Minnesota talent set for the Summit League tournament

The Summit League may have a Dakota-centric footprint, but Minnesota basketball players have their fingerprints all over the regional Division 1 circuit. With more than two dozen Minnesota graduates spread across six of the league's nine teams, it is the mid-major destination of choice for many of the state's top college prospects. That will be obvious this weekend as the Summit League Championship tournament takes place in Sioux Falls.

South Dakota State (16-0/24-5), with five Minnesota players, has set the gold standard in the league, and the Jackrabbits are heavy favorites once again. North Dakota State (13-3/20-9), which also has five former Prep Girls Hoops prospects, has also had an outstanding season. The Bison earned the #2 seed. The balance across the rest of the circuit is better than most mid-major conferences and that makes it especially entertaining.

“All of the teams in this league are pretty similar,” said Stillwater product Amber Scalia, who has had a breakout sophomore season on behalf of the University of St. Thomas. “Obviously SDSU and NDSU are at the top of the conference. I mean, they're good. SDSU hasn't lost a conference game in two years, which is incredible. But one of the exciting parts of being in this league is you have chance of beating everybody.”

Scalia was one of several Minnesotans who were among the players singled out for postseason honors this week. Paige Meyer of South Dakota State (Albany) and Kacie Borowicz of North Dakota (Roseau) were both named 1st-team All-Conference. The 2nd team included Heaven Hamling of NDSU (Grand Rapids) and Jade Hill of St. Thomas (Minneapolis South). Scalia earned All-Conference honorable mention as did Sleepy Eye St. Mary's product Madison Mathiowetz of South Dakota State.

Tori Nelson of South Dakota State made the All-Defensive squad. She is a 2019 graduate of what was then known as Henry Sibley High School (now Two Rivers) in Mendota Heights. The All-Newcomer team includes Hopkins product Alayna Contreras of Kansas City and the All-Freshman squad is led by Wayzata graduate Abby Krzewinski of North Dakota State. Full disclosure: I get a Summit League ballot and voted for every one of those kids!

The weekend promises to be interesting. Oral Roberts University of Tulsa (11-5/20-9) earned the #3 seed while South Dakota (9-7/20-11) is #4. They'll face #5 St. Thomas in the quarterfinals. After a flying start in conference play, the Tommies went through a February skid before closing their regular season last Saturday with a win at Denver. UST is 7-9 in the conference and 15-15 overall. The Tommies and Coyotes will meet Sunday at 12:30 p.m.

To Amber's point, last year's tournament defied expectations as underdogs Kansas City and Omaha both reached the semifinals. The same two teams open the tournament Friday as the Roos (3-13/12-19) earned the 8th seed and the Mavericks (3-13/12-19) are seeded 9th. North Dakota (5-11/9-20) holds the 6th seed.

Click here for the Summit League bracket.

Games can be streamed on Midco Sports Plus.

MINNESOTANS IN THE SUMMIT LEAGUE

South Dakota State

Paige Meyer – 5'6 junior guard. Albany (2021 #9)

Tori Nelson – 6'1 senior forward , Henry Sibley (2019 #10)

Madison Mathiowetz – 5'10 sophomore guard, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's (2022 #12)

Ellie Colbeck – 5'10 sophomore guard, Fergus Falls (2022 #9)

Kallie Theisen – 6'1 senior forward, Wayzata (2019 #1) (injured)

North Dakota State

Heaven Hamling – 5'8 senior guard, Grand Rapids (2018 #8)

Abby Schulte – 5'10 senior guard, Maple Grove (2020 #9)

Abby Krzewinski – 5'11 freshman forward, Wayzata (2023 #11)

Taryn Hamling – 5'9 freshman guard, Grand Rapids (2023 #13)

Avery Koenen – 6'2 freshman forward, Montevideo (2023 #16)

South Dakota

Natalie Mazurek – 6'2 sophomore forward, Eden Prairie (2020 #16)

Cassidy Carson – 6'1 sophomore guard, Eastview (2021 #8)

Sophie Haydon – 6'1 junior forward, Minnetonka (2021 #37)

St. Thomas

Jordan Glynn – 5'9 5th year guard, Grand Meadow (2019 #68)

Angie Hammond – 6'0 5th year forward, Hopkins (2018 #31)

Jade Hill – 5'7 junior guard, Minneapolis South (2021 #10)

Jordyn Lamker – 6'0 junior forward, Maple Grove (2021 #15)

Jo Langbehn – 6'2 junior forward, Elk River (2021 #28)

Amber Scalia – 5'9 sophomore guard, Stillwater (2022 #17)

Zoey Washington – 5'8 freshman guard, St. Croix Lutheran (2023 #20)

Ellie Dague – 5'10 sophomore guard, Henning (2021 #14) (injured)

North Dakota

Kacie Borowicz – 5'9 senior guard, Roseau (2019 #5)

Mikayla Aumer – 5'9 sophomore guard, Cambridge-Isanti (2022 #19)

Destinee Oberg – 6'3 senior center, Bloomington Kennedy (2019 #3)

Kansas City

Tamia Ugass – 6'3 junior forward, Roseville (2021 #11)

Alayna Contreras – 5'6 sophomore guard, Hopkins (2022 #23)

FUTURE PLAYERS COMMITTED

Class of 2024

#6 – forward, Albany (St. Thomas)

#7 – forward, Maple Grove (NDSU)

#10 – guard, St. Croix Lutheran (St. Thomas)

#11 – guard, Centennial (NDSU)

#18 – guard, Maple Grove (South Dakota)

#20 – guard, Eastview (St. Thomas)

Class of 2025

#6 – guard, Eden Prairie (South Dakota)

#10 – guard, Wayzata (North Dakota State)

#12 – forward, Centennial (St. Thomas)

FOLLOW ALONG

I'll be courtside for the next four days and will provide periodic updates via Twitter. Saturday we'll preview the South Dakota vs St. Thomas game and we'll share the story of Tommies 5th year senior Jordyn Glynn, whose college career concludes this weekend.

Follow along on Twitter via @gmachoops