South Dakota Basketball: Running Down the Roster Changes
It's becoming the norm in college basketball these days - more and more players heading for the transfer portal in an attempt elevate their games in new surroundings
The University of South Dakota is certainly feeling the effects this off-season after losing their top scorer and then less than a month later adding what they hope will a prolific scorer for the program going forward.
The roster upheaval began in mid-April when last season's leading scorer and All-Summit League first-teamer Stanley Umude made the surprising announcement that he was entering the transfer portal in the hopes of playing out his remaining two years of eligibility elsewhere.
That, coupled with the graduation of Trey Burch-Manning, leaves the Coyotes without two of their top four scorers heading into the 2019-20 season.
More scoring is on the way for South Dakota with the transfer in of Augustana's A.J. Plitzuweit, the reigning Freshman of the Year in the Northern Sun Conference.
But Plitzuweit, who scored 34 points a game for Vermillion High School as a senior, won't be available for USD until the 2020-21 season due to the NCAA's transfer rules.
So next season, the Coyotes will look to returning starters Triston Simpson and Cody Kelley for some scoring punch while welcoming back redshirt senior Tyler Hagedorn, who missed all of last season with an injury after scoring 13 points per game as a junior in the 2017-18 season.
Hagedorn's return will also help solve one of South Dakota's biggest issues from last season - lack of size. He's 6'10/230 pounds and will join returning forward Matt Johns, who is 6'8/230.
Some young size is also on the way to Vermillion.
Forward Simeon Jovic (6'9/210) will be on the floor after redshirting last season, while incoming freshman Hunter Goodrick checks in at 6'7.
The Coyotes also added some size with the addition of Central Arizona College and Eastern Washington transfer Rich Polanco who is 6'8/230.
I talked with Coyotes head coach Todd Lee about the changes on the USD roster: