Men’s basketball looking for Friday victory
Head men’s basketball coach Craig Smith doesn’t know what to expect for the opening game of the season. As a first-year coach for the University of South Dakota, Smith will be put to the test when his team goes against Utah Valley Friday.
The game has been a long time coming for Smith.
“It’s been seven and a half months since we’ve (been at) the University of South Dakota,” Smith said. “Now it’s time to see the fruits of our labor.”
Smith’s labor goes beyond the practice court in getting ready for the season — he brought a whole new staff with him to USD.
The staff did a mass evaluation of returning players, assessing how they treat others, their academics, selfishness and team mentality.
“I believe you win with people first,” Smith said. “It’s not an exact science. Some guys left on their own. We had to get rid of a guy or two. We brought in eight new guys, and our guys are on the same mission.”
Smith said that mission is to get to the NCAA tournament.
Senior James Hunter is entering the USD program from Washington State.
With eight new Coyote basketball players, Hunter said the mentality Smith brings to the program has trickled down to the players.
“There’s more of a team feeling here than on other teams I’ve been with before,” Hunter said. “If you come to a practice, everyone gets after it. Everyone goes 100 percent. That’s what’s going to be important.”
Weeding out a few players this summer was important to the new coaching staff. Smith said multiple times at Media Day, held Nov. 10, he wants his team to buy into his system.
Senior guard Tyler Larson said his teammates have bought into Smith’s system. He said this year is different than past years.
“This is my fifth year of college, and I’ve never wanted to practice as much as I want to this year,” Larson said. “Every practice is something new. Every practice is us getting better at something.”
One part of Smith’s system is new offense and defense tactics.
Offense has new plays, as expected with a new coaching staff. But defense now has new concepts.
Coyotes fans should expect straight man-to-man defense. Smith said he doesn’t care if the Coyotes win 41-40 or 81-80 as long as they are playing winning basketball.
“With the exception of last year at Nebraska, that’s how we’ve played everywhere we’ve been,” Smith said. “We’ve always played small ball.”
The Coyotes are a small basketball team, but that’s not a concern for Larson. He said the team has a lot of chemistry that will make up for other areas of the game.
“Everybody gels really good together,” Larson said. “Just looking at practice, you wouldn’t know who are the older guys and who are the returners because we play so well together.”
The tests begin immediately for USD, as the team’s first five games are all on the road, non-conference teams.
“It’s going to be good for us to drop our heads when things go tough and can’t get down,” Hunter said. “Five tough games on the road are better than three easy games at home.”
Bye games haven’t been the most kind to the Coyotes in the past. The team was 2-13 last season on the road.
Larson said the beginning of this season certainly adds to that challenge.
“Putting these games on the road is automatically going to throw us into the fire,” Larson said. “With a new coaching staff and new team, this will say ‘You have to win on the road to get to any postseason tournament.’”
Friday’s contest at Utah Valley begins with 8 p.m. CDT tipoff.
(Photo: Junior guard Trey Norris goes up for a shot against a Denver defender in the Sioux Falls Arena during the Summit League Tournament. The men’s basketball team will take on Utah Valley Nov. 14 at Utah. File Photo / The Volante)
