October 29, 2025

This Week's Preview
MADISON, S.D. (Oct. 29, 2025)—The Dakota State University Trojan men's basketball team (12-17 overall record in 2024-25) makes their season debut under first-year head coach Kevin Williamson Thursday evening at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Trojans welcome Oak Hills (Minn.) (0-1 overall record) with a 6 p.m. tip-off (2007 Junior Prospects Game).  It will be the second straight year that DSU plays Oak Hills in the season opener.

Dakota State is playing their first road contest of the season Saturday evening as they travel to NCAA Division III Wisconsin-River Falls.  The game tips off at 6 p.m. at Don Page Arena (1810 Falls Road) in River Falls, Wis.

The Trojans return home Tuesday evening as they host Trinity Bible (N.D.) (1-0 overall record) in a non-conference contest (2006 Senior Prospects Game).  The game starts at 6 p.m. at DSU Fieldhouse.

Dakota State is scheduled to play an exhibition contest at NCAA Division I South Dakota State next Thursday at 7 p.m.  The exhibition will be held at First Bank & Trust Arena (1165 Jackrabbit Ave.) in Brookings, S.D.

Up Next: Dakota State returns to regular season action on Tuesday, Nov. 11 as they make their annual trip to the Sanford Sports Complex at the Pentagon, taking on (RV) Dordt (Iowa) at 7:30 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D.  The Trojans then kick off their 22-game Frontier Conference schedule at their traveling partner Bellevue (Neb.) on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. in Bellevue, Neb.

2024-25 Season in Review
Dakota State (S.D.) finished their 2024-25 season with an overall record of 12-17 and ended their North Star Athletic Association era with a 4-11 conference record.  The Trojans advanced to the NSAA semifinals round for the second consecutive year after defeating Mayville State (N.D.) 86-75 in the opening round.  DSU fell short to Jamestown (N.D.) in the semifinals round by the score of 76-69.

One of the highlights of the 2024-25 season included Dakota State's 78-76 road exhibition game victory at NCAA Division II Nebraska-Kearney.  It was the Trojans' first exhibition victory in nearly ten years, with the previous exhibition victory at NCAA Division II Sioux Falls (S.D.) in 2014.
 
After being named to North Star Athletic Association Freshman of the Year in 2023-24, Brayden Pankonen was selected to the NSAA Men's Basketball All-Conference Honorable Mention last season.  The Trojans also produced the NSAA Freshman of the Year for the second straight year (Lane Tietz in 2024-25).   

Trojans prepare for expanded Frontier Conference, pick to finish ninth
Dakota State prepares for the new-look and expanded Frontier Conference, with 12 full-time institutions this season.  The Trojans collected 50 points in the coaches' preseason poll, finishing ninth.

Montana Tech was the coaches' pick to win the Frontier Conference Men's Basketball title, where they had won the previous four conference titles.  The Orediggers picked up 11 first place votes and 121 points in the preseason poll.

Carroll (Mont.) and Montana Western were tied for second in the preseason poll with 89 points each.  The Bulldogs earned the final first place vote in the poll.  Providence (Mont.) was fourth with 81 points, Dickinson State (N.D.) fifth with 75 points, Rocky Mountain (Mont.) sixth with 73 points, Bellevue (Neb.) seventh with 71 points and Mayville State (N.D.) eighth with 53 points.

MSU-Northern was 10^th with 39 points, Valley City State (N.D.) 11^th with 34 points, and Bismarck State (N.D.) 12^th with 17 points.

Each member will play a total of 22 contests – 11 home games and 11 road games – during the Frontier Conference schedule.  The top eight teams in the conference standings will play in the postseason tournament at Civic Center in Butte, Mont., hosted by Montana Tech from Feb. 27 through March 2.

2025-26 Trojan Men's Basketball Schedule overview
Dakota State plays a total of 14 home basketball games at DSU Fieldhouse, including Thursday and Tuesday evenings.  The Trojans enter their new conference era in the expanded Frontier Conference with 12 teams.

DSU plays four non-conference games to kick off the 2025-26 season, as well as an exhibition game at NCAA Division I South Dakota State.  The Trojans also face Dordt (Iowa) in the annual contest held at the Sanford Sports Complex at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Dakota State begins their 22-game Frontier Conference schedule on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Bellevue (Neb.) and opens their conference home contests on Nov. 21 versus Providence (Mont.) and MSU-Northern on Nov. 22.

The Trojans continue their season-high five-game home stand versus rival Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) in the annual Battle of the Blues on Dec. 2.  DSU then plays their final four Frontier Conference contests of the 2025 year versus Mayville State (N.D.) on Dec. 5 and Valley City State (N.D.) on Dec. 6, before traveling to MSU-Northern on Dec. 12 and Providence on Dec. 13.

Dakota State will play two more exhibition games to conclude their 2025 calendar year at NCAA Division I South Dakota on Dec. 17 and North Dakota on Dec. 28.

The Trojans play the remaining 15 contests in the Frontier Conference, continuing their road action at Carroll (Mont.) and Rocky Mountain (Mont.) to kick off the 2026 calendar year on Jan. 2-3.  DSU concludes their road trip at Bismarck State (N.D.) on Jan. 9 and Dickinson State (N.D.) on Jan. 10.

DSU returns home for their three-game home stand on Jan. 16 versus Montana Tech, Montana Western on Jan. 17, and Bellevue on Jan. 23.

The Trojans alternate their away and home contests for the remaining conference games, traveling to Valley City State on Jan. 31 and Mayville State on Jan. 31 before returning home versus Rocky Mountain on Feb. 6 and Carroll on Feb. 7.  DSU plays their final road regular season contests at Montana Western on Feb. 13 and Montana Tech on Feb. 14.

Dakota State hosts Dickinson State on Feb. 20 and Bismarck State on Feb. 21 to conclude the regular season schedule at DSU Fieldhouse. 

The Frontier Conference postseason tournament takes place at Civic Center in Butte, Mont., hosted by Montana Tech.

Stay tuned to dsuathletics.com for future updates on schedule changes.

2025-26 DSU Men's Basketball Team Overview
Kevin Williamson enters his first season as the Dakota State Trojan men's basketball head coach.  He is assisted by first-year assistant coach Taymon Klinkefus, Matthew Vargas, graduate assistant Tampa Scott IV, and student assistants Elijah Allen and Luke Vargas.

Graduate student Taine Mitchell, juniors Aiden Jensen and Brayden Pankonen, sophomores Tyler Beckwith, Lukas Morgan, and Nolan Segner return from last year's squad.

Newcomers to the Trojan men's basketball varsity team include junior Malik Khouzam and Nathan Ojukwu, sophomore Desman Botts, and freshmen D'Marius Shumaker, Kaleel Sutton-White, Keaton Ressler, Ryan Beckwith, Toby Princewill, and Jonathan Campbell.

The DSU men's basketball developmental roster includes Deacon Botts, Campbell, Askel Ehlers, Ryan Heinert, Jayden Johnson, Hayden Jones, Noah Kippley, Austin McCraven, Princewill, and Carson Vavruska.  They will begin their regular-season play on Monday at home versus Northwestern (Iowa) at DSU Fieldhouse.

2025-26 DSU Trojan Men's Basketball Returning Team Leaders

• Points/Points Per Game: Brayden Pankonen – 304 points (10.5 points per game)
• Field Goal Percentage: Aiden Jensen – 52.9 percent (92-of-174 field goals)
• 3-point Field Goal Percentage: Brayden Pankonen – 37.5 percent (69-of-184 3-point field goals)
• Free-Throw Percentage: Brayden Pankonen – 84.3 percent (43-of-51 free-throws)
• Rebounds: Taine Mitchell – 169 rebounds (5.8 rebounds per game)
• Assists/Assists Per Game: Taine Mitchell – 76 assists/2.6 assists per game
• Steals/Steals Per Game: Brayden Pankonen – 33 steals/1.1 steals per game
• Blocked Shots: Aiden Jensen – 18 blocked shots (0.6 blocks per game)