RAPID CITY - At the beginning of last season, Black Hills State head coach Paul Sather was shuffling the lineup game to game. Then, late in the season, he decided to go with an all-freshmen starting five.

The young group took their lumps, staying right about .500 until the last few games of the year. But soon, the team began to gel and ended up making it to the DAC conference semifinals before losing to Jamestown.

A year later, Sather has remained committed to the same five, and with some quality upperclassmen coming off the bench, the Yellow Jackets are off to their best season yet under Sather at 14-3 overall and 3-1 in the DAC conference.

"Everyone on this team knows their role on the team and everybody likes each other," said starting sophomore guard Cain Atkinson. "There is no selfishness on this team, and I feel like everybody wants everyone else to do well. We don't care who scores and rebounds as long as we win."

Atkinson, who is leading the team in scoring at 18 points per game, says Sather's confidence in starting five freshmen helped them gain crucial experience coming into this year.

"Last year, we were kind of struggling and coach had the confidence to put in five freshmen, and I think now we know what to expect in a lot of different situations," said Atkinson. "But it isn't just the starting five, I think we have the best bench in the conference and our depth will be crucial if we're going to get to where we want to go."

Along with Atkinson, who is second in the conference in scoring, Black Hills State has five players averaging double-figures and has 12 players who have played in 10 games or more, something fellow starting sophomore Will John Johnson says are major keys if the Yellow Jackets are to achieve one of their goals of winning the DAC conference.

"We understand this year we have to play as a team," said Johnson. "We always stay together and have worked hard knowing that we have the opportunity of becoming a really good team."

The Yellow Jackets are currently ranked eighth in the latest NAIA poll and are coming off a crucial 93-91 win over preseason conference favorites Minot State. Seven of the team's regulars are underclassmen - Luke Enos, Clay Pottorff and Spencer Childress - round out the starting lineup while Travis Haney and Rob Johnson play key reserve roles along with seniors A.J. Fodness and Randy Herman.

"We don't have any loopholes," said Enos, who earned DAC player of the week honors last week. "We're strong both on the offensive end and defensively and we're best when we worry about getting everybody involved."

Heading into the bulk of their conference schedule the Yellow Jackets players are quick to point out they're far from satisfied as a result of their strong start, they have much higher expectations.

"We're not going to be satisfied winning 15 games," said Johnson. "We're not just here to win a conference championship, or make it deep into the playoffs. We want to go to nationals, and we want to make some noise while we're there."