BROOKINGS — The South Dakota State men are heading to Omaha and will be going up against a familiar face in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Jackrabbits drew the No. 15 seed in the east region on Sunday and will be going up against former SDSU head coach T.J. Otzelberger and the Iowa State Cyclones on Thursday at 6:35 p.m.

Otzelberger became the SDSU head coach in spring 2016 and left for UNLV after three seasons. Current Jackrabbit head coach Eric Henderson was an assistant under Otzelberger for all three seasons and got the head coaching job when Otzeleberger left.

“Knowing where [Iowa State] was at, knowing where we were at, [playing them] was certainly in play,” Henderson said. “It was a little surprising when you actually see it up there [on the screen], but at the end of the day, this is about opportunities to keep playing. I have a lot of respect for T.J. There’s not a better coach in the country right now than him, in my opinion. It’s just been unbelievable the job he’s done there. But our guys are excited. This is an opportunity to keep playing and play against one of the best teams in the country and that’s what this is all about. Seeing what can happen.”

This will be the first time that Henderson and Otzelberger will go up against each other. The two not only manned the SDSU sidelines together, but both got their Division I coaching starts at Iowa State under now Creighton head coach Greg McDermott in 2006. Henderson said it’s going to be fun going up against his old boss, but it’s still a game in the NCAA Tournament. 

“I don’t know if anybody has an advantage, to be frank with you,” Henderson said. “I think we’re both familiar with each other and we’re both very comfortable with what our teams do and what our strengths are. … We’ll probably exchange texts here the first couple days and then leave it at that. 

“Once we run into each other down there, we’ll probably tackle each other. It’s fun. Obviously the opportunities that he’s helped provide me in this profession and how he’s honestly changed my life. Really at the end of the day, I’m really thankful for him and appreciate all he’s done for me. But that doesn't mean I’m not going to try to beat him.”

Iowa State holds a record of 27-7 overall and went 13-5 in the Big 12. The Cyclones won the Big 12 Tournament on Saturday after beating No. 1 ranked Houston 69-41 in the championship game. Sixth-year senior Matt Mims, who is from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said he always pays attention to what the Cyclones are doing and knows it’s going to be a tough matchup.

“Just being from Iowa, I watch the Iowa schools quite a bit. I watched [ISU] quite a bit. I know they play defense extremely hard. They have a lot of good players,” Mims said.

The Cyclones have the No. 1 adjusted defensive rating in the country. ISU gives up 87.1 points per 100 possessions and are second in the country in turnovers forced per game as the Cyclones force their opponent to turn the ball over 17.5 times per game.

Henderson said taking care of the ball will be SDSU’s main priority come Thursday.

“Defensively, they’re as good as anybody in the country. We have to take care of the basketball otherwise we’ll be in big trouble,” Henderson said.

It will be a tough task for the Jacks on Thursday, but SDSU players and coaches feel like they have a lot of momentum as they have won eight-straight games. SDSU’s leading scorer Zeke Mayo said the Jacks’ aren’t just going to Omaha to have fun.

“That’s been the mindset all week after [the championship] game. We completed the three steps that we needed to to get on this stage and we feel like we’re more than capable of going into the tournament and getting one, two or maybe more wins. The coaches are going to prepare us well enough to go into this game with a lot of confidence and we’re going to take that,” Mayo said.

This will be the SDSU men’s seventh trip to the Big Dance. The Jacks are 0-6 in the NCAA Tournament and Mims said this group of Jackrabbits want to be the ones to finally get the Jackrabbits a win on the highest stage of college basketball.

“Talking to [Henderson] before the season, I told him, ‘I want to make history at South Dakota State.’ We’ve never [won in the tournament] and that’s something I really want to do. I’m excited for the challenge and it’s my last year, so I want to make my mark,” Mims said.

This will be the closest to home SDSU will have ever played in the NCAA Tournament. Omaha is driveable from Brookings or Sioux Falls and Henderson said it will be special for everyone on the team to have all of their family in the crowd and have a big contingent of Jackrabbit fans.

“It’s really exciting, but it’s the same for [Iowa State] too. I coached there for three years and I know how passionate their fanbase is as well. … In particular for our fans and our families, it makes it a lot more enjoyable because they can make it. When we played in Buffalo a couple years ago, not all of our families could make it. It makes it hard when it’s that fast of a turnaround. So, just to have that opportunity to have our family and fans make it is pretty cool,” Henderson said.

SDSU has six players that are from either Iowa or Nebraska. Two starters are from Nebraska in senior Charlie Easley, who is from Lincoln, and sophomore William Kyle III, who is from Bellevue.

Easley said he’s looking forward to playing a game in March Madness in his home state.

“I kind of had a feeling [we were going to play in Omaha]. Being in Omaha and being from Lincoln, it makes it extra special for me because I’ll have a lot of family and friends there. … I’m really excited about having a half and half split arena for both teams. We have guys from Omaha and guys from Iowa, I’m from Lincoln. We’re going to have a lot of family and friends watching us and that’s going to be a special feeling,” Easley said.

The last time SDSU made the tournament it was in 2022 and they were a No. 13 seed and played Providence in Buffalo. The Jackrabbits were a trendy upset pick. So much so that Providence head coach Ed Cooley rallied his guys around the mantra that nobody believed in them.

This time around the Jacks will be heavy underdogs as the No. 15 seed. Mayo said he thinks that could be beneficial because they could sneak up on the Cyclones.

“I think we're more than capable of getting the upset in the first round. People can pick who they want to pick, but it’s all about us and being within our circle and just focusing on the task that’s ahead of us and not getting too high or too low,” Mayo said.