BURNSVILLE, MINN. -- The University of Sioux Falls Men's Golf Team, which returns nearly its entire squad from a year ago, been picked to finish third in 2020-21 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, which was released by the league office on Wednesday.

The Cougars, which moved up two spots from the preseason coaches rankings of 2019-20 and earned a first place vote for the first time, will be led by NSIC Preseason Player of the Year JJ Cooney, a senior from Pickstown, S.D., who became USF's first ever three-time All-NSIC selection last spring.  

Winona State was the top pick in the coaches poll with five first-place votes and 73 points. Concordia St. Paul was second at 62 and a first-place vote followed closely by USF with a first place vote and 62 points and Bemidji State with two first place votes and 58 points. In fifth place in the poll was Minnesota State, which also had a first-place vote, and 51 points. The rest of the NSIC included: 6. Upper Iowa, 43; 7. Minot State, 35; 8. Augustana, 31; 9. Minnesota Crookston, 22; and 10. Mary, 15.

Directed by second-year head coach Tavia Rutherford, USF returns plenty of experience with its top seven all returning to lead the squad.  

"As a whole, I am excited to see what this team is able to accomplish this spring. They have really come together and bought into achieving our team goals," said USF Head Coach Tavia Rutherford. "The competitive mindset on and off the course will continue to build our championship culture for years to come," she said.

As USF's first preseason golfer of the year, Cooney leads this talented unit of golfers. A senior from Pickstown, S.D., Cooney, a three-time Academic All-NSIC selection and Myles Brand Academic Achievement awardee, was named a CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree in the spring. Cooney, who was named USF's Male Student Athlete of the Year on April 27, graduated Cum Laude (3.78 GPA) in May with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration and Entrepreneurial Studies. He is enrolled in the Master of Business Administration program. Cooney who ranked fifth in the NSIC with a 73.5 scoring average last year, was among 32 student-athletes in the NSIC named Honor Student-Athletes. Cooney competed in six events in 2019-20 and totaled 13 rounds of golf. Cooney, who ranked fifth in the NSIC with a 73.54 round average, carded a best round of 69 which came in the second round of play at the Watkins Invitational, as he won the competition in a playoff while recording a program-best two-round total of 140 (71-69). He had three top-10 finishes in 2019-20 and now has 16 top-10 finishes in his career with five top-five finishes and an individual title.

Twice, Cooney has led USF to eighth place finishes at the NSIC Championships with a fifth place team finish in 2018-19. In his career, he has made 5,454 shots in 73 rounds for a 74.71 career stroke average.  He was also named the Vucurevich School of Business Outstanding Entrepreneurial Studies Senior during the Spirit of Excellence presentation in May.

"JJ is what you look for in a student-athlete. He excels not only on the golf course but in the classroom. He works exceptionally hard and has a great head on his shoulders. JJ has many goals and he is determined to do what it takes to achieve them.  He knows what it takes to be successful and is willing to put in the work. He is a natural born leader and I can't want to see what he will accomplish this spring," said Rutherford.

In 2019-20, USF had three top-three finishes and five performances with a top-seven placement before the Co-VID 19 pandemic closed down the season.

The Cougars, which won the Augustana Invite in September, 2019, return their top-five, a group that averaged between 73-78 per round. Along with Cooney at 73.54, sophomore Jack Evans, who has five top-10 finishes in two seasons, had two top-10 results and a 74.08 average, which ranked 13^th in the NSIC. Senior Jacob Zosel, who has five top-10 finishes in his career, won a title and had a top-five finish with a 75.53 average. Senior Brenden Bassing, who has four top-10 career finishes and is a two-time Academic All-NSIC honoree, had a top-five finish and overall 76.0 average in 2019-20. All for USF, sophomore Nathan Woodall averaged 78.00 a year ago while sophomore Jake Oetzmann was at 80.75.

As a team, the Cougars averaged 298.15, which was a seven-stroke improvement from the previous year.   Nine times in 13 rounds, USF was a sub-300.  USF opens the season on March 1-2 at the Natural State Golf Classic at the Greystone Country Club in Cabot, Arkansas. 

USF opens the season on March 1-2 at the Natural State Golf Classic at the Greystone Country Club in Cabot, Arkansas. The three-round NSI Men's Golf Championship is set for April 16-18 at Shoal Creek Golf Course in Kansas City, Mo.