coming off of his redshirt freshman year. He set a white river high school three-point record with 13 long-distance shots and 103 over the course of the season.
The 2023 South Dakota Mr. Basketball Award winner scored a career-high 51 points the year he won the award and is bringing with him a senior year 30.8 points per game average.
Returning players include guard Kalen Garry, who started 15 games last season. Garry averaged 7.3 points per game last season and shot 34.3% from beyond the arc.
His knack for pickpocketing opposing players will provide a defensive spark, with Garry having three games with three steals.
Forward Nate Barnhart will also return to the squad. The junior had eight separate multi-block games, with him bringing home three blocks three separate times. The Wyoming transfer from a season ago shot 47.1% from the field last year.
The men’s basketball team is looking to return to March Madness after their early exit last year in the first round by the Iowa State Cyclones where they lost 65-82.
The team’s 15 turnovers proved to be detrimental to their game plan, with the Cyclones stealing the ball 11 times throughout the game.
The Jackrabbits won’t have a shortage of big games with Summit League matchups against South Dakota, North Dakota and North Dakota State.
South Dakota State will also take on a rising University of Colorado Buffalos team, and it culminates with a date with the No. 2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa.
This fresh team will look to make their mark in the college basketball world. With many new faces entering the locker room, anything is possible.
“How lucky are we… to be jackrabbits,” said Henderson. “To be able to experience what we get to experience, and a lot of it comes from the people in the room and the support we get… I can tell you this, you may need a new roster card, but the quality of basketball has not changed, the character of our guys has not changed [and] the competitive spirit has not changed.”
SDSU will play McNeese State at the Sanford Pentagon on Monday with tip-off slated for 5 p.m. for the Field of 68 Opening Day Showcase.
