Blue Hawks to add area basketball standouts
Ty Orton hasn’t been this excited about a group of incoming freshmen in the six years he has been at Dickinson State.By: Dustin Monke, The Dickinson Press
- Nick Wolf and Preston Smith
- Ryan Sullivan
Ty Orton hasn’t been this excited about a group of incoming freshmen in the six years he has been at Dickinson State.
The best part, he said, is that all of them are players that fans from North Dakota and Montana should recognize.
On Friday, DSU announced the signings of New Town standout Preston Smith as well as Ryan Sullivan and Josh Torgerson of Sidney, Mont., to NAIA letters of intent.
New England guard Nick Wolf has verbally committed to the Blue Hawks and said he plans to sign early next week.
“We’re pretty happy about the freshmen we’re going to get coming in,” Orton said. “I think it’s building a strong foundation.
“That’s kind of what we’ve wanted to do because we’re going to add a couple junior college guys. But the foundation of freshmen and kids that are local, know how to play and are good. I really think they’re going to develop into something over the years.”
Orton said Smith and Sullivan are players who could immediately see time.
Smith was a Class B all-state second team selection for the Eagles, averaging 20.3 points, 14.1 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 4.8 steals and 3.3 blocks per game. The athletic 6-foot-3 dunker helped his team to a third-place state tournament finish as a junior.
“I honestly feel the kid is top five in the state,” Orton said. “He’s so talented. He knows how to play. He’s basketball savvy. His basketball IQ is big. He knows how to play without the ball, knows how to move and cut. He’s as athletic as it comes.”
Sullivan, a 6-3 forward, averaged 14.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.5 blocks and 2.4 steals a game for Sidney and was a Class A all-state selection.
He was recruited by several other schools in the Frontier Conference and is described by Orton as an intelligent player.
“He’s just going to bring that quality of leadership and competitive edge that we need,” Orton said. “He won’t redshirt. We know that for a fact. He’ll put a uniform on.”
Torgerson, who may also compete for the DSU track and field team, averaged 8.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 42 percent from 3-point range. He was a Montana Eastern A all-conference selection.
Torgerson and Wolf will both likely redshirt their freshman seasons.
“He (Torgerson) is another kid that we wanted to add to the program that we feel, after a year of redshirting, can come in and really separate himself from a lot of kids,” Orton said.
While Orton couldn’t comment on Wolf because he hasn’t signed yet, the New England senior said Friday that he is excited to get back on the floor and work on improving his game.
Wolf, a 6-1 all-Region 7 selection, averaged 12.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4 steals and 2.6 assists and is viewed by DSU’s coaches as a solid defensive player who has a knack for creating his own shot on offense.
“I just want to get more physical right now, get a little bit bigger and just play my part, my role on the team,” Wolf said. “As long as we win, I could care less what I average.”
Kaine Hanson, a 6-4 forward from New England who was the Region 7 senior athlete of the year, had originally given a verbal commitment to DSU but recently decided to pursue other education opportunities.
Tags: dsu blue hawks, blue hawks, college basketball, ryan sullivan, nick wolf, josh torgerson, preston smith, sports, preps, recruiting, basketballupdates, basketball
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