Southwest Minnesota State’s Duwa Omot pulls up for a shot during a game this past college basketball season.

On March 15, Southwest Minnesota State University’s Dunwa Omot played the last game of his collegiate basketball career as the Mustangs took a close 69-62 loss to Winona State in the opening round of the DII NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

In the game, Omot scored 12 points by hitting four of his five 3-point attempts, leading the team in 3-point makes.The game perhaps served as a microcosm of Omot’s career, as the 2020 Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School graduate and All-Journal Basketball Player of the Year stands dotted around the SMSU men’s basketball record books after an outstanding 3-point shooting career.

Omot finishes his career as a Mustang fifth all time in 3-point field goals made (215), 11th in 3-point percentage (40.8%) and 10th in career free throw percentage (82.3%), making his mark as one of the top shooters in school history. Omot holds the record for 3-point field goal percentage in a season after shooting an incredible 56.6% in the 2021-22 season and led his team all four years he started in 3-pointers made, making at least 51 each season. Omot also finishes eighth in career scoring at SMSU with 1,422 points and is tied for 11th in steals with 121.

Looking back at his career, Omot is happy to have made an impact for the Mustangs.

“Coming into this program, you don’t really know what to expect,” he said. “You don’t know how your career is going to end or finish. But I was fortunate enough to come in kind of right away and make my mark. First as just a shooter, that’s what I had to do;that was my main role, but throughout the years it adjusted to being more of a primary ball handler and playmaker, then going back to shooter. But I just do whatever I need to do for team success and I was fortunate enough that my role would have an impact and leave a pretty good career.”

Omot excelled in many of those roles, as he has earned two All-NSIC Second Team selections in his career, once after the 2022-23 season when he lead the team in scoring with 16.6 points per game, and once this year.

“I do whatever,” Omot said. “Whatever it took to win is my mindset playing. Whatever the coaches and players need me to do, I’ll do. Adjusting roles is a part of it. Playing basketball here for five years, you’re going to get scouted by different coaches and stuff that know your player personnel, your scouting, your tendencies. By keeping them honest and switching positions and putting different people in different places, it’s how we found success in the past couple of years. Using decoys and stuff like that to create different matchups is something I accept. Role changes and whatnot, as long as it involves the success for the program, I’ll never complain.”

During his four years starting, SMSU had plenty of team success, posting a 71-46 record with two DII NCAA tournament appearances.

“Definitely over the years the team has been trending upwards,” Omot said. “The team in my last two years has made the NCAA tournament. I think it’s a credit to guys around me. Everybody’s hungry and willing and doing what it takes to get to that, and even after I leave, I know that there’s a group behind me that’s hungry to get back to the NCAA tournament, but not just that, to make the Elite Eight or the Final Four and win the chip. They’re going to get after it.”

Omot’s signature skill of shooting comes from honing his abilities at all times.

“I think it’s just trusting your work,” he said. “Not everybody sees what you do outside of practice when you’re on your own. Just being consistent and putting in work, and it always shows on the court. Different coaches throughout the past have told me it all depends on you, and you need to do what you need to do to leave your mark and be the best at your role.”

Holding that single-season 3-point record is important to Omot, who set the record in his redshirt freshman season in his first full year playing.

“It’s been a great experience,” Omot said. “Just a credit to my teammates around me. My role that year was to kind of just be a catch-and-shooter with the playmakers around me, and my job was to let it go with confidence. The coaches and teammates instilled confidence around me, and that created that success. It was a pretty good shooting year, obviously.”

Omot’s impact has gone beyond the defensive end, as his 121 career steals and 54 career blocks — 19th all-time at SMSU, impressive for a guard — have helped the team be the top defensive unit in the conference for the past two years.

“I’d say I’m pretty versatile,” Omot said. “I try to take the ball in the passing lanes, use quick hands. I’m not the biggest or strongest by any means, but I’d say my hands I use to my advantage. Just thinking ahead and anticipating is one of the things I’ve always had. Defense leads to offense, and that’s one of the staples of our program. Being the number one defense in the conference is something we pride ourselves in every day. In order to play, you’re going to have to guard. That’s been why we’ve been successful the past couple of years.”

Omot said the area where he has grown the most during his time at SMSU has been his leadership abilities.

“Each year, putting in different roles and accepting the roles and being mature and trying to lead my team on, I definitely feel like I’ve grown,” he said. “Seeing seniors when I first came do that helped me see their lead. I was the only senior on the squad [last year], and my job was just to lead and show the other guys how to do it. And I trust that they will all do that next year and go about their business, and then after that, they’ll teach the next group that comes in. Just leaving your mark as a leader, everybody has a unique way of leading.

Not always by words, but by actions. That’s where I’d say I grew the most.”

Omot studied sports management, coaching and marketing at SMSU and is still considering his options when it comes to his future with basketball. Omot may continue to play overseas or stay in the states and work with sports in some other way.

“If I do not pursue basketball overseas, I was thinking of staying in the sports industry,” he said.

“Whatever that takes. Not really sure what exact job, got a couple different options, just have to sit down,take time and weigh them out. But I’m also thinking of pursuing a career overseas. That’s a long process, so I have to figure all that out.”