Recruiting Classes Announced For SDSU, USD Women

Both the South Dakota and South Dakota State women’s basketball programs announced their early signings today, each bringing in three recruits.

USD brought in two from Nebraska and one from South Dakota. All three SDSU recruits were from Minnesota. Here is a quick look, via their respective press releases:

USD

Nebraska prep stars Katelyn Edwards of Crete, Neb., and Stacia Robertson of Grand Island, Neb., have signed letters of intent to play for USD starting in 2010-11, while Carsey Barden, a standout from Whitewood, will also continue her athletic and academic career at USD.

Edwards, a 5-foot-11 senior guard at Crete High School, was named to the Class B All-State first team in 2009. She averaged 19.6 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.3 steals and 2.9 assists in eight games before suffering an injury. Edwards shared the Dakota Showcase MVP honors with Robertson after helping the Nebraska Twisterz to the championship last summer. She was named the Lincoln Journal Star Super State first team as a sophomore in 2008 after averaging 18.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game that season. She was also first-team Super State and all-conference as a sophomore. As a freshman, Edwards was first-team All-State in Class B and was third-team Super State. During her varsity career, Crete has posted a 51-5 record as she averaged 16.8 points per game. Edwards is also Crete’s all-time leading scorer.

Robertson, a 6-foot-2 senior forward at Grand Island High School, is in the midst of an outstanding prep career. She was named the Co-MVP of the Miss Basketball Showcase last summer as well as being one of the All-Americans at the event. Robertson averaged 20.5 points per game for the Nebraska Twisterz summer team at the event. She was named to the Lincoln-Journal Star Super State second team in 2009 after averaging 16.7 points and eight rebounds as a junior at Grand Island. She was a Super State second team selection in 2008, and was also named Nebraska AP Class A All-State second team.

She is a two-time Heartland Athletic Conference All-Conference selection (2008 and 2009). Robertson shared the Dakota Showcase MVP honors with Edwards. Robertson was also voted Player of the Year Midwest for the Summer of 2009 by the Midwest Recruiting Service.

Robertson and Edwards have played on the same club team since they were in sixth grade.
Barden, a 5-foot-11 senior guard at Sturgis High School, has put together an impressive playing career. As a junior in 2008-09, Barden averaged 15.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 3.1 steals per game. She is a two-time Class AA All-State selection, earning the honors in both 2008 and 2009. She also was named to Greater Dakota Conference All-Conference first team in both 2008 and 2009. She also was named a 2009 All-American by Miss Basketball Showcase. She was also named to the All-State tournament team in 2009 and was a four-time All-Greater Dakota Conference member. She also was named to the Argus Leader’s 2nd Five in 2009, along with earning Best of the West Award honors from the Rapid City Journal in 2009.

SDSU

Three Minnesota high school standouts signed a National Letter of Intent Wednesday, indicating they will enroll at South Dakota State University in the fall and compete for the Jackrabbit women’s basketball team.
The signees include:
• Gabrielle Boever, 5-8, guard, Worthington, Minn.;
• Hannah Strop, 6-0, forward, New Prague, Minn.; and
• Megan Waytashek, 6-0, guard/forward, Lino Lakes, Minn.
Boever enters her fourth season as the starting point guard for a Worthington High School program that has won two conference and two section championships. A three-time all-state selection by the Minnesota Coaches Association and Minnesota Basketball News, as well as a two-time all-state honoree by the Associated Press, Boever reached the 1,000-point plateau as a junior and has averaged 14 points, 4.5 steals and 3.5 assists per game during her prep career. In addition, she played two years with the North Tartan AAU team and one year with the Minnesota Stars AAU program.
Boever follows in the footsteps of her older sister, Maria, who is a senior forward on this year’s Jackrabbit squad.
Strop has been a two-time all-conference honoree for a New Prague High School team that has made two state tournament appearances, including a third-place finish last season. She also earned Class 3A second-team all-area honors from the Minnesota Basketball News and was an honorable mention selection to the St. Paul Pioneer Press All-Area Team after averaging 11.0 points and 5.4 rebounds her junior season.  Strop also has been a member of the North Tartan AAU team.
In addition, Strop has lettered in volleyball and track and field, earning all-conference honors in volleyball this fall. She also has excelled in the classroom, earning academic all-state honors in volleyball and being selected to the National Honor Society.
Waytashek, who has been ranked among the top 100 players in the 2010 class by ESPN Hoopgurlz, has been a key member of the highly successful girls’ basketball program at Centennial High School. Centennial has posted an 81-7 overall record en route to winning three conference titles and turning in a runner-up finish at the Class 4A state tournament last season. An all-conference honoree each of the last two seasons, Waytashek also received honorable mention all-state recognition from the Minnesota Coaches Association as a junior, when she averaged 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. She has been a member of the Minnesota Stars AAU program, as well.
Waytashek also has excelled in volleyball, holding the school record in blocks and ranking second in career kills. Additionally, Waytashek has been a member of her school’s Peer Leadership Group and is a member of the National Honor Society.

Now that you’ve checked them out, who do you think had the better class? Feel free to comment, and to vote in this poll.

Volleyball Pairings Set

PIERRE — The pairings for the South Dakota State Class A and Class B Volleyball Tournaments have been announced.
Both Class A and Class B will be held in Watertown, Nov. 19-21.
In Class A, defending state champion Wagner (31-1) will face Custer (22-10) in the opening round, a noon start Thursday, followed by Elk Point-Jefferson (22-5) against Platte-Geddes (24-4) at 1:45 p.m.
Other first-round matches in Class A feature Milbank (22-3) against Sioux Valley (23-6) and Sioux Falls Christian (22-2) against Mobridge-Pollock (23-7).
In Class B, Andes Central (20-10) draws top-seeded Arlington (31-1) in the opening round, beginning at noon on Thursday. Parker (25-5) takes on Mount Vernon (24-1) in the 1:45 p.m. match.
Also in Class B, White River (29-4) takes on Highmore-Harrold (24-6) and Warner (28-2) takes on Lemmon (26-7).
Championships are set for Saturday, Nov. 21, with the Class B at 6 p.m., followed by Class A at 8 p.m.

Johnston at Yankton QB Club

South Dakota State women’s basketball coach Aaron Johnston spoke to a larger-than-average crowd at the Yankton Quarterback Club on Wednesday, Nov. 4. James Grotenhuis, the emcee for the weekly gathering, even joked that “AJ” will be speaking again next week because the gathering was so much bigger than it had been in recent weeks.

That’s what making the second round of the NCAA Tournament will do for you.

All kidding aside, I know that most of the SDSU fans in attendance would have been there even if the Jackrabbit women would have had just three wins instead of the three losses they had. They are very loyal, even in down times, but they have had plenty to cheer about the past few years.

Here is the video of Johnston’s talk. He covers a number of basketball-related things, as well as touching on the success of other sports on campus and the changes to campus itself. Be patient, as the player needs to completely load the video before it starts playing.

 

Quarterfinal Updates

We will be doing score updates for the South Dakota Football Quarterfinals on our website.

Here is the link.

Second Round Picks

We are on the eve of the quarterfinals of the South Dakota football playoffs, and I am watching the Vikings and Packers square off. (Not a fan of either, just saying “GIVE THE BALL TO AP!”) No that that’s out of the way … here are my second round picks. (Home teams are in bold)

CLASS 11AA: Aberdeen Central over Stevens; O’Gorman over Roosevelt; Washington over Yankton; Brandon Valley over Pierre. (Hope I’m wrong on one, and I’ll let you guess which one.)

CLASS 11A: Sisseton over Milbank; Dakota Valley over Harrisburg; Todd County over Pine Ridge; St. Thomas More over Belle Fourche

CLASS 11B: Aberdeen Roncalli over Redfield-Doland; Tri-Valley over Flandreau; Wagner over Platte-Geddes-Dakota Christian; Winner over Mobridge-Pollock

CLASS 9AA: Leola-Frederick over Langford-Roslyn; Howard over Chester Area; Emery-Ethan over Canistota-Bridgewater; Herreid-Selby Area over Lyman

CLASS 9A: Arlington over Castlewood; Hanson over Mount Vernon; Avon over Irene-Wakonda; Harding County over Sully Buttes

CLASS 9B: Hitchcock-Tulare over Waverly-South Shore; Viborg over Dell Rapids St. Mary; Gettysburg over Sunshine Bible; Warner over New Underwood

For reference sake, I was 35-13 in the opening round, with 11A and 9B (5-3 each) giving me the most trouble. Assistant Sports Editor Jeremy Hoeck also went 35-13, including a perfect 8-0 in Class 11AA. Scott Morrison was 33-15, though he hurt himself by forgetting to circle 3 games.