Happy Hour with John Gaskins

He was 6-foot-4 in seventh grade and the first ever player that age to play on the Yankton High School varsity team. He had to wait for the school board to approve that.
 
As a freshman, he broke the school's all-time single season scoring record and hit the game winning shot in the state championship game, securing Yankton's first title in 40 years.
 
By his junior year, some of the country's best college basketball teams were courting him. After a redshirt year at Wisconsin, he stunned some by choosing to come home and play for South Dakota State.
 
Matthew Mors' 10-year journey through prep and college hoops ended last Friday when the Jackrabbits suffered a season-ending loss in the Summit League Tournament.
 
Six days later, he joined Happy Hour to walk through it all: the exceptional, the heartbreaking, and the end.
 
How does he process the exhilaration of being the "Hoosiers" hero as a ninth grader but never winning the state title again? How does he look back on giving up the opportunity to play in the Big Ten?
 
And how does he process going from an immortal on the high school hardwood to a solid role player in the Summit League?
 
The modest and mild-mannered Mors was more than willing to share. He also answered the question, "Now what?"


Thirsty Thursday with Trent Singer
Oh, sure, it is the most wonderful time of the year in both high school and college basketball, offering plenty of compelling topics to discuss, such as USD deciding to give Carrie Eighmey a new deal after het second season and the decision to "ride it out" for Eric Peterson's fifth and final contract year instead of working on a new deal.
 
There's the Augustana hockey team's first-ever postseason series win and the upcoming CCHA semifinal game at St. Thomas. What are the Vikings' odds of earning an at-large bid?
 
And, the Class AA Girls State Basketball tournament is coming up this weekend, featuring a possible (as in, likely) third consecutive championship game showdown between Brandon Valley and O'Gorman.
 
The Happy Hour Host and Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer had plenty to say about those events on their weekly Thirsty Thursday show from Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls.
 
But before all of that, a word or 300 about Kyler Murray's visit to Minnesota and possible signing with the Vikings. (Possible, as of 3 p.m. on Thursday).

Oh, sure, it is the most wonderful time of the year in both high school and college basketball, offering plenty of compelling topics to discuss, such as USD deciding to give Carrie Eighmey a new deal after het second season and the decision to "ride it out" for Eric Peterson's fifth and final contract year instead of working on a new deal.
 
There's the Augustana hockey team's first-ever postseason series win and the upcoming CCHA semifinal game at St. Thomas. What are the Vikings' odds of earning an at-large bid?
 
And, the Class AA Girls State Basketball tournament is coming up this weekend, featuring a possible (as in, likely) third consecutive championship game showdown between Brandon Valley and O'Gorman.
 
The Happy Hour Host and Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer had plenty to say about those events on their weekly Thirsty Thursday show from Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls.
 
But before all of that, a word or 300 about Kyler Murray's visit to Minnesota and possible signing with the Vikings. (Possible, as of 3 p.m. on Thursday).
 
 
 
 

 






 

 

 











 


 






 












 







 
 

 
Oh, sure, it is the most wonderful time of the year in both high school and college basketball, offering plenty of compelling topics to discuss, such as USD deciding to give Carrie Eighmey a new deal after het second season and the decision to "ride it out" for Eric Peterson's fifth and final contract year instead of working on a new deal.
 
There's the Augustana hockey team's first-ever postseason series win and the upcoming CCHA semifinal game at St. Thomas. What are the Vikings' odds of earning an at-large bid?
 
And, the Class AA Girls State Basketball tournament is coming up this weekend, featuring a possible (as in, likely) third consecutive championship game showdown between Brandon Valley and O'Gorman.
 
The Happy Hour Host and Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer had plenty to say about those events on their weekly Thirsty Thursday show from Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls.
 
But before all of that, a word or 300 about Kyler Murray's visit to Minnesota and possible signing with the Vikings. (Possible, as of 3 p.m. on Thursday).
 
 
 
 

 






 

 

 











 


Oh, sure, it is the most wonderful time of the year in both high school and college basketball, offering plenty of compelling topics to discuss, such as USD deciding to give Carrie Eighmey a new deal after het second season and the decision to "ride it out" for Eric Peterson's fifth and final contract year instead of working on a new deal.
 
There's the Augustana hockey team's first-ever postseason series win and the upcoming CCHA semifinal game at St. Thomas. What are the Vikings' odds of earning an at-large bid?
 
And, the Class AA Girls State Basketball tournament is coming up this weekend, featuring a possible (as in, likely) third consecutive championship game showdown between Brandon Valley and O'Gorman.
 
The Happy Hour Host and Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer had plenty to say about those events on their weekly Thirsty Thursday show from Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls.
 
But before all of that, a word or 300 about Kyler Murray's visit to Minnesota and possible signing with the Vikings. (Possible, as of 3 p.m. on Thursday).
 
 
 
 

 






 

 

 











Oh, sure, it is the most wonderful time of the year in both high school and college basketball, offering plenty of compelling topics to discuss, such as USD deciding to give Carrie Eighmey a new deal after het second season and the decision to "ride it out" for Eric Peterson's fifth and final contract year instead of working on a new deal.
 
There's the Augustana hockey team's first-ever postseason series win and the upcoming CCHA semifinal game at St. Thomas. What are the Vikings' odds of earning an at-large bid?
 
And, the Class AA Girls State Basketball tournament is coming up this weekend, featuring a possible (as in, likely) third consecutive championship game showdown between Brandon Valley and O'Gorman.
 
The Happy Hour Host and Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer had plenty to say about those events on their weekly Thirsty Thursday show from Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls.
 
But before all of that, a word or 300 about Kyler Murray's visit to Minnesota and possible signing with the Vikings. (Possible, as of 3 p.m. on Thursday).

The Yankton legend and third all-time leading South Dakota high school basketball scorer started on the varsity boys basketball team as a seventh grader was recruited like crazy by every Big 12 and Big 10 team (so it seemed) and went to Wisconsin only to come back and play four years at SDSU, with his last game coming a week ago in the Summit League Tournament. He looks back and explains why he has "no regrets."

In his weekly appearance on Happy Hour, the Sioux Falls Live sports editor shares his views on the news of USD basketball coaches' deals (Eighmey getting a new one, Peterson not), plus:
* The reality of USD and other mid-majors losing their best football and basketball players to the transfer portal and NIL money the school cannot compete with
* The Summit League Tournament's viability in Sioux Falls and how far any discussion has gone among conference membership leaders of ever moving the event
* The powerful presence of Jackrabbit fans making the SLT an annual home court advantage for SDSU teams... but also the increasing number of Coyote fans during USD games
* The stability of the Summit League moving forward, considering Denver's upcoming departure will leave the conference with eight teams — the minimum needed to ensure an automatic bid in the NCAA basketball tournaments — and talk of schools like Omaha and St. Thomas looking to move to other conferences
* The perception there is a "Dakota Schools vs. Non-Dakota Schools" division among league leadership and a notion that the Dakota schools "run the league."
* South Dakota State's first football practice and the massive change in vibe (mainly, familiarity) from Dan Jackson's first season to his second
* Why North Dakota State should be the favorite in its first season in the Mountain West Conference, plus how South Dakota State would perform immediately there
* The annual state basketball tournament venue quandary and Sioux Falls not hosting a state tourney for the first time in 60 years

USD athletic director Jon Schemmel on the future (contracts) of both men's coach Eric Peterson and women's coach Carrie Eighmey, the reality of the major sports losing their best players to more lucrative NIL deals, the stability of the Summit League and level of unity among school leaders, the prospects of the Summit League Tournament ever moving, and the conference's TV deal.