For Linn-Mar’s Davis Kern, his first college basketball offer turned out to be the best one

CEDAR RAPIDS — As it turned out, the very first offer was the very best offer for Davis Kern.

The 6-foot-8 senior-to-be from Linn-Mar recently announced his commitment to play college basketball at South Dakota State.

The Class 4A first-team all-stater and Gazette-area player of the year is a forward who can score from inside and out. He averaged 22.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last season.

“They were my first offer awhile ago, so that meant something to me,” Kern said. “Them believing in me right away and everything. When I went on a visit there, I just loved it. It felt right to me.”

Kern has been an impactful starter for Linn-Mar since he was a freshman. Northern Iowa, Bryant and California-San Diego also offered him, and North Dakota State and Furman reached out lately and wanted him to visit.

But SDSU will be his home. The program is successful and has Iowa ties all over it.

Head coach Eric Henderson is a Maquoketa Valley graduate and assistant coach Bryan Petersen played at Iowa State and previously was head coach at Kirkwood Community College. Iowans have dotted the Jackrabbits roster throughout the years, including former Cedar Rapids Xavier guard Matt Mims, who just finished his South Dakota State career.

“I’ve always wanted to commit my 17U (AAU) season in June,” Kern said. “In between the two (recruiting) periods. I didn’t want to wait. And it’s a relief also. It just felt like the right place. I love the coaches. I was getting interest from a lot of other schools, too, but I didn’t feel like they were better than South Dakota State. It was like why wait?”

Kern was asked how much he was hurt recruiting wise by the NCAA transfer portal. He’d be a good development type of player for a bigger program, but those bigger programs understandably would rather recruit guys who already have proven they can play at the D-I level.

Plug and play over development these days.

“A great amount, honestly,” Kern said. “Just like from what I’ve heard in recruiting and from other people ... if it was five years ago, so many more (high schoolers) would have offers and opportunities in college. I mean, it makes sense with the transfers. They’d rather have a fourth-year senior who will come in ready and stronger and everything than a guy like me, who is going to be a freshman.

“They’d just rather have someone who is proven, and it definitely hurts a lot of people. I’m super grateful that I’m lucky enough to have the opportunities that I have. Because I know there are tons of kids where it’s a lot harder than it used to be.”

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