2023–24 Summit League men's basketball season

The 2023–24 Summit League men's basketball season started non-conference play on November 6, 2023, and began conference play on December 29, 2023. The regular season ended on March 2, 2024, and set up the 2024 Summit League men's basketball tournament from March 8 to March 12, 2024. South Dakota State finished league play with a 12–4 record as the regular season champion. In the postseason, after winning the Summit League tournament, South Dakota State was slotted as a 15 seed in the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. They lost to Iowa State in the first round.

Conference Changes Following the end of the 2023 Spring sports regular season, Western Illinois announced they would be leaving the Summit League effective July 1, 2023 for the Ohio Valley Conference in all sports except men's soccer.

Head coaches Coaching changes Oral Roberts On March 23, 2023, sixth-year coach Paul Mills left Oral Roberts for the head coaching job at Wichita State. Then, on March 24, 2023, Russell Springmann was announced as the next head coach for the Golden Eagles. Springmann was previously an assistant at Oral Roberts under Mills.

Coaches TeamHead CoachPrevious JobYears At SchoolRecord at SchoolSummit League RecordSummit League TitlesNCAA tournamentsNCAA Sweet 16'sDenverJeff WulbrunStanford (Assistant)326–3813–23000Kansas CityMarvin MenziesGrand Canyon (Associate HC)211–217–1050North DakotaPaul SatherNorthern State543–8023–45000North Dakota StateDavid RichmanNorth Dakota State (Assistant)10172–11489–54320OmahaChris CrutchfieldOregon (Assistant)28–224–14000Oral RobertsRussell SpringmannOral Roberts (Assistant)10–00–0000St. ThomasJohn TauerSt. Thomas (Assistant)12246–87^13–2300^^0^^^South DakotaEric PetersonUtah (Assistant)212–187–11000South Dakota StateEric HendersonSouth Dakota State (Assistant)587–3553–11110 Notes:

Year at school includes 2023–24 season. Overall and Summit League records are from the time at their current school and are through the end of the 2022–23. NCAA tournament appearances are from the time at current school only.

^218 wins and 50 losses at the Division III level

^^8 NCAA Division III Tournaments

^^^4 NCAA Division III Sweet 16s, 2 NCAA Division III Final Fours, and 1 NCAA Division III National Championship

Preseason awards The preseason Summit League men's basketball polls were released on October 10, 2023.

Preseason poll First place votes in parentheses

South Dakota State (27) – 600 Oral Roberts (7) – 510 North Dakota State (2) – 482 St. Thomas – 386 North Dakota – 374 South Dakota – 274 Omaha – 252 Kansas City – 201 Denver – 161

Preseason honors HonorRecipientPreseason Player of the YearZeke Mayo, South Dakota StatePreseason All-Summit League First TeamLuke Appel, South Dakota StateParker Bjorklund, St. ThomasFrankie Fidler, OmahaZeke Mayo, South Dakota StateIsaac McBride, Oral RobertsBoden Skunberg, North Dakota StatePreseason All-Summit League Second TeamTommy Bruner, DenverWilliam Kyle III, South Dakota StateAndrew Morgan, North Dakota StateB.J. Omot, North DakotaKareem Thompson, Oral Roberts

Regular season Conference standings Current as of March 30, 2024 ConferenceOverallRankTeamRecordPercentRecordPercentTiebreaker1South Dakota State12–4.75022–13.6292Kansas City10–6.62516–16.5001–1 vs. South Dakota State3North Dakota10–6.62518–14.5620–2 vs. South Dakota State4St. Thomas9–7.56320–13.6065North Dakota State8–8.50015–17.4696Omaha7–9.43815–18.4557Denver6–10.37517–17.5008Oral Roberts5–11.31312–19.3871–1 vs. South Dakota State9South Dakota5–11.31312–20.3750–2 vs. South Dakota State

Conference Matrix   Denver Kansas City North DakotaNorth Dakota State Omaha Oral Roberts St. Thomas South Dakota South Dakota State vs. Denver – 2–0 2–0 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1vs. Kansas City 0–2 – 1–1 2–0 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 vs. North Dakota 0–2 1–1 – 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 2–0vs. North Dakota State 2–0 0–2 1–1 – 1–1 0–2 1–1 2–0 1–1vs. Omaha 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 – 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–0vs. Oral Roberts 0–2 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 – 2–0 1–1 1–1vs. St. Thomas 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 – 1–1 2–0vs. South Dakota 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 – 2–0vs. South Dakota State 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–2 –Total 6–10 10–6 10–6 8–8 7–9 5–11 9–7 5–11 12–4 Through March 3, 2024

Players of the Week WeekPlayer(s) of the WeekSchool Nov. 13Tommy BrunerDenver Nov. 20Isaac McBrideOral Roberts Nov. 27Treysen EaglestaffNorth Dakota Dec. 4Isaac McBride (2)Oral Roberts (2) Dec. 11Tommy Bruner (2)Denver (2) Dec. 18Treysen Eaglestaff (2)North Dakota (2) Dec. 27B.J. OmotNorth Dakota (3)Jan. 2Tommy Bruner (3)Denver (3)Frankie FidlerOmaha Jan. 8Tommy Bruner (4)Denver (4) Jan. 15Frankie Fidler (2)Omaha (2) Jan. 22Zeke MayoSouth Dakota StateJan. 29Tommy Bruner (5)Denver (5)Isaac McBride (3)Oral Roberts (3) Feb. 5Amar KuljuhovicNorth Dakota (4) Feb. 12Andrew MorganNorth Dakota State Feb. 19Treysen Eaglestaff (3)North Dakota (5) Feb. 26Jamar BrownKansas City Mar. 4Zeke Mayo (2)South Dakota State (2)

Records against other conferences As of January 6, 2024:

Major 7 ConferencesRecordMajor 7 ConferencesRecordACCNoneAmerican2–2Big East0–3Big Ten0–2Big 120–9Pac-120–1SEC0–1Major 7 Total2–19Other Division I ConferencesRecordOther Division I ConferencesRecordAtlantic 100–1ASUN1–0America EastNoneBig Sky11–12Big SouthNoneBig West2–7CAA3–0Conference USA0–1Horizon League1–2Ivy League0–1Independents1–0MAACNoneMAC4–2MEAC0–1MVC0–3MWC1–6NECNoneOVC3–2Patriot LeagueNoneSoCon1–2Southland3–1SWAC1–0Sun Belt1–1WAC2–3WCC2–2Other Division I Total37–47NCAA Division I Total39–66NCAA Division II Total4–0NCAA Division III Total6–0NAIA Total15–0NCCAA Total4–0Total Non-Conference Record68–66

Record against ranked non-conference opponents Summit League record against ranked teams (rankings from AP Poll): Summit League teams in Bold

Date Visitor Home Site Score Conference record ReferenceNovember 11North Dakota StateNo. 8 CreightonCHI Health Center OmahaOmaha, NEL 60–890–1November 14Kansas CityNo. 15 BaylorFerrell CenterWaco, TXL 61–990–2November 17Oral RobertsNo. 13 Texas A&MReed ArenaCollege Station, TXL 66–740–3December 5Kansas CityNo. 2 KansasAllen FieldhouseLawrence, KSL 69–880–4December 6DenverNo. 13 Colorado StateMoby ArenaFort Collins, COL 80–900–4December 13DenverNo. 18 BYUMarriott CenterProvo, UTL 74–900–5December 14St. ThomasNo. 7 MarquetteFiserv ForumMilwaukee, WIL 79–840–6

Points Scored TeamForAgainstDifferenceDenver 2755 2737 +18Kansas City 2300 2217 +83North Dakota 2408 2300 +108North Dakota State 2388 2366 +22Omaha 2441 2404 +37Oral Roberts 2275 2334 –59St. Thomas 2402 2140 +262South Dakota 2434 2535 –101South Dakota State 2675 2490 +185 Through March 30, 2024

Home attendance TeamArenaCapacityTotal GamesAverage AttendanceAttendance HighTotal Attendance% of CapacityDenverHamilton Gymnasium2,500148941,278Jan 25 vs. South Dakota12,52135.8%Kansas CitySwinney Recreation Center1,500131,1301,507Feb 15 vs. South Dakota St14,69075.3%North DakotaBetty Engelstad Sioux Center3,300141,7043,065Feb 3 vs. North Dakota St23,86051.6%North Dakota StateScheels Center5,460141,9355,058Feb 24 vs. North Dakota27,10335.5%OmahaBaxter Arena7,898142,0795,094Nov 30 vs. Bellevue29,11126.3%Oral RobertsMabee Center10,154135,2216,949Dec 2 vs. Tulsa67,88251.4%St. ThomasSchoenecker Arena1,800141,3061,614Jan 25 vs. North Dakota St18,29472.6%South DakotaSanford Coyote Sports Center6,000141,8453,892Jan 20 vs. South Dakota St25,83830.8%South Dakota StateFrost Arena6,500142,5873,781Feb 4 vs. South Dakota36,22539.8% Bold - Exceed capacity As of March 2, 2024 Does not include exhibition games

National Television Games Before the 2023–24 season began, the Summit League announced a new media deal with CBS Sports Network that would show up to 12 regular season games (6 guaranteed men's games) on the network, as well as moving the league's tournament final games to CBSSN. On October 18, 2023, the Summit League and CBS Sports Network announced the league's 2023-24 slate of games to appear on the network throughout the conference season. Those games and any others that league members played are listed here.

Summit League members in bold DateTime (CT)Road TeamHome teamFinal ScoreNetworkNovember 11, 20231 PMNorth Dakota StateNo. 8 Creighton60–89FS2November 14, 20238 PMSouth DakotaDePaul60–72FS2December 14, 20237 PMSt. ThomasNo. 7 Marquette79–84FS1December 29, 20237 PMSt. ThomasNorth DakotaUST 70–45CBSSNDecember 31, 20232 PMOmahaSouth DakotaOMAHA 67–51CBSSNJanuary 6, 20247 PMWeber StateOral Roberts83–78CBSSNJanuary 25, 20246 PMKansas CitySouth Dakota StateSDSU 75–66CBSSNFebruary 4, 20244 PMSouth DakotaSouth Dakota StateSDSU 70–67CBSSNFebruary 10, 20243 PMOral RobertsSouth Dakota StateSDSU 83–72CBSSNFebruary 24, 20241 PMNorth DakotaNorth Dakota StateNDSU 73–68CBSSN

All-League Honors HonorRecipientPlayer of the YearZeke Mayo, South Dakota StateDefensive Player of the YearWilliam Kyle III, South Dakota StateSixth Man of the YearKhristion Courseault, Kansas CityFreshman of the YearJayson Petty, Kansas CityNewcomer of the YearJamar Brown, Kansas CityCoach of the YearMarvin Menzies, Kansas CityAll-Summit League First TeamZeke Mayo, South Dakota StateJamar Brown, Kansas CityTommy Bruner, DenverFrankie Fidler, OmahaWilliam Kyle III, South Dakota StateB.J. Omot, North DakotaAll-Summit League Second TeamRaheem Anthony, St. ThomasParker Bjorklund, St. ThomasTyree Ihenacho, North DakotaIssac McBride, Oral RobertsAndrew Morgan, North Dakota StateAll-Summit League Honorable MentionCharlie Easley, South Dakota StateBoden Skunberg, North Dakota StateKaleb Stewart, South DakotaTouko Tainamo, DenverLahat Thioune, South DakotaAll-Defensive TeamBabacar Diallo, Kansas CityCharlie Easley, South Dakota StateEli King, North DakotaWilliam Kyle III, South Dakota StateJacari White, North Dakota StateAll-Newcomer TeamRaheem Anthony, St. ThomasJamar Brown, Kansas CityAmar Kuljuhovic, North DakotaKaleb Stewart, South DakotaLahat Thioune, South Dakota Source:

Postseason Conference Tournament

All 9 teams qualify for the Summit League tournament. The tournament is held at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was held from March 8 to March 12, 2024.

NCAA tournament

Seed Region School First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship No. 15 Omaha Regional South Dakota State lost to No. 2 Iowa State 82–65 — — — — 1 BidW-L (%):TOTAL:

References