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After years of dominating Colorado prep scene Lewis-Palmer alumnus Joel Scott has Black Hills State in title contention

hugh johnson, the gazette (colorado springs, colo.)
·4 min read

Mar. 22—Whether it's Monument, or Spearfish, S.D., somethings never change.

In 2019, the Lewis-Palmer Rangers lifted the 4A boys' basketball state trophy after beating Longmont in the final. It was a great sendoff for Lewis-Palmer's seniors, especially Joel Scott who lead the team in scoring that season with 18.7 points per game. Scott's fellow senior Matthew Ragsdale wasn't far behind, averaging 17.5.

Fast forward four years and Scott is at it again, leading Black Hills State University, in Spearfish, to the final four of the NCAA Division II tournament and Ragsdale is right there with him.

As starters for the Yellow Jackets on Tuesday, Scott and Ragsdale scored 23 and 25 points respectively to help defeat Minnesota Duluth and vault their team into the tournament semifinals in Evansville, Ind. Third-seeded Black Hills State faces second-seeded West Liberty on Thursday at noon.

"It's a really special run, it means a lot to me and a it means lot to this team," Scott said. "We've been working our butts off for a really long time now and to get back to another final four is huge for us. And it's huge for the school and it means a lot to the town of Spearfish."

The Yellow Jackets' run last year came to an end in the semis with a 70-57 loss to eventual champion Northwest Missouri State — 2022 marked the first NCAA Division II tournament appearance for Black Hills State.

The senior forward has been working to get back to this spot, racking up a slew of accolades along the way.

Averaging a team-leading 22.8 points game this season, Scott has had a banner year, claiming his second-straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year award. He is a two-time All-American with the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association. Scott was the program's first NCAA All-American, and was named to the All-Region first teams for both organizations. He is also on the 2023 Bevo Francis Top-25 Watch List.

The cherry on top? Monday, Scott was recognized as the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association's Ron Lenz National Player of the Year.

"It's hard not to be pretty excited and blessed by all that stuff so it was really awesome to see all that. But I couldn't have done it without any of my teammates or coaches or all the lessons I've learned along the way," Scott said. "So it's a true blessing and it's awesome. It's a really cool experience."

Heading into college, Scott said he was dealing with knee pain and credits his strength coach for getting him into the best shape of his life. It's made a difference on the court, not just with the knee, but with his playing ability as a shooter and on defense. To that end, Scott is the all-time leading scorer at Black Hills State with 2,441 points and one of just three players in history with 2,000 career points.

He also holds Black Hills State's single-season point record with 787, a mark he set last season and is poised to break. He already has 775 points this year.

The legacy Scott is leaving at Black Hills State began at Lewis-Palmer's gymnasium where Scott said he mastered the fundamentals of the game.

"Playing at Lewis-Palmer we had a lot of fundamental work and I feel like that's really benefitted me at the college level," he said. "I feel like I'm not always the most athletic person on the court in college but with those fundamentals, I feel like it gives me a little extra advantage out there."

The achievements and individual success take a back seat to the winning culture Scott is helping to build.

"Coming into Black Hills State, I just wanted to play and I just wanted to win and that was one of the biggest things. And Coach (Ryan) Thompson, talking to him when he was recruiting me, he was just trying to build a winning program and I feel like that's one of the big things that (we've) kind of done in the past couple years and it's really exciting to see that happen," Scott said. "I just love winning more than anything"

To hoist the NCAA Division II trophy with his teammates would no doubt be special for Scott and Black Hills State. And maybe more so, it would be extraordinary to win another championship with his teammate and friend in Ragsdale.

"I don't even know if there's words to really describe it," he said of the potential feat. "Getting the state championship trophy in the first place was really special. So I can't even imagine getting this one too."