Sanford Sports Academy 16U White: Season Rewind
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For many AAU teams across the country, the season has come to a close. What does that mean? It is time to look back, reflect, digest, and highlight the season for the teams from the Dakotas. Today we are looking…
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Continue ReadingFor many AAU teams across the country, the season has come to a close. What does that mean? It is time to look back, reflect, digest, and highlight the season for the teams from the Dakotas.
Today we are looking at Sanford Sports Academy 16U White. This team was led by Ben Short and he did an excellent job of getting the best out of his guys. Coach Short is also the head coach at Beresford and he is considered one of the top up-and-coming young coaches in South Dakota.
SSA 16U White was on the Prep Hoops Circuit and they had a great showing! They always represented Sanford and South Dakota in a first-class manner. Oh yeah, they have some great players as well!
This group finished the season with a 23-10 record and they went out on top. SSA 16U White won the Pentagon Summer Classic and they capped it off with a quality win over Sanford Sports Academy 16U UA Black!
As a coach & player, you want to be playing your best basketball at the end of the season, It looks like that is what happened with SSA 16U White!
Congrats on a great season, cannot wait to see you on the PH Circuit next spring!
Player Comments from Coach Short
Tagon Woelber (2025) |6’0 G| Pipestone (MN)
“Strength is his shiftiness, one of the quickest first steps I saw all summer, can get to the rim at ease. He played the pick-and-roll game at an elite level, elevating the game of his post players. He is a pass-first guard that can also be lethal when left open. Tagon really hit his stride in July, leading the team in points in several of the games in the last two tournaments. His energy and ball pressure on defense created a lot of fast break points and forced his teammates to match his intensity.“
Aiden Costain Aiden Costain 6'7" | PF Harrisburg | 2025 State SD (2025) |6’5 PF| Harrisburg
“Is a beast in the post! Aidan, a multi-sport athlete, used his football strength to his advantage. He muscled every team we faced for rebounds and second-chance opportunities. His basketball IQ is well above your average high school basketball player. Add this to his great communication on defense, he led our team in blocks and always seemed to be in the right spot at the right time for defensive of rebounds and steals. Aidan really improved his faceup game. He surprised every team with his catch and rip to the basket, finishing through contact and shooting a ton of free throws! Aidan was definitely a “glue” guy for our team and made everyone around him better!“
Nyun Dut Nyun Dut 6'4" | SG O'Gorman | 2025 State SD (2025) |6’3 G| O’Gorman
“Coming into the AAU season I would have described Nyun as a slasher, long lengthy defender. By the end of the summer, he displayed time after time that he could hit the outside shot consistently. Getting to the rim, crafty finishes, and now hitting outside shots with ease, Nyun left a lot of defenders questioning how to guard him. There were many times he took over parts of games going on 10-12 point runs all by himself. What I loved about Nyun was that he always left it all on the court defensively. I never had to question his effort, usually had the responsibility of guarding the opposing team’s best guard.”
Mahki Winter (2025) |6’4 G/F| Pipestone (MN)
“Was a do-it-all player for our team this summer. His size, length, height, and athleticism allowed him to guard opposing teams’ guards if we wanted to go to a bigger lineup or vice versa when we used him as a post to go to a smaller lineup. Mahki isn’t afraid to contest players at the rim and also did a great job running the court. He had more than a handful of fast break dunks for us this summer. Mahki is a person that always seems to have a positive attitude, seemed contagious throughout the summer, and led to everyone around him playing better!“
Nick Hanson Nick Hanson 6'8" | PF Viborg-Hurley | 2025 State SD (2025) |6’7 PF| Viborg-Hurley
“The most skilled big man on the court at all times. His ability to stretch the court allowed us to do a lot of different things offensively. Amazing hands for his size, and he’s able to catch almost all post entries. Then add his finesse finishes and shooting ability he made a lot of post defenders frustrated. For his size, he runs the court really well and got a ton of easy points throughout the summer out hustling other teams down the court. He got better at being more physical and that is something that I think he will get a lot better as he continues to grow into his frame. For most posts, it’s learning how to shoot, that’s not the case for Nick, he’s got the shooting abilities, and now he is just tapping into his low post abilities. Which is SCARY! Because he was so dominant for us this summer already!“
Benson Kieffer Benson Kieffer 5'10" | PG Rapid City Christian | 2025 State SD (2025) |5’10 G| Rapid City Christian
“Benson, was “the guy” for us this summer. His motor is next to none on both ends of the court. He made teams frustrated with his continuous ball pressure and quick hands on the defense side of the ball. Benson has one of the best pull-up jump shots I’ve seen in person at the high school level. So many times, during a game he’s going full tilt toward the rim and just stops on a dime and drills the jump shot. His most underrated skill set is his passing ability, whether that was in half-court sets or finding his teammates on the run for easy baskets. Our team this summer had several ally-oops and Benson was the one delivering most of those passes. His toughness and competitive mean streak on the court gave our team a physical edge. Which was awesome coming from the point guard position, other guys rallied behind.”
Maverick LeBrun Maverick LeBrun 6'4" | SG Dell Rapids St. Mary | 2025 State SD (2025) |6’3 G| Dell Rapids St. Mary
“Is the definition of a high basketball IQ player. As a coach, it was comforting to have a player like Mav on the court, I could count on him to respond and react in real-time and then communicate that to his teammates without me having to burn through timeouts. Almost an extension of the coach out there. Maverick has grown 3+ inches since springtime and has really improved his game around the rim. His strength offensively is his midrange game. He’s got counter moves for his counter moves and does a great job of being patient, allowing him to shoot a lot of free throws because of that. Defensively he used his length to his advantage, contesting shots, taking away passing lanes, and he rebounds the ball really well at the guard position.”
Kaden DeJager (2025) |6’2 G| Western Christian (IA)
“Showed a love for the game, every time he played. No one ever had to question his effort as he was always flying around defensively, diving for loose balls, communicating with his teammates. Offensively he did a great job getting to the rim, finishing at the rim with finesse as he finished over tall defenders with his go-to floater.”
Marshall Smythe Marshall Smythe 6'2" | PG Tea Area | 2025 State SD |6’0 G| Tea
“His AAU season ended early this spring, as he tore his labrum in just the second tournament of the summer. Before his injury Marshall had several breakout games for us, shooting the ball really well behind the arc and playing exceptional defense. What impressed me the most about Marshall was his off-the-ball defense, jumping passes, and initiating fast break opportunities. A high-character kid, that is in the rehabilitation process with his shoulder. I can’t wait to see what he does for the Tea Titans this winter when he gets back to 100%!“
Q&A with Coach Ben Short
PHD: How would you sum up the season for your squad?
“GROWTH. This team grew not only as basketball players but as high-character young men. The time commitment, shuffling school ball, practices, and summer sports, elite camps, they played their tails off every time we got together. They showed growth in confidence, in both themselves and as a team. It showed by winning 10 of our last 13 games of the summer. They showed growth in how they handled adversity. Whether individually or as team guys battled through injuries, different rotations, not getting calls, shots not falling, all 9 guys were always there for one another on and off the court. This team is filled with college talent and was one to watch out for towards the end of the summer and one that will be really scary next spring/summer as all of the guys are poised to have a big season with their high school teams this winter. College coaches keep an eye on these guys!!“
PHD: What are some of the highlights from the season?
“We had many individual highlights, too many to really write down in one sitting. This team was very athletic which resulted in fast break dunks, alley-oops, chase down blocks, buzzer beaters, and huge upsets against teams that on paper were supposed to beat us.”
PHD: How did you and your team overcome adversity?
“We battled several injuries this summer, both early on in the spring as well as towards the end. This didn’t allow us to play with our full roster in all but for one of the tournaments. This left us short-handed a couple of times but made for learning and growth opportunities that will benefit the guys during their high school season as they will more than likely have to deal with injuries and shuffled lineups there as well.“
PHD: Who were a couple of your top shooters?
“ Benson Kieffer Benson Kieffer 5'10" | PG Rapid City Christian | 2025 State SD – consistency, best in the state off the dribble.”
“Tagon Woelber, Maverick LeBrun Maverick LeBrun 6'4" | SG Dell Rapids St. Mary | 2025 State SD – Mid-range game and ability to shoot off balance and at difficult angles makes them both so difficult to guard.”
PHD: Who were some of your hardest workers?
“ Benson Kieffer Benson Kieffer 5'10" | PG Rapid City Christian | 2025 State SD and Aiden Costain Aiden Costain 6'7" | PF Harrisburg | 2025 State SD – I call them high motor players. They never stop, they would play themselves to exhaustion no matter the score. Never say never mentality.“
PHD: Who was your best defensive player and why?
“ Aiden Costain Aiden Costain 6'7" | PF Harrisburg | 2025 State SD – His body frame, strength, and quickness for his size allows him to match up with all post players. Moves his feet well, can jump, contest a lot of shots, and leads the team in blocked shots.”
“ Nyun Dut Nyun Dut 6'4" | SG O'Gorman | 2025 State SD – used his length and athleticism all summer to frustrate guards. His ball pressure and his ability to stay in front of ball handlers forced many turnovers, led to a lot of deflections, as well as points for his teammates as his pressure led to others capitalizing on the other team’s mistakes and getting easy fast break baskets.”
PHD: Which tourney was the most fun?
“Pentagon Summer Slam Tournament- That’s when things seemed to “click” for all of the guys. Our game as a whole was raised to another level. They started having higher expectations for themselves and stopped caring who we were playing against. They started playing for one another, looking to get their teammates the better look on offense and buying into outworking the other team on defense. Winning the Summer Slam Tournament, doing well at the Hard Work Regional Finals, and Winning the Summer Classic to end the AAU season. It was a very amazing experience to be a part of. The guys didn’t want the summer AAU season to end, and quite honestly neither did I. As a whole, we felt like we could take on anyone!“