'It's kind of a renewed energy': Bison bolster backcourt with two signings in busy men's basketball offseason

Yoder comes to the Bison from Illinois Wesleyan, a Division III program in Bloomington, Ill., while White is a junior college transfer from the State College of Florida in Bradenton. Both had verbally committed to NDSU before their recent signings.

“In both Luke and Jacari, we felt like we needed some experience. Luke is going to come in here with three years of college experience, Jacari is going to come in here with one, but yet there is also still some upside,” Bison head coach David Richman said. “It’s really important with our other personnel that both those two can really shoot the basketball.”

The 6-foot, 170-pound Yoder has two years of remaining eligibility, while the 6-foot-4, 170-pound White has three years remaining. Both shot nearly 40% from 3-point range last season at their previous schools.

The Bison have added seven scholarship players to their roster this offseason, including five high school signings. Hillsboro (N.D.) High School’s Gannon Limke is an expected walk-on for next season. Those eight players join five scholarship holdovers in forwards Grant Nelson, Andrew Morgan and Josh Streit, and guards Boden Skunberg and Dezmond McKinney.

The 6-foot-11 Nelson and 6-foot-5 Skunberg are the most seasoned returners, averaging 25.8 and 22.7 minutes per game last season. The 6-foot-10 Morgan averaged nearly 12 minutes per game.

The Bison lost four of their top five scorers from a season ago. Nelson averaged 11.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, while Skunberg averaged 5.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Morgan averaged 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest during his true freshman season.

“Between Grant Nelson and Andrew Morgan, those are two high-level dudes, two high-level big guys and we need to be able to space the floor, so shooting is going to be a premium when we think about the sum of all of our parts,” Richman said.

Yoder averaged 11.6 points and 2.9 assists per game last season, while shooting 39% (35 of 89) from 3-point range. During his career at Illinois Wesleyan he played in 60 games and made 52 starts.

“Luke is kind of that consummate floor general,” Richman said. “He’s extremely tough, he makes shots, he’s got an unbelievable feel for the game. Once Luke gets in here and acclimated to our system and maybe adjusts to some of the athleticism at the Division I level, Luke’s got a chance to be a perfect fit for what we’re looking for.”

White averaged 13.5 points per game and shot 39% (71 of 183) from 3-point range during his lone season at State College of Florida. SCF head coach Tom Parks also described White as an elite defender.

“Jacari has a lot of ability off the bounce because of his athleticism and also I think he’s got a chance with some strength to be a very versatile defender,” Richman said.

Richman said White has the potential to play both guard positions for the Bison.

“I certainly think there is some tremendous opportunity for him off the ball, but also the luxury he provides because he does have some ball-handling skills,” Richman said.

The Bison have 12 scholarship players signed for next season and have one scholarship remaining. Richman said he’s comfortable with the team’s roster at this point, but didn’t rule out another addition under the right circumstances.

“I don’t know if we’re ever done, but it would have to be a tremendous fit at this point,” Richman said.

The Bison posted a 23-10 record last season and advanced to the Summit League tournament championship game where it lost to South Dakota State. NDSU lost multiple key performers off that team, including guards Sam Griesel, Tyree Eady and Jarius Cook and forward Maleeck Harden-Hayes. All four entered the transfer portal and landed with other schools.

“It’s been an extremely exciting, rewarding, refreshing last couple days,” Richman said. “The last two years have been awesome, I loved every one of those guys and we had a lot of success together, but it’s college basketball. People move on. You’ve got a bunch of new faces, you’ve got a bunch of young new faces, it’s exciting. It's kind of a renewed energy around this program. This is a very, very talented group, but certainly there is some inexperience.”

Richman said the Bison are going to have the same goals despite the multiple new players to the program.

“We’re going to be different, but our expectations aren’t different,” Richman said. “Our expectations are to continue to be right there front and center for Summit League championships and NCAA tournaments and winning games in the NCAA tournament.”