BROOKINGS South Dakota State will finally be playing an NCAA Tournament thats close to home on Thursday as the Jackrabbits will take on Iowa State in Omaha.
In SDSUs six previous tournament appearances the Jacks played an average of 1,122.5 miles away from Brookings. On Thursday, SDSU will be playing 239 miles from Brookings and 181 miles from Sioux Falls at the CHI Health Center.
Were super excited, said SDSU junior guard Zeke Mayo. Not being far from home. I know a lot of families [are going to be there]. Its going to be super fun. Obviously just being a couple hours away from Brookings, hopefully we can get a lot of blue [in the stands].
When the Jacks won the Summit League Tournament eight days ago there was talk that Omaha was in the cards because Iowa State was projected to be a No. 2 seed by most experts. Sixth-year senior guard Matt Mims said the team was hoping that the Jacks were going to be able to play close to home.
We were all talking about the chance to play in Omaha and its certainly something that were excited about, having a lot of Jacks fans. We know [Iowa State] going to bring a lot of fans too though. The atmosphere is going to be crazy, Mims said.
Iowa States campus is a little closer as Ames is 168 miles away from the CHI Health Center and Des Moines is 134 miles away. ISU is known for having a fan base that travels well as they like to call the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, where the Big 12 Tournament is played, Hilton Coliseum South. SDSU head coach Eric Henderson got his Division I coaching start at ISU in 2006 and he said he expects there to be a lot of Cyclone fans in the building on Thursday night.
Its really exciting, but [Iowa State is close as well]. I coached for them for three years and I know how passionate their fan base is as well. You can look at Kansas City this past weekend at the Big 12 Tournament and its all cardinal and gold. Itll be a hot ticket, Henderson said.
SDSU last played in the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and the Jacks had to play Providence in Buffalo. That was the third-farthest the Jacks had played from Brookings in the Big Dance and sixth-year senior Luke Appel said it hurt not having a lot of fan support in New York.
Its really exciting. Being able to play in Omaha. When we played in Buffalo there werent a ton of fans there, but this environment will be completely different, with us being really close to Omaha and Iowa State not being that far away as well, Appel said.
Henderson also noted that playing in Buffalo was tough because not every member of the team was able to have his family there.
In particular for our fans and families, it makes it a lot more enjoyable [when its closer to Brookings], because they can make it. When we played in Buffalo a few years ago, not all of our families could make it. It makes it hard with the fast turnaround. So, just to have the opportunity for our families and fans to be able to make it, its pretty cool, Henderson said.
Despite not playing close to home in the NCAA Tournament, the Jacks do have experience of playing close to Brookings for their conference tournament. The Summit League Tournament is played at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls and the arena has turned into Frost Arena South. Appel said he hopes Thursday is a similar experience for the Jacks.
I think itll be a great environment and thats what Im most excited about. Its going to be another game like in the Denny. Thats what Im looking forward to. I feed off that energy and I think I play better in those environments, Appel said.
SDSU has seen good fan travel for its football team the past two seasons as the Jacks have played in the National Championship in Frisco, Texas. The National Championship is different as its set in that location every year, but with the Jacks playing so close to home and it being a night game, there should be a solid contingent of yellow and blue in the crowd on Thursday night.
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