SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A trio of South Dakota men's basketball players earned All-Summit League honors, as announced by the league office Tuesday. Chase Forte headlined the group being named the Defensive Player of the Year and to the All-Summit League First Team.
 
Forte was also named to the All-Newcomer and All-Defensive teams. Dre Bullock and Isaac Bruns each earned a spot as an All-Summit League Honorable Mention.
 
Forte led the Coyotes and ranked inside the top-12 individually in the conference in shooting percentage, points, rebounds, assists and steals per game. Forte averaged the fourth most points during Summit League play at 19.4 points per game and was fifth with a .486 shooting percentage. He dished out 2.9 assists per game, which ranked No. 8 in the conference and grabbed 5.3 rebounds per game. Forte scored in double-figures in all 16 league games and ended the year on a tear, averaging 26.8 points per game over the last four contests, including a career-high 31 points in the regular season finale win over North Dakota. Forte led the league in free throw attempts (130) and was second in free throw makes (88).
 
Forte, who spearheaded the Coyote full court press all year, was the Summit League leader with 32 steals in conference play and had 59 total on the season. In 10 of the 16 Summit League contests, Forte had multiple steals and tallied four takeaways twice against Omaha and Kansas City. Forte earned two Kwik Star Summit League Peak Performer of the Week honors this season. Forte is the first Coyote to earn Summit League Defensive Player of the Year honors and first Yote to earn first team honors since 2020-21 (Stanley Umude and A.J. Plitzuweit).
 
Bruns started in 14 of 16 conference games for the Yotes and averaged 16.3 points per game to rank No. 10 in the league. Bruns shot it at an efficient clip with the 10th best shooting percentage at .459. Bruns scored in double-figures in 14 conference games and eclipsed 20 points six times. Bruns was third on the team and No. 22 in the conference in rebounds per game at 4.0 and ranked No. 3 with 20 steals. He had seven games with multiple steals, including a four-game stretch where he tallied 10 total. Bruns matched a career-high with 23 points to help the Yotes knock off previously unbeaten in league play Omaha on 9-of-14 shooting.
 
After playing through the first half of the conference season with a broken thumb, Bullock emerged as one of the top scoring threats in the conference at the midway points of the league slate. He ended the conference season at 13.3 points per game, ranking No. 13 in the conference. Bullock erupted for a career-high 31 points to help USD knock off Omaha on 10-of-17 shooting with six 3-pointers. He also had six rebounds and two steals against the Mavericks. After his career performance against UNO, Bullock averaged 18.3 points per game across the last nine contests with four 20+ points games. Bullock reached double-digit scoring in 11 Summit League games. He ranked No. 6 in the conference with 19 steals and had a career-high six in a win over Kansas City to go with 26 points. Following his 31-point game against UNO, Bullock earned his first Peak Performer of the Week honors.
 
South Dakota enters the Summit League Tournament as the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 seed North Dakota State Friday night in the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls at 6:00 p.m.
 
2024-25 Summit League Men's Basketball Awards
First Team
Miles Barnstable, St. Thomas (Jr., G)
Oscar Cluff, South Dakota State (Sr., C)
Chase Forte, South Dakota (Sr., G)
Jacksen Moni, North Dakota State (Sr., F)
Marquel Sutton, Omaha (Sr., F)^
JJ White, Omaha (Sr., G)
 
Second Team
Jamar Brown, Kansas City (Sr., G)*
Drake Dobbs, St. Thomas (Sr., G)
Treysen Eaglestaff, North Dakota (Jr., G)
Issac McBride, Oral Roberts (Gr., G)***
Jacari White, North Dakota State (Sr., G)
 
Honorable Mention
Isaac Bruns, South Dakota (So., G)
Dre Bullock, South Dakota (Sr., G)
Kalen Garry, South Dakota State (So., G)
Masen Miller, North Dakota State (Sr., G)
Mier Panoam, North Dakota (So., G)
 
^Player of the year automatically earns a spot on the first team
*previous all-league selections noted above
 
All-Defensive Team
Oscar Cluff, South Dakota State (Sr., C)
Drake Dobbs, St. Thomas (Sr., G)
Chase Forte, South Dakota (Sr., G)
Eli King, North Dakota (Jr., G)
Ja'Sean Glover, Omaha (Jr., G)
 
All-Newcomer Team
Sebastian Akins, Denver (Fr., G)
Miles Barnstable, St. Thomas (Jr., G)
Oscar Cluff, South Dakota State (Sr., C)
Chase Forte, South Dakota (Sr., G)
Jacksen Moni, North Dakota State (Sr., F)
 
Player of the Year
Marquel Sutton, Omaha
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Chase Forte, South Dakota
 
Sixth Man of the Year
Tajavis Miller, North Dakota State
 
Freshman of the Year
Sebastian Akins, Denver
 
Newcomer of the Year
Oscar Cluff, South Dakota State
 
Coach of the Year
Chris Crutchfield, Omaha