Dakota Valley High School’s Isaac Bruns is the 2022-23 Gatorade South Dakota Boys Basketball Player of the Year. 

Bruns is the first Gatorade South Dakota Boys Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Dakota Valley High School. The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Bruns as South Dakota’s best high school boys basketball player. 

At the time of his selection, the 6-foot-4, 180-pound senior guard led the Panthers to a 23-0 record and the No. 1 seed in South Dakota’s Class A state tournament. Entering the postseason, Bruns is averaging 26.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, connecting on 43 percent of his 3-point attempts. He’s the anchor of a Dakota Valley program that set a Class A state record with a running winning streak of 50 consecutive games. 

Bruns has volunteered locally as a Sunnybrook Community Church youth group member and has donated his time as both a summer basketball camp volunteer and with the VFW youth baseball program. He’s also a member of the National Honor Society. 

“He’s a great kid, great student, does everything right off the court,” said Dakota Valley head coach Jason Kleis. “He’s a flat-out scorer and a great defender—he’s everything a coach could ask for.” Bruns has maintained a 4.0 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball on scholarship at the University of South Dakota this fall.