It didn’t take long for Luke Winkel to find a landing spot.
The former Ankeny Centennial basketball star has committed to play for North Dakota, a member of the Summit League. The sophomore guard will make the jump to Division I after spending his first two years at Division II St. Cloud State.
“I received a lot of interest from a lot of great programs,” said Winkel. “I visited South Dakota and had a visit lined up with Youngstown State and others, but UND felt right during the visit so I committed before completing all my visits.”
North Dakota posted an 18-17 record this season, including a 10-6 mark in the conference. The Fighting Hawks knocked off Denver and Summit League Player of the Year Carson Johnson–a former Ankeny star–in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament and eventually reached the title game before falling to rival North Dakota State with an automatic NCAA Tournament berth on the line.
Three senior guards will be departing the program, including former Iowa State player Eli King.
“The coaching staff is great and passionate about basketball,” Winkel said. “Coach (Paul) Sather and I built a great relationship through the recruiting process.”
Winkel led St. Cloud State to one of the best seasons in school history. The 25th-ranked Huskies won the regular-season title in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, reached the second round of the Division II national tournament and finished with a 26-7 record.
Winkel averaged 18.7 points, 4.0 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game. He surpassed the 1,000-point career milestone in his final game for the Huskies, when he scored 15 points in a 61-55 loss to Minnesota Duluth in a Central Regional semifinal on March 15 at Lee Arena in Topeka, Kan.
Winkel was a repeat selection to the all-conference first team and was named to the all-tournament team after leading St. Cloud State to a runner-up finish at the NSIC tournament. He was also a second-team all-region pick.
Although Winkel is headed to the Summit League, he won’t get a chance to renew his longtime rivalry against Johnson. The two guards waged some epic battles throughout their high school careers and then collided again during the 2024-25 season, when Johnson starred at Minnesota State Moorhead before transferring to Denver.
Johnson announced last month that he would return to Denver for his junior season, but the Pioneers are moving to the West Coast Conference in July.