Coyote men’s basketball looks to next season

After sneaking in as the final seed in the Summit League Tournament earlier this month, the Coyotes were unable to overcome the top seeded Mastodons of Fort Wayne, falling 70-86.

The Coyotes now look toward next season. There’s reason for optimism in Vermillion — the three transfers that sat out this season will now be eligible to play. Juniors Trey Dickerson and Carlton Hurst and sophomore Matt Mooney will provide a boost for the Coyotes.

Along with the transfers, the younger Coyotes will improve and the incoming freshman will help as well. Head coach Craig Smith said after so many changes, USD is close to finally nailing down its roster.

“You’re trying to set yourself up for long term success. Last year was one team, this year was totally different team from last year and now next year will be totally different than this year,” Smith said. “I think from next year moving forward we’ll finally have stability in our program and the stability we need while improving some areas of athleticism, talent and skill level.”

Freshmen Tyler Hagedorn and Dan Jech had interesting first years for the Coyotes. They played sporadic minutes, but showed growth throughout the year. They’ll look to play even bigger roles next season.

“It’s a grind for those guys and certainly I know they’re a little frustrated right now, they kind of hit the freshman wall. Slow start, then I thought they started playing really well kind of in the middle of the season there. Then they really hit the wall kind of early to mid league play, then they kind of bounced back a little bit,” Smith said. “So there’s kind of some growing pains that way, I think it’s a lot harder for bigs.”

Even with the season woes, Smith said he sees them as big contributors down the line.

“We are really excited about both of those guys. With Dan he can do a lot of great things and obviously Tyler can as well,” Smith said. “I think they really will compliment the team next year much more than they compliment the team this year.”

The improvements come with their own costs. The Coyotes will lose seniors Casey Kasperbauer, Eric Robertson, Trey Norris, Tre Burnette and Duol Mayot.

“Losing the seniors is going to be huge. I have been playing with Casey for four years and we have definitely developed chemistry from playing that long,” said junior Tyler Flack. “We’re just going to have to play together a lot and learn how we play with each other.”

The seniors are grateful for the experiences they’ve had at USD.

“I just want to thank everybody that made it possible for me to live my dream of playing Division I basketball,” said senior guard Tre Burnette. “The university took me with open arms and showed me a great time. It was a wonderful experience and I wouldn’t take it back for anything in the world.”

Despite leaving the team behind, Kasperbauer is optimistic for the team’s future.

“I think all the pieces are in place, they’ve just got to get the work done and I know they will. I know a lot of those guys, I know everyone actually, and I think they’re going to put forth the necessary work to get the conference title,” Kasperbauer said.

USD finished the season with a record of 14-18, 5-11 in conference play. Kasperbauer said he believes that record is deceiving and that the Coyotes are prime for a bounce back year.

“When we were struggling early on this season a lot of people can say that the success we weren’t having was because of this or that, but it wasn’t because we didn’t go to work and put forth the effort every single day. I don’t think we had a bad practice really all year,” Kasperbauer said.

He said he looks back to last year when he would enter the locker and see that improvements had been made during practice.

“I think you’re going to see the results. The work is being put in,” he said.

Next year will be Smith’s third as the Coyote’s coach. With the new arena opening, he said there’s a buzz surrounding the team.

“Transition is a difficult thing and it’ll be year three which is exciting. Certainly the new arena,” Smith said, “The momentum that it feels like we’re gaining in so many ways is real, but we’ve had to really overhaul our roster. When we first got hired, no seniors in high school committed.”

With the seniors on their way out, Smith said the program will remember all they did, but now is not the time to get sentimental.

“(I’m) forever thankful for those guys,” Smith said. “They were a pleasure to coach and, like I said, they’re always a phone call away, but we’ve got to move forward here shortly and really get to work.”