Tibbetts, Fred
The 1967 De Smet High and 1972 Dakota State grad won 551 games and 11 state titles – both state girls basketball coaching records. He was 551-101 in 29 seasons at the high school level (18 at Jefferson, 11 at Roosevelt). His teams qualified for the state tourney 19 times and reached the state finals […]
Timmins, Buck
(Born 1948. Died 2020.) 1966 Mitchell/1971 Dakota Wesleyan graduate. Timmins was one of South Dakota’s premier promoters of all sports as a teacher, coach, administrator and official. He won numerous awards in each of those categories. Timmins coached all different sports during a 36-year career at Avon (seven years) and Parkston (29 years). He started […]
Tjeerdsma, Mel
The Springfield High and 1967 graduate of Southern State in Springfield was one of the most successful coaches in the history of college football. He coached Northwest Missouri State to a 183-43 record and three NCAA Division II titles in 17 seasons. Northwest was 0-11 in Tjeerdsma’s first season in 1994, then went 183-32 the […]
Trautner, Phil
Born in Beulah, N.D. in 1926. 1944 Goodrich, N.D., HS grad. 1951 Minnesota grad. The most successful prep tennis coach in state history, Trautner’s teams were 361-61 from 1965-2002. He led the Governors to four state titles (1975, ’79, ’84-85), three runner-up finishes and 10 Eastern South Dakota Conference titles. Taught and/or coached in Pierre […]
Trout, Lemoine
(Born 1943. Died 2002.) 1961 Alliance (NE) High School/1966 Black Hills State graduate. Was the key figure in building a track dynasty at Rapid City Stevens. His girls won six straight State AA titles from 1996-2001. His boys won a state title in 2001. Started teaching at Rapid City Stevens in 1982 until the time […]
Uttecht, Jim
1965 Tripp/1969 Southern State (USD-Springfield) graduate. One of the winningest prep football coaches in state history, Uttecht guided West Central to eight titles in nine championship games and a 234-64 record (fifth best ever when he retired as head coach) in 28 seasons as head coach from 1974-2003. The Trojans won seven of eight state […]
Wachs, Bob
Born Jan. 26, 1923 in Tracy, Minn. 1947 Northern Colorado grad. The winningest coach in the history of South Dakota men’s basketball, Wachs compiled a 532-286 record in 30 years at Northern State (1955-85). The Wolves were SDIC champions 10 times and NIC champs twice under Wachs, who also led the Wolves to the NAIA […]
Luitjens, Larry
The state’s winningest boys basketball coach, Luitjens has won more than 70 percent of his games over 36 seasons, most of them at Custer. His career record (entering the 2005-06 season) is 617-249. In 29 of his 36 seasons, his teams won district titles. He has coached one unbeaten team (Custer, 25-0, 1990) and five […]
Marking, Jim
Parkston H.S. 1950 SDSU grad. In 24 years as a prep and college basketball coach, he won 73.8 percent of the time. He retired as the winningest coach in SDSU men’s basketball history (148-80). In his 9+ seasons as SDSU coach (1965-74), the Jackrabbits won the conference title four times and reached the postseason five […]
Marquardt, Bill
1970 Salem/1976 Northern State graduate. Successful coach in a variety of sports, significant contributor to growing/improving SD sports. First SD prep coach to win state championships in football and basketball (and only one of four in state history to do so with Marv McCune, Kent Mueller and Paul Raasch). Had a 501-265 record in 36 […]