# 2019–20 Summit League men's basketball season

The 2019–20 Summit League men's basketball season began in October 2019 with practices, followed by the start of the 2019-20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in early November. Conference play began in late December, and concludes on the final day of February 2020. The 2020 Summit League men's basketball tournament begins and concludes in early March 2020, and leads into the 2020 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

## Head coaches
### Head Coach Changes

| Team | Departing Coach | Reason | New Head Coach | Previous Job |
| North Dakota | Brian Jones | Took offer as Assistant HC at Illinois St. | Paul Sather | HC at Northern St. (DII) |
| South Dakota State | T. J. Otzelberger | Took offer as HC of UNLV | Eric Henderson | Assistant at South Dakota State |

### Head Coach Records

As of beginning of 2019–20 season.
| Team | Coach | Seasons w/ Team* | DI Record w/ Team | All-time Summit Record | Conference Regular Season Titles | NCAA DI Tournament appearances | NCAA DI Tournament Record |
| Denver | Rodney Billups | 4 | 39-51 (.433) | 19-27 (.413) | 0 | 0 | 0-0 (.000) |
| North Dakota | Paul Sather | 1 | 0-0 (.000) | 0-0 (.000) | 0 | 0 | 0-0 (.000) |
| North Dakota State | David Richman | 6 | 96-67 (.589) | 45-33 (.577) | 1 (2015) | 2 (2015, 2019) | 1-2 (.333) |
| Omaha | Derrin Hansen | 15 (9 DI, 6 DII) | 115-130 (.469) | 52-56 (.481) | 0 | 0 | 0-0 (.000) |
| Oral Roberts | Paul Mills | 3 | 22-41 (.349) | 12-18 (.400) | 0 | 0 | 0-0 (.000) |
| Purdue Fort Wayne | Jon Coffman | 6 | 95-66 (.590) | 45-33 (.577) | 1 (2016) | 0 | 0-0 (.000) |
| South Dakota | Todd Lee | 2 | 13-17 (.433) | 7-9 (.438) | 0 | 0 | 0-0 (.000) |
| South Dakota State | Eric Henderson | 1 | 0-0 (.000) | 0-0 (.000) | 0 | 0 | 0-0 (.000) |
| Western Illinois | Billy Wright | 6 | 48-94 (.338) | 18-60 (.231) | 0 | 0 | 0-0 (.000) |
| *2019-20 season included, and seasons in other divisions marked. ||||||||

## Preseason
### Preseason Conference Poll

The Summit League released a poll in early October, which was voted on by a panel of the 9 head coaches, sports information directors and select media members. With a majority of the 34 voters, North Dakota State was deemed the favorite.
| Rank | Team | Points | First Place Votes |
| 1 | North Dakota State | 526 | 23 |
| 2 | South Dakota | 457 | 6 |
| 3 | Oral Roberts | 404 | 3 |
| 4 | Omaha | 369 | 0 |
| 5 | South Dakota State | 300 | 2 |
| 6 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 224 | 0 |
| 7 | Western Illinois | 188 | 0 |
| 8 | North Dakota | 164 | 0 |
| 9 | Denver | 113 | 0 |

### Preseason All-Summit League teams

The Summit League released its preseason All-Summit League first team and second team. A Preseason Player of the Year was also announced, and automatically is gifted a spot on first team.
| Honor | Player | Year | School |
| 2019-20 Preseason Summit League Player of the Year | Stanley Umude | Junior | South Dakota |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League First Team | Emmanuel Nzekwesi | Senior | Oral Roberts |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League First Team | Kevin Obanor | Sophomore | Oral Roberts |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League First Team | Vinnie Shahid | Senior | North Dakota State |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League First Team | Triston Simpson | Senior | South Dakota |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League First Team | Stanley Umude | Junior | South Dakota |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League First Team | Kobe Webster | Junior | Western Illinois |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League Second Team | Tyler Hagedorn | Senior | South Dakota |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League Second Team | JT Gibson | Senior | Omaha |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League Second Team | Matt Hobla | Senior | Purdue Fort Wayne |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League Second Team | Matt Pile | Junior | Omaha |
| 2019-20 Preseason All-Summit League Second Team | Tyson Ward | Senior | North Dakota State |

## Regular season
### Early Season Tournaments

Seven of the nine Summit League teams participated in early season event, which could be a multi-team event, or a tournament. The two teams who didn't participate in one of these tournaments were Oral Roberts and Western Illinois.
| Team | Tournament/Event | Finish |
| Omaha | Cayman Islands Classic-Mainland | 1st (of 4) |
| South Dakota | Collegiate Hoops Roadshow | N/A |
| South Dakota | Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic | 1st (of 4) |
| North Dakota State | Islander Invitational | 2nd (of 4) |
| South Dakota State | Indiana Challenge | N/A |
| North Dakota | Minnesota MTE | N/A |
| North Dakota | Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic | N/A |
| Purdue Fort Wayne | Ohio State Classic | N/A |
| Denver | Cable Car Classic | T-2 (of 4) |

### Summit League Challenges

The Summit League played in both the Summit League/WAC Challenge and the Big Sky/Summit Challenges. The games and results are as follows:

#### Big Sky/Summit Challenge

| Away team | Score | Home team | Date and Time |
| North Dakota State | 70-53 | Idaho | Nov. 26, 10 p.m. ET |
| South Dakota State | 70-77 | Montana State | Dec. 5, 10 p.m. |
| North Dakota | 70-77 | Montana | Dec. 6, 9 p.m. |
| North Dakota | 82-98 | Eastern Washington | Dec. 8, 6:30 p.m. |
| Montana State | 65-79 | North Dakota State | Dec. 16, 8 p.m. |
| Omaha | 56-97 | Eastern Washington | Dec. 17, 9 p.m. |
| Montana | 82-87 (OT) | Omaha | Dec. 21, 1 p.m. |
| Idaho | 57-85 | South Dakota State | Dec. 21, 8 p.m. |
The Summit League won a total of 4 of the 8 games, therefore splitting the challenge.

#### Summit League/WAC Challenge

After last year's loss in the Summit League/WAC Challenge by a score of 6–3, the Summit League looked to win the challenge this year.
| Away team | Score | Home team | Date and Time |
| South Dakota State | 93-91 (2OT) | Cal State Bakersfield | Nov. 9, 10 p.m. |
| Utah Valley | 68-62 | North Dakota State | Nov. 23, 6 p.m. |
| South Dakota | 84-83 | Cal Baptist | Nov. 27, 10 p.m. |
| Purdue Fort Wayne | 71-60 | Grand Canyon | Nov. 30, 8 p.m. |
| Western Illinois | 67-68 | Kansas City | Nov. 30, 8 p.m. |
| New Mexico State | 72-67 | Denver | Dec. 10, 9 p.m. |
| UTRGV | 82-92 | Omaha | Dec. 15, 1:30 p.m. |
| Oral Roberts | 97-59 | Chicago State | Dec. 17, 8 p.m. |
The Summit League won this year's Summit League/WAC Challenge, a total of 5 games to 3 games.

### Player of the Week

Each Monday during the season, the Summit League offices chose one or maybe two players to be named Player of the Week.
| Week | Player | Team |
| November 11, 2019 | Douglas Wilson | South Dakota State |
| November 18, 2019 | Tyler Hagedorn | South Dakota |
| November 25, 2019 | J.T. Gibson | Omaha |
| December 2, 2019 | Jarred Godfrey | Purdue Fort Wayne |
| December 9, 2019 | Rocky Kreuser | North Dakota State |
| December 16, 2019 | Vinnie Shahid | North Dakota State (2) |
| December 23, 2019 | Marlon Stewart | North Dakota |
| December 30, 2019 | Matt Pile | Omaha (2) |
| December 30, 2019 | Zion Young | Western Illinois |
| January 6, 2020 | Marlon Stewart (2) | North Dakota (2) |
| January 13, 2020 | Deondre Burns | Oral Roberts |
| January 20, 2020 | Tyson Ward | North Dakota State (3) |
| January 27, 2020 | Marlon Stewart (3) | North Dakota (3) |
| February 3, 2020 | Tyler Hagedorn (2) | South Dakota (2) |
| February 10, 2020 | Vinnie Shahid (2) | North Dakota State (4) |
| February 17, 2020 | | |
| February 24, 2020 | | |
| March 2, 2020 | | |

#### Athlete of the Month

In addition to the player of week, the Summit League also announces an athlete of the month, across of all sports, but separated by gender. So far, two players have been given the honor: Tyler Hagedorn in November, Emmanuel Nzekwesi in December, and Tyler Hagedorn again in January.

### Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head to head results of each team in the Summit League. Each team plays 16 games, a home and away against all teams. Updated through 2/7.
| | Denver | North Dakota | North Dakota State | Omaha | Oral Roberts | Purdue Fort Wayne | South Dakota | South Dakota State | Western Illinois |
| vs. Denver | - | 2-0 | 2-0 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| vs. North Dakota | 0-2 | - | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 0-1 |
| vs. North Dakota State | 0-2 | 0-1 | - | 0-1 | 1-1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 0-2 |
| vs. Omaha | 1-0 | 0-1 | 1-0 | - | 0-1 | 0-1 | 2-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 |
| vs. Oral Roberts | 0-1 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1-0 | - | 0-1 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 0-1 |
| vs. Purdue Fort Wayne | 0-1 | 1-1 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | - | 1-1 | 1-0 | 0-2 |
| vs. South Dakota | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1-1 | - | 0-1 | 1-0 |
| vs. South Dakota State | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 0-2 | 0-1 | 1-0 | - | 0-2 |
| vs. Western Illinois | 0-1 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 0-1 | 2-0 | - |
| Total | 1-10 | 5-6 | 9-2 | 5-5 | 5-6 | 5-6 | 8-3 | 9-2 | 2-9 |

## Postseason
### Summit League Conference tournament

| Quarterfinals March 7 & 8 | Quarterfinals March 7 & 8 | Quarterfinals March 7 & 8 | Semifinals March 9 | Semifinals March 9 | Semifinals March 9 | Final March 10 | Final March 10 | Final March 10 |
| 1 | North Dakota State | 71 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Denver | 69 | | | | | | |
| 8 | Denver | 69 | 1 | North Dakota State | 75 | | | |
| | | | 4 | Oral Roberts | 69 | | | |
| 4 | Oral Roberts | 79 | 4 | Oral Roberts | 69 | | | |
| 5 | Omaha | 52 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Omaha | 52 | | | | 1 | North Dakota State | 89 |
| | | | | | | 6 | North Dakota | 53 |
| 2 | South Dakota State | 74 | | | | | | | 6 | North Dakota | 53 |
| 7 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 77 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 77 | 7 | Purdue Fort Wayne | 56 | | | |
| | | | 6 | North Dakota | 73 | | | |
| 3 | South Dakota | 71 | 6 | North Dakota | 73 | | | |
| 6 | North Dakota | 74 | | | | | | |