MITCHELL — There’s a new No. 1-ranked team in Class AA boys basketball.
One of two remaining undefeated teams in the division, Sioux Falls Lincoln claimed the No. 1 position this week after slotting in at No. 2 since Dec. 16. While Lincoln was No. 2 for much of the 2022-23 season, it’s the Patriots’ first time atop Class AA since Feb. 18, 2019.
Lincoln garnered 16 of 17 first-place votes and 84 vote points this week, while Mitchell hung onto one top vote and 59 points for No. 2 in the poll, just ahead of No. 3 Brandon Valley with 53 points.
The defending state champion Kernels, who had occupied the top spot since taking over on Jan. 22, 2024, had a 22-game win streak snapped by No. 4 Harrisburg, which then lost to Huron, one of three teams receiving votes.
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The South Dakota Prep Media basketball polls for the week of Jan. 13, 2025, are listed below, ranking the top five teams in each class. First-place votes are indicated in parentheses and teams are ranked by total points received.
1. Sioux Falls Christian (17), 6-0, 85; 2. Hamlin, 5-2, 60; 3. Dakota Valley, 7-0, 53; 4. Rapid City Christian, 9-0, 37; 5. Lennox, 6-1, 17. Others receiving votes: West Central 2, St. Thomas More 1.
Complete control: Sioux Falls Christian defeated Hamlin 75-60 in a battle of Class A boys heavyweights over the weekend, and now SFC has the distinction of being the unanimous No. 1. Even with the loss, Hamlin remained at No. 2, seven vote points ahead of No. 3 Dakota Valley. Overall, the entire top-five order remained unchanged, with Rapid City Christian at No. 4 and Lennox at No. 5. Only three total votes landed outside the top five, with West Central getting two and St. Thomas More getting one.
Widening the gap: Last week, No. 5 Howard was separated from Wessington Springs as the top vote recipient outside the rankings by just one vote. This week, that margin expanded to 16 points, as the rest of the top five stayed intact. Four total votes landed outside the top five, with Springs still leading the way, followed by Freeman and Wolsey-Wessington. Neither received votes last week.
Battle of unbeatens on tap: No. 1 O’Gorman and No. 2 Sioux Falls Washington, the last two undefeated squads in the Class AA girls standings, square off on Tuesday night to decide the top team in the division. As it stands, O’Gorman is the unanimous No. 1 with 17 first-place votes, leading a top five that hasn’t changed since Dec. 16. Mitchell joined those receiving votes this week, while Brookings fell out.
1. Sioux Falls Christian (14), 8-0, 81; 2. Vermillion (1), 7-1, 64; 3. Mahpiya Luta (2), 8-0, 53; 4. Dakota Valley, 8-0, 22; 5. Hamlin, 5-2, 18. Others receiving votes: Wagner 10, Elk Point-Jefferson 5, Rapid City Christian 2.
Patient Panthers: Out to an 8-0 start, Dakota Valley entered the Class A girls top five for the first time this season, checking in at No. 4. The Panthers had received votes in each edition of the poll before cracking the rankings this week. Last week’s No. 3 Wagner dropped a 47-43 final to Class B No. 4 Ethan, which caused the Red Raiders to fall out of the top five, though they still received 10 votes.
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Centerville’s Althea Gust dribbles the basketball in the first half of the girls Class B state championship game between Centerville and Arlington on Saturday, March 9, 2024, at The Monument in Rapid City.
Mitchell Republic file photo
1. Centerville (16), 9-0, 84; 2. Parkston (1), 8-0, 64; 3. Lyman, 5-0, 51; 4. Ethan, 7-1, 38; T-5. Dell Rapids St. Mary, 7-1, 6; T-5. Sanborn Central/Woonsocket, 5-2, 6. Others receiving votes: Andes Central/Dakota Christian 1, Colman-Egan 1, Corsica-Stickney 1, Kadoka Area 1, Bennett County 1, Harding County 1.
Quite the cluster: While the top four in the Class B girls poll remained firm, the group battling for the No. 5 spot continued to grow. Sanborn Central/Woonsocket maintained its No. 5 ranking but fell into a tie with Dell Rapids St. Mary for the spot, both teams receiving six votes. Among those outside the poll receiving votes, six programs got one vote apiece. This class is poised to see some shakeup in next week’s poll, as No. 1 Centerville squares off with No. 4 Ethan and No. 2 Parkston battles No. 3 Lyman at the Hanson Classic on Saturday.
South Dakota State University is expanding its graduate offerings with the launch of a new social science Ph.D. program, an interdisciplinary program designed to address complex challenges facing rural communities and society at large.
Approved by the South Dakota Board of Regents in April 2025 and the Higher Learning Commission shortly after, the program will welcome its first cohort of students in fall 2026.
The program is housed in the School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies within the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Rather than focusing on a single discipline such as sociology or psychology, the new Ph.D. brings together faculty expertise from across SDSU’s colleges — including nursing, natural sciences, agriculture, pharmacy and allied health professions — to train scholars equipped to tackle today’s “wicked problems.”
Paul Markel
“The world’s complex issues require interdisciplinary teams,” said Paul Markel, professor and director of the School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies.
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The launch of the social science Ph.D. program also marks a new chapter for SDSU’s historic tradition in graduate social science education. The university’s sociology program dates back to 1925, once producing nearly a quarter of all doctorates on campus during its peak. Admissions to the previous sociology Ph.D. were suspended in 2020 due in part to faculty staffing and shifting academic focus.
Rather than simply reviving the former program, faculty and administrators chose to reimagine it. The resulting social science Ph.D. program addresses the current, complex research needs of the university in alignment with Pathway to Premier 2030 and the “R1 Our Way” initiative — SDSU’s commitment to reaching high research activity designation. The program not only advances interdisciplinary research but also increases the number of research doctorates SDSU produces, a key benchmark in the journey toward R1 status.
“The interdisciplinary approach allows complex problems to be taken seriously and explored in depth, so that you can come up with real practical solutions in a way that no single discipline could do alone,” Markel emphasized.
The program’s creation involved a working group of faculty representing multiple disciplines and colleges, including:
Abigail Tobias-Lauerman, School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies
George Tsakiridis, School of American and Global Studies
Heidi Mennenga, College of Nursing
James Amell, College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions
Jason Zimmerman, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek, Department of Natural Resource Management
Kimberly Johnson Maier, Department of Geography and Geospatial Sciences
Londa Nwadike, College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences
Shola Aromona, School of Communication and Journalism
Stephanie Hanson, College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions
Tyler Miller, School of Psychology, Sociology and Rural Studies
Members met regularly to design curriculum, define core requirements and develop the program’s first two proposed specializations: 1) environmental and rural development and 2) rural well-being.
“At one point we had rural sociology on our campus,” Markel said. “So even with this program, both specializations represent a rural theme, specifically rural development and rural well-being. It’s honoring and rejuvenating our rural studies roots.”
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The program’s structure allows students to ground themselves in social science theory while applying research methods to practical challenges like sustainable land management or rural health disparities. It also aims to revive SDSU’s historic partnership with SDSU Extension through renewed attention to rural vitality, echoing SDSU’s land-grant mission.
“The rural environment is very complex, and there are incredible challenges in the rural space,” Markel explained. “When we identify a problem in a rural community, whether it’s health care, access to food, education or workforce development, it’s not enough for any one discipline to focus on the problem because we really need to bring in teams and have multiple disciplines looking at the same problem to make a difference.”
From concept to approval, the Ph.D. in social science moved with rare speed in higher education. The initial proposal, written by Markel in collaboration with faculty such as School of Communication and Journalism Director Josh Westwick, School of American and Global Studies Director Christi Garst-Santos and MaryJo Benton Lee, adjunct faculty member and evaluation specialist, was submitted to Dean David Earnest of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences in September 2024. By December, the curricular paperwork was complete, and the program received final Board of Regents approval by April 2025.
The program is now included in SDSU’s Graduate Catalog, with recruitment and marketing underway for the first cohort’s admission in fall 2026. An advisory council composed of faculty from across participating colleges will oversee program evolution and ensure continued interdisciplinary collaboration.
The social science Ph.D. program positions South Dakota State University as one of the few institutions in the nation — alongside models like Syracuse University and Johns Hopkins — to offer an interdisciplinary social science doctorate.
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Dennis Hedge
“I am excited about the impact that the social science Ph.D. program will have on our local communities and university,” SDSU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dennis Hedge said. “While providing a significant boost to our university’s Carnegie R1 designation pursuit, this interdisciplinary Ph.D. program will importantly provide graduating students with a solid foundation of perspectives and methods in the social sciences that will serve as a framework for addressing complex issues faced by communities in our state and region. By doing such work, our communities will ultimately be stronger.”
Markel summarized the program’s aim this way: the doctoral training will ground students in social science theory and research methods while requiring them to work with interdisciplinary advisory committees and teams so their research and solutions are applied and relevant to an ever-changing, complex world.
“We want to be able to take the research that comes out of this program and apply it in meaningful ways to the people of South Dakota and the region who are living in rural environments,” Markel said.
South Dakota State Jackrabbits (4-4) at Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (4-2)
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Flagstaff, Arizona; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Jackrabbits -2.5; over/under is 149.5
BOTTOM LINE: Northern Arizona faces South Dakota State after Ryan Abelman scored 20 points in Northern Arizona’s 79-72 victory over the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks.
The Lumberjacks have gone 4-0 at home. Northern Arizona scores 81.2 points and has outscored opponents by 5.5 points per game.
The Jackrabbits are 0-2 in road games. South Dakota State ranks seventh in the Summit League shooting 30.9% from 3-point range.
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Northern Arizona makes 47.9% of its shots from the field this season, which is 7.5 percentage points higher than South Dakota State has allowed to its opponents (40.4%). South Dakota State averages 71.6 points per game, 4.1 fewer than the 75.7 Northern Arizona allows.
TOP PERFORMERS: Zack Davidson is shooting 62.1% and averaging 16.8 points for the Lumberjacks. Abelman is averaging 2.5 made 3-pointers.
Jaden Jackson is averaging 12.1 points and 1.5 steals for the Jackrabbits. Joe Sayler is averaging 11.1 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
PIERRE — Gov. Larry Rhoden’s first budget address as governor is in the books.
And it was a “straightforward” budget without many surprises, as multiple lawmakers told the Argus Leader.
Rhoden presented his recommended budget Dec. 2 for South Dakota’s fiscal year 2027 at the State Capitol Building.
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The Republican governor asked lawmakers to budget $7.44 billion in state fiscal year 2027, up from the $7.28 billion recommended by former Gov. Kristi Noem for FY2026. FY2027 is split between about 34% state funds, 42% federal funds and 23% funds marked as “other.”
Rhoden is also leaving about $14 million for lawmakers to divvy up during the upcoming Legislative Session in January. And an additional 135 full-time staff have been recommended for the next fiscal year, up from a budgeted 14,095 in FY 2026.
But Rhoden, who is only serving a partial term as governor after having taken over the reins from Noem last January and now faces reelection in 2026, is taking on the state’s fiscal goals and ambitions amid slim revenue projections and realities.
“I won’t sugarcoat it: Revenues have been pretty flat – only rising slightly,” Rhoden told lawmakers during his address. “But we have to keep the context in mind. We’re coming off some of the strongest years in our state’s history – or in any state’s history. Our economic growth may have slowed, but we’re comparing that to the fastest growth that South Dakota has ever seen.”
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Ongoing sales and use tax collections suffered in FY25 before bounce back
More than half of the state’s overall revenue picture is made up of an ongoing sales and use tax, which saw a fiscal year-to-year decrease.
South Dakota FY2025 collected about $1.43 billion from the state sales and use tax — a 1.5% decrease compared with FY2024. Data from the state’s Bureau of Finance & Management indicates several months measured in FY2025 saw dips in sales and use tax growth.
The Rhoden budget estimates the FY2026 collections will reach about $1.5 billion and $1.56 billion in FY2027.
State sales and use tax revenue has seen month-to-month growth since June, with a more-than-8% increase in October.
“We’ll be getting November numbers any day now,” Rhoden said. “Year-to-date, we’re about where we want to be. 4% to 5% growth is pretty typical for South Dakota, but it also means we don’t have a ton of headroom.”
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South Dakota’s farm sector sees impacts of Trump tariffs; Rhoden says to ‘pray for rain’
Recent data shows the Midwest has seen economic swings in the agriculture and commodity markets — and Rhoden had to acknowledge it, at least in part.
According to a recent study by The Dakota Institute, a nonprofit economic research firm, South Dakota saw its real gross domestic product (GDP) shrink by 3.1% in Q1 of 2025 — neighboring states saw similar impacts.
It later rebounded in South Dakota with 5.2% annualized growth in Q2 of 2025. But President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy and an international trade war underlined the volatile nature of in the state’s corn, soybean and wheat prices, which have dropped since to lowest prices in years, while U.S. beef cattle prices are at record highs.
“The weakness reflected ongoing pressures from trade disruptions through the implementation of tariffs and a mass renegotiation process of multiple trade agreements,” The Dakota Institute’s study indicated. “This volatility — contraction followed by robust recovery within six months — underscores both the region’s vulnerability to external shocks and its capacity to bounce back when conditions stabilize.”
“When ag does well, the state does well,” Rhoden said. “But when ag struggles, our growth tends to slow down … Historically, there’s been a correlation between our sales tax collections and farm income. So let’s pray for rain and for President Trump to be successful in his trade negotiations.”
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Medicaid spending overtakes K-12 dollars in FY27
Medicaid, one of South Dakota’s largest fiscal responsibilities, has grown “far faster than any other area of the budget,” Rhoden said.
“In fact,” Rhoden added, “for the first time in state history, Medicaid is a bigger share of the general fund than K-12 education.”
According to the BFM, the state’s Medicaid budget has grown by $360 million since 2020 to $758 million. Rhoden budgeted $725 million for K-12 education.
The state’s share of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage, which determines matching each state’s federal match, now represents $105 million. South Dakota’s coverage share went up by 0.86%, from 48.47% to 49.33%.
State employees won’t see budgeted raises in next fiscal year
Breaking from his predecessor, who pushed for state employee raises during her tenure as governor, Rhoden revealed that employees for the state won’t see a baseline raise to their salaries in FY2027.
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Rhoden said the state budget includes a “modest investment in our State Employee Health Plan,” specifically a $3 million investment in health plan reserves. The Republican governor added there are also “plan changes” in the works to prevent employees’ healthcare costs from going up, “since we won’t be able to give them a raise this year.”
But Eric Ollila, executive director and lobbyist for the South Dakota State Employees Organization, told the Argus Leader following the budget address that Rhoden’s budget picture doesn’t account for healthcare deductibles.
Ollila also said the “plan changes” that Rhoden teased were too vague for his liking. He later expressed concern that the changes would be passed through to state employees.
“What it’s not going to do is save employees 100% of the healthcare costs,” Ollila said.
Rhoden recommends raising reserve allocation to 12.5%
Rhoden plans to increase the state’s budget reserve from 10% to 12.5%
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The governor attributed his desire to raise reserves based on “continued slower revenue growth and weakness in the farm sector.”
