Coyote Chatter

Basketball Recruits, Other Updates

Tom Berg USD Sports Information Coordinator

Both the USD women’s and men’s basketball teams signed impressive recruiting classes in November. Here is an update on honors/accomplishments earned by these future Coyotes:

Women’s Basketball

-- Stacia Robertson (Grand Island, Neb.) was named to the Lincoln Journal-Star’s Super State First Team recently. Robertson had an outstanding senior year at Grand Island, averaging 19.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. She was also named to the Class A First Team by the Journal Star. In addition, Robertson was named the honorary captain of the Grand Island Independent’s All-Heartland Super Squad for the second straight year. Robertson finished her career with 1,143 points and 615 rebounds. Robertson was also named to the All-Nebraska Second Team.

--Kate Edwards (Crete, Neb.) also recently concluded an outstanding prep career. She was named to the Journal Star Super State third team after averaging 14.5 points and 8.6 points for Crete this season. Edwards was also named to the Class B First Team and to the All-Nebraska Second Team.

--Carsey Barden , a senior at Sturgis (S.D.) High School, was named to the Argus Leader First Five team. Barden averaged 19.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 4.1 steals per game for Sturgis in 2009-10. She scored 41 points in a game against Mitchell earlier this year and also had a remarkable 34 straight points in a game.

Men’s Basketball

-- Trevor Gruis (Ellsworth, Minn.) was named to the Class 1A All-Tournament team have helping Ellsworth to a third-place finish in Minnesota’s Class 1A last weekend. The Panthers finished 27-6 and beat Rushford-Peterson, 70-62 to take home third. In three games at the state tournament, Gruis averaged 15 points and 15.1 rebounds and recorded double-doubles in all three games. Gruis is also a finalist for Mr. Basketball for the state of Minnesota.

-- Steve Tecker (Maple, Wis.) helped lead his team, Maple Northwestern High School, to a second-place finish in Wisconsin’s Division II. Tecker was also named to the Division II All-Tournament team. Tecker scored a combined 41 points in the state semifinal and championship game for Maple Northwestern.

--USD men’s basketball recruit Jared Bartling helped lead Sioux Falls Roosevelt to a fifth-place finish in South Dakota’s Class AA. Roosevelt lost its first game but came back to win its next two games over Sioux Falls Lincoln and Brandon Valley to take fifth.

Other USD Notes:

--Former USD men’s basketball player Loren DeKrufy was recently inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame. DeKruyf played four years (1990-94) for the Coyotes and Coach Dave Boots, including on the back-to-back Elite 8 teams in 1992-93 and 1993-94. DeKruyf came to USD from Boyden-Hull (Iowa), where he is the all-time leading scorer in school history (1,605 points). DeKruyf finished with 1,039 points and 390 rebounds in USD four-year USD career. DeKruyf is now a school counselor in the Urbandale (Iowa) School District.

--Former USD women’s basketball assistant coach Becky (Flynn) Jensen is part of the charter class of the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame, which was inducted on Saturday. Jensen works as an athletic academic adviser at USD.

--Former USD football player and assistant coach Jarod Dodson has been named the defensive backs coach at Old Dominion, the school announced Friday. Dodson spent 2009 as an assistant at Buffalo.

Media updates

--New USD women’s soccer coach Mandy Green was featured in an article by Jeremy Hoeck in the Yankton Press and Dakotan. Check it out at the link: http://yankton.net/articles/2010/03/31/sports/doc4bb2d91226ddd322235715.txt

--Sioux City Journal writer Barry Poe did a feature story on Noah Shepard, who is aiming for a shot in the NFL. The link is at http://siouxcityjournal.com/sports/football/college/article_8d0ffa25-73ec-50a9-b9c4-4ba030f2cc74.html

About Coyote Chatter
Coyote Chatter is the sports information blog put together by USD sports information coordinator Tom Berg. This will be updated periodically, and also includes the Where Are They Now? Feature. If you have any submissions for updates on former athletes, coaches, etc., for this feature, please email tom.berg@usd.edu. We will also provide short tidbits on other former Coyotes.

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