South Dakota 2018 Class: “There is No Place Like Home”
The 2018 class of South Dakota talent is one of the better groups in recent years. Kids have had options to go other places, but as Dorothy said….
“There is no place like home”.
Cole Bergan. At different points in his career Cole Bergan of Aberdeen Central had six different schools offer him scholarships at the D1 level. Lehigh, SDSU, NDSU, UND, Lamar, and Northern Colorado all at different points wanted Bergan to play for their program. How many in the end? There is no way to really know for certain but it didn’t matter, Bergan committed to Northern State last week.
Bergan joined Sanford Pentagon teammates Gus Reede and Lincoln Jorde as commits to the Wolves program. Reede is from Aberdeen Roncalli and Jorde from Sully Buttes.
Augustana also out-fought D1 programs to land players. AJ Plitzuweit of Vermillion and Trevor Hanson each had at one point had offers from D1 programs. When AJ committed to Augustana he was also wanted strongly by North Dakota State. With AJ, Hanson, and Dylan LeBrun all committed, Augustana grabbed three of the top five prospects in the state.
Did anybody go D1? That would be Aaron Fiegen of Madison. Fiegen was offered by South Dakota State this past summer and Fiegen quickly grabbed that offer. Fiegen, Hanson, and Plitzuweit all played with the Dakota Schoolers.
Diang Gatlauk also committed to the division one level at the junior college ranks heading to the North Dakota College of Science. He committed to the program just over three weeks ago and has a chance to grow and become a scholarship player in the years that follow. Diang crossing the border for college north is the only guy leaving state and he’s not going far.
The NAIA level is also grabbing top kids in the state. Trevor Olson of Sioux Valley gave Mount Marty a headliner for their future. DWU also grabbed a strong recruit when Koln Oppold committed to the program.
Who are the top players remaining unsigned? That would be Mason Larson of Langford and Dillon Barrow of Sioux Falls Lincoln. Versatile forwards Jeffrey Schuch of Dell Rapids and Connor Crane of Sturgis are other talents to watch out for.