RTC Conference Primers: #26 – Summit League
Posted by Brian Goodman on October 9th, 2010
Eli Linton is the RTC correspondent for The Summit League.
Predicted Order of Finish
- Oral Roberts (15-3)
- Oakland (14-4)
- IUPUI (14-4)
- South Dakota State (10-8)
- North Dakota State (9-9)
- IPFW (8-10)
- UMKC (7-11)
- Western Illinois (6-12)
- Southern Utah (4-14)
- Centenary (2-16)
All-Conference Team (key stats from last season in parentheses)
- Ceola Clark, III (G) – Western Illinois (14.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 3.2 APG)
- Alex Young (G) – IUPUI (18.3 PPG)
- Dominique Morrison (F) – Oral Roberts (15.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG)
- Michael Tveidt (F) – North Dakota State (15.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG)
- Keith Benson (C) – Oakland (17.3 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 3.3 BPG)
6th Man
- Reggie Hamilton (G) – Oakland (transfer from UMKC)
Impact Newcomer
- Jake Lliteras (G) – Oral Roberts (14.8 PPG, H.S.)
What You Need to Know
The Summit League is not a power conference, and they have struggled in the NCAA Tournament, but the top teams continue to land big-time talent and improve as they seek respect from the big boys. When it was first assembled, the conference champs would end up a #16 seed in the Big Dance, but for the third straight year, the Summit League earned a #14 seed—not exactly Final Four contention, but they certainly have the ability to wear those glass slippers when March Madness rolls around. The all-conference team I selected above might be the best mid-major talent we have seen in quite some time. Everyone on my all-conference team has one thing in common: if they go down, they go down swinging—that’s a must-have ingredient for a small school looking to compete on the big stage. I think this is the year we see the Summit League move past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and take down some giants during the regular season.
