Kimball's Mike Daum standing tall early

Kimball High grad, Mike Daum, is picking up right where he left off last season, as the key man for the South Dakota State Men’s Basketball Team. Although Big Mike is having a lot of personal success, can’t say the same yet for the SDS Jackrabbits who are 2-6 at the time of this writing which takes us through the past weekend.

Way back on November 3 in an exhibition game, Mike led his team to an 85-64 win over South Dakota Mines scoring 27 points in the 21 minutes of court time, hitting 7/15 field goals and 13/14 free throws plus pulling 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal.

In other games the Jacks fell to Cal 82-53 with Mike charted with 14 points. In a 73-58 loss to UC Irvine he was held to 9 points and 8 rebounds. In a 96-89 loss to Idaho he tallied 23 points on 8/14 shooting with 1 trey, and 6/7 at the foul line. In a rematch with UC Irvine the Jacks lost 63-52 with Mike hitting for 23 points and 18 rebounds. In a 71-59 loss to Eastern Tennessee Mike had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

In a game at Laramie against Wyoming that many of his home town Kimball fans attended, he didn’t disappoint the home town following as he scored 24 points and put on a long range shooting exhibition hitting 5 or 6 three pointers, went 5/5 at the line, and had 8 rebounds. The Jacks lost however to the Cowboys 77-67. This past Sunday evening, Mike has his best showing to date in a 81-58 win over Milwaukee leading his team to victory with 32 points!

At this time Mike is averaging 20.8 points and 8.8 rebounds and he is listed 48th nation wide in scoring. I have read several accounts from many sources bragging him up and have even seen accounts listing him as a potential Pro prospect! It sure is fund to share in the success of our home town standout. Has to be especially exciting for all of the Daum family who have been doing some traveling to watch him in action. Mom and Dad also travelled to watch daughter Danika who was a part of the winning WNCC Volleyball Team this past fall as once again they played in the National Tournament and finished in the top 8!