By Matt Gade

605 Sports

BROOKINGS — Fresh off a Summit League Tournament Championship, tournament MVP and Summit League 2nd team honor junior Haleigh Timmer was gearing up to take on an even bigger role for the South Dakota State women’s basketball team heading into the 2023-24 season. 

That was until a knee injury sustained just before the start of the season derailed those plans.

A year later, the former St. Thomas More standout is finally healthy and excited to step back onto the court,

“I was thinking a couple of weeks ago how it's been way over a year since I played a game,” Timmer said. “So I'm super excited to be back, and just being in practice has even been so much fun.”

As a sophomore, Timmer averaged 12.1 points per game, ranking second on the team. She also averaged 3.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

The Jacks came out of the Summit League advancing to the NCAA tournament where the team, as the 9-seed, knocked off 8-seeded USC 62-57 in overtime before falling to the No. 1-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies 72-60.

While Timmer was forced to sit out last season while she was rehabbing, the Jacks managed to repeat as Summit League Champions led by then-sophomore Brooklyn Meyer who went from averaging 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds as a freshman to 18.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.85 blocks per game last season. Meyer was named Summit League Player of the Year and Summit League Defensive Player of the Year.

With the success of last season for the Jacks, Timmer is excited for this year’s team. Meyer along with teammate Paige Meyer, a senior and Summit League first-team player last season, were both named to the Becky Hammond Watch List. The award recognizes the top players in mid-major women's basketball.

“We had a lot of injuries last year, which wasn't great, but it was really cool to see a lot of players step up, and even people that, aside from just Brooklyn and Paige, the team really did a good job of working together and staying close,” Timmer said. “Everybody stepped up and had a role. So it was really cool to see that, and I'm excited to see how that chemistry and experience translates to this year.”

Haleigh Timmer #13 of the South Dakota State Jackrabbits dribbles the ball against Polina Nikulochkina #4 of the Omaha Mavericks at the 2023 Summit League Basketball Championship at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. (Photo by Richard Carlson/Inertia)

While she was unable to participate, Timmer was at every practice watching and soaking in as much as she could while doing her physical therapy three times a week.

“It was really hard to sit out and not be able to play,” she said. “I think it was hard to be out just because of the length of the season, but at the same time, I feel like I learned a lot, and I'm going into this next year with such a more grateful perspective in being able to play again.

“It allows you to view the game in a different perspective and just learn a lot about things that you can't see while you're in there. So I think that was one of the main things I learned.”

Timmer credits head coach Aaron Johnston for keeping her involved in what was going on and keeping her upbeat despite the setback last season.

“He's always been really good at communicating the value each of us has on the team,” Timmer said of Johnston. “I think that keeps us focused on what's important and ultimately just trying to get back and keeps us focused on just working as a team.”

Ahead of the 2024-25 season, the Jacks were picked to win the Summit League regular season trophy in the preseason poll released by the conference office Tuesday. Brooklyn Meyer was named the Preseason Player of the Year. Paige Meyer joins Brooklyn on the preseason first-team. Timmer was picked to the preseason second team.

While the Jacks feature six upperclassmen, South Dakota State looks to have depth with its freshmen class featuring five players all from South Dakota. 

“It's a huge blessing that we have such great depth,” Timmer said. “This year, we're adding five freshmen and then lots of returners that have a lot of experience, so it's a good group, and I think we'll be able to have a good season.”

Personally, Timmer said she is looking to start off just like she finished her 2023 campaign and improve on that.

“A lot of it is just building confidence in my knee and then building off of that into becoming the player I used to be,” she said. “Then building on that even and improving my skills. So I think just giving myself Grace throughout the process, but ultimately just working hard to get back to where I was.”

While Timmer is a redshirt junior, the Rapid City native will graduate in the spring with a degree in mathematics. From there, she said she plans on pursuing grad school to earn a degree in statistics. 

Haleigh Timmer #13 of St. Thomas More looks past Yankton defender Payton Wolfgram #10 during their game Friday evening at Barnett Arena in Rapid City, S.D. in February 2020. (Photo by Richard Carlson/Inertia)

Timmer said she plans on playing her extra year of eligibility while pursuing her post-graduate degree. She said she’s really interested in data analytics and seeing what the future holds studying that subject.

All-in-all, Timmer said she’s just grateful to be able to continue to play the sport that she loves and help the Jackrabbits succeed in 2024.

“I've never really had a major injury in my basketball career, so I've never had to sit out for that long, or really ever,” Timmer said. “So just being grateful for every opportunity, and going into this year, just making the most of the season.

“I would say I'm just mostly focused on team goals and helping my team the best that I can to achieve a good run in the postseason, and just taking it one game at a time and doing what we can do to succeed.”