VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota basketball opens up the 2026-27 season Monday night, the first of four straight home games, in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center against Mount Marty at 5 p.m.

Quick Hitters

• South Dakota basketball opens up the 2026-27 season Monday night in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center against Mount Marty at 5 p.m.
• The SCSC will see plenty of hoops in the first month of the season with eight home games. The Yotes play their first four contests, and five of their first six games, in the SCSC. 
• The Coyotes play in the state of South Dakota nine total times in November as they face Utah Tech at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Sunday, November 22 at 1 p.m.
• South Dakota has 11 total home games in the nonconference slate. 
• South Dakota has a pair of Big Ten matchups on the nonconference slate as they'll travel to face Nebraska in Lincoln on November 18 and the Iowa Hawkeyes on December 29 in Iowa City.
• After a 16-16 record and 8-8 mark in the Summit League in 2025-26, the Coyotes were picked to finish fifth in this year's Summit League Preseason Poll.
• Sophomore Vince Buzelis was named to the Preseason All-Summit League Second Team. Buzelis is the Coyotes leading returning scorer at 7.1 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
• Buzelis found his stride near the end of his freshman season, scoring in double figures in six of the final eight games of the year. He averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game over the eight-game stretch. He recorded his first career double-double in the final game of the season vs Omaha with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
• Buzelis is one of four Coyotes returning from last year's team and is joined by Ethan Kizer, Josiah Dotzler and Jake Brack. 
• South Dakota returns just 14.1% of its scoring output and 19.6% of its rebounds from a season ago, led by Vince Buzelis' 178 points and 101 rebounds.
• South Dakota added 12 newcomers to the roster with 10 transfers and two freshmen in Marvin Richard III and Michael Nee. 
• Eric Peterson is in year five as the head coach of the South Dakota men's basketball team and holds a 59-69 overall record. 

Series History

• South Dakota is 15-0 all-time and 14-0 in Vermillion against Mount Marty. 
• It'll be the fifth straight year the Coyotes and Lancers have met on the hardwood. 

The New Guys

• South Dakota added 12 newcomers to the roster with 10 transfers and two freshmen in Marvin Richard III (Pine Ridge, S.D.) and Michael Nee (Lombard, Ill.). 
• Cade Kelderman (Iowa State), Elisha Warren (D'Youville), Melo Sanchez (Central Connecticut State), Josh Townley-Thomas (Creighton), Kajus Kublickas (Pacific), Stef Van Bussel (Duquesne), Iliam Fevry (Arizona Western), Brandon Domsch (North Platte CC), Tyler Netolicky (Kirkwood) and Jahni Summers (Sacramento State) were added through the transfer portal. 
• Marvin Richard III joins the Coyotes after a decorated prep career at Pine Ridge HS where he scored the sixth most point in South Dakota history with 2,689. He set the South Dakota High School scoring record as senior with 73 points against Lakota Tech, breaking a record that stood since 1953. He averaged over 30 points per game as a senior and was named First Team All-State. 
• Michael Nee was the Upstate Eight-East Conference Player of the Year at Glenbard East. Nee scored over 1,000 career points in his prep career and set the Glenbard East single-season 3-point record in his junior season. He was an all-conference, academic all-conference and academic all-state selection.
• Cade Kelderman joins the Yotes from Iowa State where he appeared in 45 games for the Cyclones and had 34 points, 23 assists and 15 steals. He was an Academic All-Big 12 First Team selection in 2025.
• Elisha Warren joined the Yotes from D'Youville where he started in all 26 games and was an All-East Coast Conference Team selection after averaging 16.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. 
• Melo Sanchez was a sharpshooter for Central Connecticut State a season ago with 59 3-pointers (2.0/game) at a .42.8% clip. Sanchez also spent a season (2024-25) at Arkansas where he appeared in two contests.
• Josh Townley-Thomas transferred to the Coyotes after three seasons at Creighton. Townley-Thomas faced the Coyotes a season ago in the Bluejays' season opener. While a Bluejay, Townley-Thomas was a two-time BIG EAST All-Academic Team honoree.
• Kajus Kublickas appeared in 33 games for Pacific in 2025-26, but brings a championship resume to Vermillion, as he was a member of the Florida Gators from 2023-25 and appeared in six games for the Gators squad that won the 2024-25 National Championship. Kublickas averaged 5.6 poitns and 3.0 assists for Pacific in 2025-26.
• Stef van Bussel, alongside Townley-Thomas and Tyler Netolicky, brings size to the Coyotes after the graduation of All-Summit League First Team and All-Defensive Team selection center Cam Fens from last year's squad. Van Bussel appeared in 17 games for Duquesne and totaled 23 points and 30 rebounds with an 83.3 shooting percentage. 
• Iliam Fevry joined the Yotes from NAIA Arizona Western where he appeared in 30 games with nine starts. He averaged 9.7 points and 4.4 rebounds with a 54.2 shooting percentage. In his freshman season, Fevry found his stride towards the end of the season with 10 double-digit scoring games across his last 12 games. Fevry filled the scoring column with back-to-back games where he led the team in scoring with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting against Cochise College and 29 points against College of Southern Nevada where he went 14-of-20 from the field.
• Brandon Domsch appeared in 26 games and made six starts for North Platte CC. The Broomfield, Colorado native averaged 4.1 points and 2.3 rebounds for the Knights. 
• Tyler Netolicky made 14 starts in 48 games played for Kirkwood CC over the past two seasons. Before suffering a season-ending injury, Netolicky was averaging a double-double for the Eagles with 12.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting an efficient 62.0% from the field. Netolicky and the Eagles were the NJCAA DII National Champions in his freshman season (2024-25). 
• Jahni Summers appeared in all 31 games with 30 starts for Sacramento State a year ago and averaged 9.9 points per game with 57 3-pointers at a 42.0% clip. Summers scored in double-digits in 17 games with three 20+ point games. The sharpshooter had a five-game stretch from Nov. 25 to Dec. 22 where he went 21-for-32 from the 3-point line. 

At Home Early and Often

• South Dakota opens up the season with four straight home games in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center, and eight times total in the first month of the season. 
• The Coyotes play a ninth time in the state of South Dakota with a November 22 matchup vs Utah Tech at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls S.D.
• USD has 11 total home games in the nonconference slate.

First Half Success

• Under head coach Eric Peterson, the Coyotes have been extremely successful when getting out to fast starts in games.
• The Yotes are 39-8 with Peterson at the helm when holding a lead at halftime and were 10-2 in 2025-26. 
• On the flip side, USD is 17-59 in games when they trailed at half and were 5-13 a season ago. 

Protect Our House

• The Coyotes posted a 12-5 record in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center making it two straight seasons where the Yotes won double-digit games at home.
• It's the first time USD has put together back-to-back seasons with 10+ wins at home since 2016-18 when the team went 13-1 and 13-2 in consecutive seasons.
• South Dakota is 29-7 in the SCSC over the past two seasons and 42-19 with Peterson as the head coach. 
• The Yotes averaged 84.8 points per game, with five Coyotes averaging double-digit points per game, while shooting .467 from the field and .319 from deep in the SCSC.
• The Coyotes started 10-0 in the SCSC in 2024-25, which was the best start in the Sanford Coyote Sports Center. USD's previous best start at home was during the 2016-17 season when they started 8-0. 
• Previous to last year, the last time the Yotes started 10-0 or better at home was in the 2008-09 season when they won 14 straight in the DakotaDome.