PIERRE — South Dakota’s basketball state tournament qualifying round, known as the SoDak 16, could soon be moving away from being hosted at neutral sites.

Of six proposals brought forward at the South Dakota High School Activities Association’s Basketball Advisory Meeting meeting on Wednesday, the lone one to be advanced for a vote by activities directors calls for SoDak 16 hosting privileges for higher-seeded teams in Class A and Class B. Since the inception of the basketball SoDak 16 in 2017 in Class A and all classes in 2018, the contests have been hosted at neutral sites across the state and assigned by SDHSAA staff.

The proposal, which the committee approved by unanimous vote, was introduced by Assistant Executive Director Jo Auch, who explained it was a matching proposal to one already approved by the Volleyball Advisory Committee.

Athletic directors from around the state will weigh in on the plan at the South Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association annual conference in March. The ultimate decision on the plan will be made by the SDHSAA Board of Directors during their April and June meetings.

Class AA basketball’s SoDak 16 is already hosted by the high seed, and the statewide playoff games in sports such as football, soccer and softball are also played at the higher-seeded team’s facilities. Further, Auch cited financial statements that suggest SoDak 16 contests at neutral sites are far more likely to lose money, while Class AA schools have frequently made money by being able to host their own games.

“There are a lot of good arguments to try this, get some data and see where it goes,” Auch said. “It’s moving forward in volleyball, and I’d like your blessing in basketball because what we do for basketball and volleyball go hand-in-hand.”

The new proposal calls for hosting sites to have a seating capacity of at least 700 and a minimum ceiling height of 23 feet. If the requirements cannot be met by the higher seed’s facility, the host will get to choose an appropriate facility as long as it’s not further in travel distance from the lower-seeded team.

“It’s a lot simpler for planning to know where you’re going instead of it being up in the air,” said Donavan DeBoer, of Parker, the superintendent representative. “If you’re the higher seed, you’re hosting. If not, you know you’re on the road.”

“That’s what you play for during the regular season. You try to win games and get a top spot to be able to host that game,” added Jamie Parish, of Sioux Falls Washington, the Class AA coaching representative. “There should be a benefit to having a good regular season.”

Further suggestions to alter the current postseason structure did not receive the same support, with two such proposals both dying due to the lack of a motion to vote.

The first suggested expanding the statewide postseason from 16 teams to 32 teams in Class A and Class B, with three different possible structures listed.

The proposal was created by Canton coach Andrew Steffen and activities director Jake Versteeg, who listed the following rationale for the change: “There are too many occurrences that result in some of the top teams in the state having to battle it out just to make the SoDak 16. We should want the best teams at the state tournament.”

Under one process, teams would forego their region tournaments and the top 32 teams in the seed points standings at the end of the regular season would be paired (No. 1 versus No. 32, No. 2 versus No. 31, etc.) and play. SoDak 16 and state tournament processes would remain the same as they are currently. A second option called for a round of regional quarterfinals before reseeding teams into a round of 32, with the SoDak 16 and state tournament process remaining the same. The third option was similar to the second, offering an alternative way to reseed teams that qualify for the round of 32.

A different proposal for Class AA suggested creating three regions (two with seven teams, one with six), and using postseason region tournaments as a starting point for determining state tournament qualifiers. Winners of the three postseason tournaments would receive automatic bids, with the top 10 remaining teams by seed points getting paired up for last-chance qualification games to decide the final five spots.

The proposal was brought to the committee by Kristina Sage, of Freeman, the athletic director representative, on behalf of Sturgis coach Mike Schultz. Among the key points listed in favor of the proposal were keeping all 20 schools (with the upcoming addition of Tea Area to Class AA) involved in the postseason, increasing regional representation and easing the burden of travel.

“I don’t think this is a basketball proposal. This goes to all sports,” Parish offered. “It’s great for us to have this discussion, but I don’t think we’re the ones who get to make this choice.”

Opposition to the change primarily revolved around the efficacy of the SoDak 16 and how reverting to a regional structure would be pushing back against the path South Dakota high school athletics has forged with postseason changes in recent years. Auch also voiced concern about the available timeline at the end of the season to play the amount of postseason games outlined by the proposal.

“If the concern is that everyone doesn’t have a postseason opportunity, I agree 100%,” Parish said. “I think it’d be a great idea to give everybody an opportunity to play and open the door there, but I don’t think the regions and everything that goes with this is the right direction.”

“South Dakota, in the past few years, has been going away from this,” DeBoer added. “With what we’ve done with the SoDak 16, the regional component is not really at the forefront anymore. … It does feel like a backward step from what we’ve been trying to do.”

• There was no action taken on proposals to alter the seed points structure or introduce a preseason scrimmage to the basketball calendar. The committee suggested both items be taken back to meetings of coaches and administration in an attempt to figure out more detailed procedures and plans.
• A proposal to make a rule applying an automatic intentional foul under the circumstances “when an airborne breakaway shooter is fouled from behind in the upper shoulder, head or neck area” will be brought to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). South Dakota follows the national rulebook in nearly all instances.

Dierks covers prep and collegiate athletics across the Mitchell Republic’s coverage region area, focusing on Mitchell High School football and boys basketball and area high school football, volleyball and basketball, as well as Dakota Wesleyan women’s basketball. He was also the lead on the Mitchell Republic Gridiron Spotlight, producing video and providing live play-by-play for the traveling weekly prep football broadcast during its first season in the fall of 2021. Dierks is a Mitchell native who graduated from South Dakota State University with his bachelor’s degree in journalism in May 2020. He joined the Mitchell Republic sports staff in August 2021. He can be reached at [email protected] and found on Twitter at @LDierksy.