Four Coyotes land on Preseason All-Summit
On Oct. 11 the Summit League released the basketball preseason standings along with the players included in the first and second teams. This was voted on by the league’s coaches, sports information directors and select media members.
For Coyote men’s basketball, redshirt sophomore guard A.J. Plitzuweit, senior guard Mason Archambault and junior guard Kruz Perrott-Hunt were voted to the second team.
Both Archambault and Perrott-Hunt ended last season being on the All-Summit League second team.
Archambault is starting his third season as a Coyote after transferring his sophomore year from Gillette College. He led the Coyotes with an average of 33.4 minutes, 1.2 steals and .5 blocks per game. Archambault was the second leading scorer for the Coyotes with 14.5 points per game. Archambault was the second best free throw shooter in the NCAA as he shot 93% from the line.
Perrott-Hunt is coming off his best season as a Coyote where he led the team in scoring with 15 points per game. He also beat out Archambault by one assist to be the team’s leader with 71 total. Perrott-Hunt grabbed a career high in rebounds with 4.1 per game with his previous being 2.8.
Before Plitzuweit’s injury in 2020-21 which caused him to miss the entirety of the season, he was named to the All-Summit League First-Team and the Summit League Newcomer of the Year. Plitzuweit averaged 19 points per game that season along with dishing out a team high of 3.9 assists per game.
The Summit League saw many players leave the conference. Among those transferring are former South Dakota State guard Baylor Scheierman (First Team and Player of the Year), North Dakota State guards Sam Griesel (First Team) and Tyree Eady (Defensive Team), South Dakota guard Boogie Anderson (Defensive Team), North Dakota guard Paul Bruns (Honorable Mention) transferring to Creighton, Nebraska, North Texas, Southern Louisiana and South Dakota respectively.
Those that graduated are Denver guard K.J. Hunt (Honorable Mention), Kansas City guards Evan Gilyard II (First Team) and Marvin Nesbitt Jr. (Second Team).
Leading the Summit League this preseason is Oral Roberts led by Preseason Player of the Year Max Abmas. Following the Golden Eagles are South Dakota State, South Dakota, North Dakota State, Denver, Kansas City, Western Illinois, St. Thomas, Omaha and North Dakota in that order.
On the women’s Preseason Poll, sophomore guard Grace Larkins is the only Coyote on the list.
Larkins was named the Sixth Women of the Year as she averaged 6.5 points per game, 2.7 rebounds per game and 34 steals. Larkins was the fifth leading scorer on the Coyotes squad behind seniors Chloe Lamb (Summit League Player of the Year), Hannah Sjerven (Defensive Player of the Year/Summit League First Team), Liv Kornagable (Summit League Second Team) and redshirt freshman Maddie Krull. Larkins helped the Coyote team last season reach the NCAA Sweet 16 in which they lost to the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines.
Summit League women’s basketball had a number of guards graduate and transfer as well. South Dakota guards Lamb and Korngable all graduated at the end of the 2022 season. The transfers were Western Illinois guard Danni Nichols who took her talents to West Virginia now coached by former South Dakota coach Dawn Plitzuweit. Kansas City guard Naomie Alnatas left for Oklahoma State to follow former Kansas City head coach Jacie Hoyt.
South Dakota State took the No. 1 position on the women’s side as they are led by Preseason Player of the Year Myah Selland. Following the Jackrabbits are South Dakota, Oral Roberts, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Kansas City, Western Illinois, Denver, St. Thomas and Omaha in that order.
