Coyotes Basketball Showing Lots Of Fight

No Quit Attitude

Craig Smith had to fight an uphill battle almost immediately after getting hired to take over the South Dakota men's basketball program. Numerous players quit, didn't qualify academically or graduated. 

Losing a leader like center Trevor Gruis to graduation was going to be a blow. The team hoped Washington State transfer James Hunter could replace some of Gruis' production, but he's mostly been silent all year and only had three points on 1-5 shooting in the 87-79 loss to Youngstown State.

But despite getting nearly no production from their bigs, the team hasn't backed down.

47 of the team's 79 points came from player's 6'3" or shorter: Seniors Tyler Larson and Brandon Bos and junior Casey Kasperbauer. The team is so undersized that at times you'll see the 6'3" Larson switch from point guard to power forward. Coach Smith has appluaded Larson's "throwback" style of doing whatever is asked.

"Some guys want to be pegged as a two or a three. (Tyler) doesn't care," Smith says. "He just wants to be on the floor and that's what I love about him.

The team has also gone into three overtimes this year. Yes, they've lost all three of them, but they've showed enough heart and fight to get to all three of them. 

Another storyline to follow early on has been the progression of Kasperbauer. 

"I'm feeling really comfortable this year and really have enjoyed playing for coach Smith," Kasperbauer said. 

Kasperbauer lead all Summit League freshman in scoring two years ago with 8.8 points per game but last year he wasn't utilized as heavily in Joey James' rotation, seeing his minutes per game drop from 27.6 to 18.2, thus seeing his scoring also drop by two points per game. But his minutes are back up to 29 this year and it's been paying off.

"Casey has been playing really well lately and I tell him to shoot it every time he can," Smith said. 

Larson also said he's seen a difference in Kasperbauer.

"He's been that guy that has hit big shots and it's been nice to see him involved again because he can get points in a hurry," Larson said. 

Kasperbauer scored 18 in the loss to Youngstown State. 

It's a long season, but without a doubt, two storylines to follow will continue to be the team playing gritty while being undersized and watching the progression of Kasperbauer.