Transfer portal shakes up SDSU, USD basketball rosters in wake of 2021-22 season

Landon Dierks, The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·5 min read
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May 7—BROOKINGS — The transfer portal giveth and the transfer portal taketh away.

Since its creation by the NCAA in 2018, the portal has transformed the landscape of college sports. No institution, big or small, is immune to the transfer portal's effects — the good and the bad — including South Dakota's Division I universities.

With offseason movement through the transfer portal — either incoming or outgoing — a virtual certainty, the basketball rosters at South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota look different, in some cases much different, than they did just weeks ago at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.

Here are summaries (as of May 3) of how the transfer portal has shaped the Jackrabbit and Coyote basketball programs entering summer 2022:

South Dakota State

Men's

Coming in: Matthew Mors

Going out: Baylor Scheierman, Noah Freidel, David Wingett and Jaylon Gentry

There might not be a better case study of the highs and lows the transfer portal can bring within a single offseason at the mid-major level than within the South Dakota State men's basketball program.

On March 21, news broke that

Matthew Mors, one of the most sought-after recruits in South Dakota boys prep basketball history after a record-setting career at Yankton High School, was seeking a transfer away from Wisconsin

.

Less than three weeks later on April 8,

a Mors tweet confirmed many suspicions — the 6-foot-7 forward was going to be a Jackrabbit.

Immediately, fans started fawning over the idea of Mors sliding into a lineup that went 30-5 (21-0 against Summit League competition), boasted the reigning conference player of the year in Baylor Scheierman and lost only one senior to graduation.

But on May 3, one of the largest dominoes in this offseason's transfer portal fell when

Scheierman, a 6-foot-6 guard who averaged 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists as a third-year sophomore in 2021-22, announced his intention to transfer to Creighton if he returns to college for another season

.

Scheierman is a special case in that he may opt to remain in the NBA Draft and forego his remaining college eligibility, but regardless he will not be donning a Jackrabbits uniform in 2022-23.

Another former all-league caliber guard talent has also found a new home, with Noah Freidel announcing his commitment to James Madison via Twitter on April 28.

Two additional Jackrabbits — David Wingett and Jaylon Gentry — have also entered the portal, though neither has made their future college plans known as of May 6.

Women's

Coming in: Dru Gylten

In the wake of a Women's National Invitation Tournament championship, the SDSU women's basketball program's situation is relatively simple compared to the men's team.

The Jackrabbit women lose four players to graduation and another to retirement but appear to have avoided the transfer portal taking any more away while snagging a South Dakota talent back to the state as a graduate transfer.

Dru Gylten, a Rapid City native and St. Thomas More High School product, spent the past four seasons at the University of Utah. As a Ute, Gylten started all 104 games she appeared in, dishing out the fourth-most assists in program history (553) and scoring 734 points in the process.

University of South Dakota

Men's

Coming in: Mihai Carcoana, Paul Bruns

Going out: Boogie Anderson, Xavier Fuller, Hunter Goodrick, Ty Chisom, Erik Oliver

VERMILLION — Following the departure of head coach Todd Lee, the University of South Dakota men's program entered something of a precarious situation.

At one point, more than half the Coyotes' roster had their name in the transfer portal, and while a half-dozen chose to leave, the hiring of new coach Eric Peterson seemed to minimize the potential damage.

Boogie Anderson moved on to another Summit League program, Kansas City, meanwhile Xavier Fuller and Hunter Goodrick both went southwest, landing at Northern Arizona and Cal Baptist, respectively. Kanon Koster is transferring to Division II Saint Leo (Florida), while Erik Oliver still has his name in the portal. After stepping away from the program mid-season, Ty Chisom will play at Prairie View A&M next season.

However, Kruz Perrott-Hunt and Mason Archambault, the Coyotes' two leading scorers from last season, decided to stay in Vermillion. Further, 2021-22 Summit League freshman of the year and Dakota Valley product Paul Bruns jumped to USD from the University of North Dakota.

The most recent addition, announced May 2, brought Mihai Carcoana, a 6-foot-11 center who hails from Romania, to Vermillion from the University of Toledo.

Women's

Going out: Kyah Watson, Maddie Krull

As if finding continuity for the USD women's basketball program wasn't going to be challenging enough, the transfer portal further complicated matters.

Former head coach Dawn Plitzuweit and her entire staff moved on to West Virginia University following a historic run to the program's first Sweet 16. Meanwhile, three of the most successful and productive players in program history — Hannah Sjerven, Chloe Lamb and Liv Korngable had played their final games as Coyotes.

Even given the high levels of recent success in Vermillion, those losses were going to be a tall task for first-time head coach Kayla Karius to build on in her first season. And that was before the other two starters from 2021-22 — Kyah Watson and Maddie Krull — also departed the program.

First, Watson chose to follow Plitzuweit to WVU on April 20. Four days later, Krull announced she was returning to her home state to play for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Since Karius' hire on April 10, there has not been an announcement regarding any additions through the transfer portal.