Sam Masten is happy to be a facilitator.

But he’s not afraid to be an instigator, either.

Masten, one of two seniors on the Northern State men’s basketball squad this season, has guided the Wolves to the top overall seed in the conference tournament and, in doing so, earned NSIC Player of the Year honors, as voted on by the league’s 16 coaches.

And with good reason. Masten ranked in the top ten in five different statistical categories, including scoring (9th), rebounding (7th), assists (1st), field goal percentage (3rd) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2nd).

“Coming in here, part of what drew me here, was that they lost so much from some really talented teams,” Masten said. “They needed guys to come in and be aggressive and be playmakers. … I thought it would be a good fit for me.”

Masten came to the Wolves after three seasons at Division I Northern Colorado, but said after the Covid season and a coaching change, he was ready for something different.

Masten was friends and former roommates with Aberdeen Central product Cole Bergan, who had already announced his intentions to transfer to Northern. One phone call led to a few more, and Masten was on his way.

“I tell people it was the best decision of my life,” Masten said. “Not just for basketball either, the people I’ve met and the community. Every day I’m thankful I ended up here.”

Northern coach Saul Phillips concurred.

“Every aspect of our program, he’s come in and improved it,” Phillips said. “He’s only been here a year and a half, and in terms of leadership and personality and profile around campus, he just is a huge ball of positive leadership to anyone who comes in contact with him. I wish I could coach him for another 20 years.”

Masten and Phillips both acknowledged that the narrative of Masten’s transfer from Division I to Division II could be translated as a “step down.” 

Both refuted it.

“Sam is winning at life right now,” Phillips said. “He had a situation that wasn’t working out for him. And instead of looking back and wallowing – a lot of times someone going from DI to DII, they wouldn’t do it with the positivity he’s done it with.”

“In terms of skill level, there’s not a whole lot of difference between DI and DII,” Masten said. “Coaches at both levels would tell you that. There’s that narrative, but I don’t think it’s that big. There are some mid-major DI teams and they’d be good DII teams, but they wouldn’t be as dominant as people think they would be.”

And, so, for the past two seasons, Masten has poured his soul into Division II basketball, his efforts culminating in what Phillips called a dominant performance this season.

“He’s had a dominant a season as you can ask for,” Phillips said, “and he’s done it all in the framework of maximizing the team and making the team better.”

The Wolves went 22-5 during the regular season and Masten has averaged 18.4 points per game, tops on the squad.

Still, as aggressive as he can, and at times needs to be, Masten knows he doesn’t have to carry the load by himself. That’s where his 179 assists come in.

“We have so many talented guys who can go for 20 points every night,” Masten said.

Perhaps his most surprising stat, however, is his 7.0 rebounds per game. Or, to put it bluntly, Masten leads the team in rebounding – as a point guard.

“To be honest, I just try and help our big men out,” Masten said, noting that he’s as surprised as anybody sometimes when he reads the box score. “We have guys that box other guys out and clean up the mess, so I just go and finish it.”

“It’s a testament to the motor that he plays with,” Phillips said. “He’s all over the court at any given time. He doesn’t get cheated. He knows he has a finite amount of time to play and he’s going to maximize it.”

Masten and the Wolves turn their attention to another thing they’d like to finish: the NSIC tournament. The Wolves were ousted from last year’s conference tournament in the quarterfinal round and did not get a Central Region tournament bid. That stung a bit, Masten admitted.

“When you’re at a place like Northern, a championship is always the expectation,” he said. “Last year we fell short of that. This year, we’ve had a pretty good year. We’re finding ways to win games that we didn’t win last year. … I think we have had a great season to this point. I’m happy with what we’ve done, but at the same time the job’s not finished.”

Northern and the Wolves tip off against Minot State Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The last time the Wolves and Beavers met was last Saturday when Northern took a 74-71 victory in the regular season finale.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that could play a lot of different levels and they end up here,” Phillips said. “To celebrate that and make the most out of two years of basketball, no one has done it like Sam has.”