Apr. 4—FREEMAN, S.D. — Well before he stepped on the varsity court wearing a Freeman Flyers uniform, David Walter was practically inseparable from the game of basketball.
Flyers’ coach Lance Friesen, a Freeman native, remembers a young Walter riding around the community with a basketball wedged between the bars of his bicycle, ready to play at a moment’s notice.
That exceptional enthusiasm for the game pushed Walter to want to be part of a culture change within his hometown program. During the three seasons immediately prior to Walter joining the Freeman High School basketball team, the Flyers’ overall record was 2-61, a pair of 1-20 seasons on either side of 0-21.
Fast forward through four years of varsity basketball, and Freeman is now the reigning Class B boys basketball champion, having claimed the program’s first state boys basketball title in 51 years.
Walter wasn’t just any part of that historic turnaround. Even on a roster flush with talent, the sophomore star was the one at the forefront of the Flyers’ V-formation that soared through Class B with a 24-2 record and 22 consecutive victories to close out the championship campaign.
Along the way, Walter posted 17.7 points on 64.7% shooting from the field, including a 42.9% mark from 3-point range, to go with 7.5 rebounds and three assists per game this season. Those efforts made Walter the only underclassman named to the Class B all-state first team.
“I don’t know if I was really ready for everything early on, but I also knew I didn’t have a lot of pressure, because when you’re 0-21, what’s the pressure on you?” Walter said of his climb. “I just had to keep putting work in the gym and competing in practice with my teammates so we could keep getting better together.”
“There’s just a trust. The fact that I can trust (my teammates) and they can trust me really means that we work well together,” Walter added as the key to Freeman’s success. “That’s a gift, honestly, and you need that to win.”
For his crucial role in contributing to the Flyers’ winning formula, David Walter earned the Mitchell Republic’s 2026 boys basketball player of the year award.
Walter is the first Freeman athlete to be chosen as the Republic’s boys basketball player of the year, an award presented annually since 1995. The award is selected by the newspaper’s sports staff via a point-based voting system that awards five points to the top player, four points to the second player on the ballot and so on.
Other players receiving consideration were Mitchell’s Colton Smith, Lyman’s MJ Diehm, Bridgewater-Emery’s Ben Weber, Parkston’s Brycen Bruening and Winner’s Carter Craven.
Early in his varsity career, David Walter, then significantly shorter, first emerged on the varsity stage as one of the Flyers’ primary ball-handlers. As a seventh grader, he was listed at 5-foot-10, which boosted to 6-foot-2 in eighth grade and 6-foot-4 last year.
Playing catch-up following the growth spurt, Walter said he felt a little uncoordinated as a freshman. Even still, he was picked as a Class B third-team all-state performer with averages of 18.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Compared to his freshman physique, Walter stepped on the court this winter in a different place.
Now up to 6-foot-5 and still listed as a guard, Walter was at least an inch taller, and after an offseason in the weight room, he was visibly more muscular, especially in the upper body. His primary focus during training wasn’t strength but explosion, which only enhanced an already effective playmaking skill set on the hardwood by improving first-step quickness, especially for his size, and finishing ability when attacking the rim.
“I just like the fact that I’m now quick enough that I can get to the rim when I want to, because it’s easy buckets,” Walter said of the difference between his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Added strength also made a difference when playing in the post. At the same time, Walter has maintained his other skills, from ball-handling and shooting to slashing and scoring, making him difficult to defend.
“He’s always been a natural scorer, so true point guard wasn’t necessarily ever his role,” said Freeman coach Lance Friesen, who took over the program in 2021-22, the year before Walter entered the varsity picture. “He’s a natural wing and has grown into, at times, a dominant post player, which we didn’t see coming. He’s an inside-outside threat like I haven’t really seen in a while.”
According to Friesen, Walter further sets himself apart from his peers with elite offensive rebounding. It’s yet another attribute that has only improved as Walter has grown taller and stronger.
“Anytime he touches a ball, it’s his,” Friesen said of Walter’s rebounding ability.
A significant portion of Walter’s production comes in the form of snaring Freeman’s own misses and putting them back up and in, evidenced by an ultra-efficient 64.7% shooting clip. Though Freeman’s statistical archives for single-game rebounding only date back to around 2000, Walter holds the modern program record with 19 rebounds in one contest, a mark he established as a 5-foot-10 seventh-grader.
With his blend of skill and size, Walter has the unique ability to play and guard all five positions on the court. That exceptional versatility opens up a plethora of options for Friesen and the Flyers to put everyone in a position to succeed, and, naturally, it makes Walter one of the most difficult individual matchups in the state, too. Through his sophomore season, Walter has 1,208 points and 549 rebounds for his high school career.
“He’s a stud and a dynamic player,” Wall coach Ryan Kjerstad said of Walter following a Class B state tournament semifinal between the Flyers and Eagles on March 20. “He can bring the ball down the floor and play from the outside, and then he has the size to go along with it. Obviously, he’s going to do some nice things.”
“He’s such a tough matchup,” Castlewood coach Paul Raasch added after the state championship game between the Flyers and Warriors on March 21. “He can score on all three levels, plus he’s got a quick first step and good size. He’s just tough.”
David Walter is one of several standout talents in the Freeman lineup.
Three more members of the Flyers’ starting five — seniors Tate Sorensen and Luke Peters and fellow sophomore Tayden Kerrigan — were named all-Cornbelt Conference players in 2026. Walter and Sorensen were both all-Cornbelt picks last year, too.
It was during that 2024-25 season that the Freeman coaching staff recognized that Walter had established himself as the team’s top player. On a roster littered with other competitive personalities, there was some hesitation as to how that dynamic might resolve itself.
“We worried a lot last year as coaches how some of those upperclassmen might feel or react, because it became obvious: David was option No. 1. He showed that, and he is so confident, because he earned that confidence,” Friesen said. “We have great kids, and it happened naturally, so it worked out well. We didn’t have any drama or problems.”
Instead, Walter’s teammates recognized how the up-and-comer helped elevate the entire program. Even with Walter as the centerpiece, everyone got better, and the Flyers rose to be one of the top programs in Class B.
“I try to set the tone and just play hard. In my opinion, that’s all you really need to do,” Walter said. “I just want to leave the court knowing, win or lose, that I played as hard as I could and I did everything I could to help us win.”
However, in back-to-back seasons, Walter experienced unlucky, untimely setbacks that kept him out of postseason play. His eighth-grade season, he broke his foot ahead of Freeman’s season opener, and after returning mid-season, he broke his other foot between the final regular-season game and the start of the regional playoffs. A year later, illness limited Walter from being at his best at the Class B state tournament, which was Freeman’s first tournament berth since 1999.
“You put in all this extra work in the offseason and after practice, and then something like that happens to you, like breaking your foot or getting really sick. It’s more annoying than anything,” Walter said. “I wish I could have done more, but there was nothing I could do. You’ve got to accept it and move on. But that got me mentally ready to come back this year and work hard again.”
During the 2025-26 regular season, Walter had a signature moment that the state took notice of, draining a game-winning buzzer-beating 3-pointer to beat Wessington Springs in a ranked Hanson Classic clash at the Corn Palace. But that wasn’t a new development for the Flyers.
“David loves big moments, and he does not shy away from them. He’s got a confidence that when he was younger, sometimes it was like, ‘Easy, buddy, you’ve got to earn it,'” Friesen said. “Over time, he’s made big play after big play in big games and has always risen to the challenge. He’s absolutely a big game player.”
To start the postseason, Walter dropped in 54 points across two Region 4B playoff games, putting up a monstrous 30-point, 15-rebound double-double against Parkston to reach the SoDak 16. In the lead-up to the statewide postseason, Walter sprained an ankle, but it would hardly have been noticeable to anyone outside the program.
Across the Flyers’ six win-or-go-home postseason games this season, Walter averaged 21.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, achieving a double-double in four of those contests, including the state semifinals and championship. As Freeman knocked off defending champion Castlewood in the title game, Walter posted 22 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, all his personal tournament highs, as he grabbed a place on the all-tournament team.
“He means everything to us, he really does,” Tate Sorensen said of Walter after the title win. “David can create for himself, and he just has something you don’t see in a sophomore. He’s someone who is going to be very special to watch these next two years.”
“He’s our best player, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets 2,000 points by his senior year,” Luke Peters added after the championship victory. “He doesn’t really get intimidated much. When he goes in the game, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, this is what I do.’ Basketball is his jam, and he’s just a dog like that.”
Here’s a look at the other players who received consideration, with their vote-point totals in parentheses:
Colton Smith, Mitchell (11 points, 1 first-place vote): The 6-foot-5 senior forward/guard posted 17.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per contest, leading the Kernels in all five categories. He was named to the Class AA second team for his third career all-state selection. Smith amassed 1,331 points, the third-most in MHS program history, and 743 rebounds in his career.
MJ Diehm, Lyman (8 points): Helping guide the Raiders to an 18-8 record and fourth-place finish at the Class B tournament, the 5-foot-11 guard notched 19 points and six assists per game. Diehm was picked to the Class B all-state second team.
Ben Weber, Bridgewater-Emery (6 points): A versatile 6-foot-6 senior forward, Weber stuffed stat sheets to the tune of 18.5 points on 58% shooting, along with 10.7 rebounds and six assists per game for the 16-6 Huskies. The Class B all-state second-teamer was also tabbed as the Cornbelt Conference MVP.
Brycen Bruening, Parkston (5 points): On the way to becoming a Class B all-state second-team honoree, the 6-foot-2 junior guard powered the 18-4 Trojans with 19.7 points and six rebounds per game.
Carter Craven, Winner (1 point): Though limited to 10 games by injury, the 6-foot-6 junior forward averaged a double-double at 23.4 points and 10.7 rebounds per game and was Class A honorable mention all-state.
Past award winners: 1995: Chris Janssen, Emery; 1996: Cody Volmer, Lyman; 1997: Mike Miller, Mitchell; 1998: Mike Miller, Mitchell; 1999: Doug Hall, Scotland; 2000: Jared Reiner, Tripp-Delmont; 2001: Matt Jones, Alpena-Wessington Springs; 2002: Ben DeWaard, Stickney; 2003: Nathan Graves, Mitchell Christian; 2004: Mike Steffen, Mount Vernon; 2005: Preston Broughton, Corsica; 2006: Danny Fathke, Avon; 2007: Matt Malloy, Parkston; 2008: Jordan Miller, Mitchell; 2009: David Maxwell, Parkston; 2010: Jesse Tolsma, Mitchell Christian; 2011: Tucker Volesky, Mitchell; 2012: Jade Miller, Mitchell; 2013: Jesse Taylor, Kimball/White Lake; 2014: Coby Johnson, Platte-Geddes; 2015: Taylor Nichols, Hanson; 2016: Seth Friesz, Chamberlain; 2017: Sawyer Schultz, Bridgewater-Emery; 2018: Sawyer Schultz, Bridgewater-Emery; 2019: Sawyer Schultz, Bridgewater-Emery; 2020: Reggie Slaba, Hanson; 2021: Zane Alm, Mitchell; 2022: Caden Hinker, Mitchell; 2023: Reed Rus, Mount Vernon/Plankinton; 2024: Markus Talley, Mitchell; 2025: Markus Talley, Mitchell; 2026: David Walter, Freeman.
