South Dakota State Preview: Jackrabbits Open Season at Drake

The whole nature of college basketball has players coming and going all of the time. But some of those departures leave a bigger hole than others.

At South Dakota State that means life after Macy Miller and Madison Guebert.

Not only did the talented backcourt combine to score better than 30 points per game, but they also provided the on-court leadership that propelled the Jackrabbits to their best finish in the Division I era last season, the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

That was then, this is now.

Junior Myah Selland told me it's time for this year's team to find their own identity:

That leadership mantle in Brookings has now been passed to seniors Tagyn Larson and Rylie Cascio Jensen, along with Selland and fellow junior Tylee Irwin, how all made big contributions to last season's success.

Larson and Selland are both on the Summit League preseason all-conference first team.

And while others are focusing on what SDSU has lost, Selland and her teammates know three are some opportunities now for other players to step up their games:

This season's Jackrabbits don't exactly ease into the schedule as they open on the road at Drake, Friday (November 8).

The Bulldogs are the number-one team in the ESPNW preseason mid-major poll and return their top scorers, Becca Hittner and Sara Rhine.

tied tenth with Missouri State

Tipoff is 6:00 PM, Friday in Des Moines.

SDSU's first regular-season game in South Dakota is November 15 when they play Dakota Wesleyan at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls.