BROOKINGS It was a whirlwind of a week for Bryan Petersen as he was promoted to head coach of South Dakota State mens basketball on March 29.
He spent the past six seasons as an assistant at SDSU under Eric Henderson and on Friday he met with the media for the first time. He said he was hopeful that he would be the guy that was hired after Henderson left and its been a busy first week on the job.
Youre always hopeful [that this can happen], but at the same time, you never know, Petersen said. You just have to keep working and do the best you can with what you got. I thought I was doing a really good job here under the administration’s eyes and if this opportunity came up I would have a chance at it. Did I have an inkling [that I would get the job]? Maybe. But I think it was hopeful optimism and is something Ive thought about.
[This first week has] been a whirlwind. Ive had to really kind of compartmentalize and be organized with my time because you cant do everything. You just cant, especially this first week. Right now Im focused on our players and our coaching staff, and I need to put that together, and then recruit. I also want to connect with the fans and the boosters that have meant so much to our program.
SDSU director of athletics Justin Sell said the head coach position came down to Petersen and fellow Jackrabbit assistant Rob Klinkenfus as finalists. He said he wanted to have an inside hire because it allowed him to move quickly, but he likes the way Petersen is on top of everything.
We were fortunate to have two inside candidates that have done great work here. You think about these things way ahead of time. We work really hard on developing people inside this place, for these very reasons.
I wouldnt move quickly if I didnt think we had the right people. Weve done all kinds of searches here, but its really nice when you develop people in your program that can take over. Working with [Petersen] and watching him for awhile, hes so good with just high integrity, work ethic and then hes on top of everything. He has every detail covered, so from a coaching perspective, you know what he can do.
Petersen is the third head coach that Sell has had to hire for mens basketball and all three of them have the same thing in common. They held a position under current Creighton head coach Greg McDermott. Sell worked with McDermott when he was an assistant director of athletics at Northern Iowa and McDermott was the head coach at UNI. He said both Xs and Os and his personality is what McDermott has seemed to rub off onto the coaches that are now in his coaching tree.
I was always struck with [McDermotts] personality and the way he treated people. It didnt matter what level of the organization you were in, parents, athletes, donors, it was phenomenal. But his basketball knowledge and the way he put together game plans [was great]. T.J. [Otzelberger], Eric [Henderson] and [Petersen] all have different personalities, but how they approach managing the sport of basketball and their program and the command they have over it [is similar], Sell said.
Before SDSU, Petersen was the head coach at Kirkwood Community College. He spent six seasons at Kirkwood and led KCC to two NJCAA Division II national championships.
In the day and age of the transfer portal in college athletics, Petersen said the experience of having to deal with a new roster each season at Kirkwood should help when players are coming and leaving Brookings each season.
At Kirkwood we had to do a lot of spring recruiting. Now, NIL wasnt a part of it, so Im learning and its a little different for us here. I have been a part of putting together a roster every year and I do have some experience at it and it gives me comfort and confidence that we can do this [here], Petersen said.
Four Jackrabbits hit the portal this offseason as Oscar Cluff, Owen Larson, Stoney Hadnot and William Whorton all left SDSU. Petersen will have three returning starters from last season with Joe Sayler, Kalen Garry and Matthew Mors, as well as Jaden Jackson, who played a key role on the bench.
Mors, Sayler and Garry all are from South Dakota and Mors said the in-state talent on the team wanted to set the standard of players staying at SDSU and said having an assistant become the head coach helped a lot of players with their decision of staying or leaving.
With the coaching change, I would never knock anyone for going to explore [other options] or following coach [Henderson]. I know Im from South Dakota and playing for SDSU means a lot to me and thats also true for the younger guys that are from South Dakota, or even the area. We know that the relationships that you build, not only together, will last a lifetime, but also the people who you meet on campus. That could be anybody and those relationships mean a lot, Mors said.
Petersen takes over a program that has gone to the NCAA Tournament seven times over the past 14 seasons. He was on staff for two of those tournament teams and said the next step for the program is to win an NCAA Tournament game, but in order to do that they have to get better everyday.
Weve met a lot of goals here, but competing for a conference championship every year is going to be one of our goals. Having a chance to win the conference tournament will be one of our goals. The one thing I know our fan base is starving for is an NCAA Tournament win. That would be an end game goal for me, but at the same time, Im always going to be focused on the process. Day to day habits and day to day movement towards that, Petersen said.
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