Freshman Alex Arians thriving as South Dakota State's fifth wheel

South Dakota State is the top team in the Summit League because their starting lineup contains four of the best players in the conference. Senior big man Mike Daum is the star, averaging 25 points per game and rocketing up the NCAA’s all-time scoring list.

Three-point snipers David Jenkins and Skyler Flatten are ranked among the best shooters in the country, and senior point guard Tevin King complements them with his unselfishness and toughness.

That leaves one spot in the starting lineup, though, and as Summit League play has kicked into high gear, freshman Alex Arians has made that role his own.

A 6-foot-4 swingman from Madison, Wis., Arians started eight games in non-conference play, then moved back to the bench when Summit League action began. But that lasted just two games, and Arians threw himself a welcome-back party in the Jacks’ 79-61 win over South Dakota on Jan. 6, totaling 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists on a day where he made 8-of-10 shots and 3-of-4 3-pointers.

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He’s been a fixture in the starting lineup ever since, and as the Jacks tighten their grip on first place, Arians continues to make strides as a weapon SDSU can lean on when opponents focus their attention on the "big four."

In SDSU’s 11 conference games, Arians averages 8.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. That includes a .638 shooting percentage (tops in the league) and a 9-for-19 success rate from behind the arc.

Arians redshirted last season, as did all of the members of coach T.J. Otzelberger’s first high school recruiting class. But Arians was the one the Jacks came closest to activating, due to his versatility and maturity. Ultimately they chose to give him a year to get bigger, and it proved to be a wise decision.

“I can’t say enough great things about Al,” said Daum, who’s closing in on his third straight Summit League scoring title. “It just goes to show how hard he’s worked – on and off the court. Time in the weight room, the time he’s put in outside of practice – things like that add up, and it’s starting to come to life for Alex. He’s really taken his opportunity and run with it.”

Arians was advertised as a guard when he committed to SDSU out of Edgewood High School, and he plays some guard for the Jacks. But he’s essentially the four, which means he’s often guarding teams’ power forwards and faced with defenders on the other end who can cause him problems.

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But Arians, whose older brother, Austin, played at Wake Forest, has adapted admirably.

“He’s got an extremely high basketball IQ and feel for the game,” said Otzelberger, whose 20-6 team visits Omaha on Thursday and North Dakota State on Saturday. “I never would’ve thought that as a redshirt freshman we’d be playing him 35 minutes a game at the four spot, but he’s such a competitor, such a great passer. Every night out he’s guarding a guy who’s four or five inches taller than him. As the season has progressed into league play he’s been invaluable to us. The more experience he gets, the better he gets.”

Would it be coming as easily to Arians if he didn’t have four terrific players alongside him? Perhaps not. Daum draws more attention than any player in the country, and Jenkins and Flatten are so deadly from outside that they space the floor against even the longest and quickest of defenses.

But it’s a credit to Arians that he’s found his niche. He knows how to play with a quartet of players with more experience than him. He knows it’s OK to shoot, knows when to attack, but understands when and how to get the ball to the scorers. Arians ranks eighth in the league in assists during conference play, and he’s shown himself to be a competent and at times sneakily proficient defender.

“Each and every game I’m getting more confidence,” Arians said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to play with three great senior leaders. Obviously part of the reason I’m getting such good looks is the defense is keying on those guys.”