Tredway, Bill

Born April 16, 1918. 1936 Huron HS grad. Attended Huron College. Tredway made history by doing the first radio broadcasts of the state boys basketball tournament from Huron College’s gym in 1936. “I announced the game from a telephone booth in the arena,” he once recalled. “I was the play-by-play announcer, analyst and engineer. And […]

Olson, Danny

Born April 8, 1922 in Story City, Iowa. 1941 Mason City (Iowa) HS grad. 1949 Luther College grad. A Sioux Falls radio institution, Olson broadcast the state high school basketball tournaments for 50 years and state amateur baseball tourneys for 40. He did play-by-play for Sioux Falls high school games for 31 years, for Augustana […]

Neiber, Nancy

Born Jan. 29, 1947 in Pierre. 1965 Pierre HS grad. 1969 Black Hills State grad. The winningest coach in South Dakota State women’s basketball history, Neiber turned a struggling program into one of the strongest in the Upper Midwest. Taking over a program that had posted back-to-back 8-17 seasons, she went 301-140 in 16 seasons […]

Christensen, Jill

Jill (Smidt) Christensen graduated in 1979 from Lennox High School and from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa in 1983. In high school, she was a two-time Class A 1st team All-State girls basketball player and earned four medals at the State Track Meet in the 880-yard run and the 2-mile relay. While at NWC, […]

Smith, Gene

Born and grew up in Thomas, SD. 1947 Watertown HS grad. 1952 Huron College grad. Perhaps the greatest basketball player in the history of Huron College, Smith was one of the first South Dakotans ever drafted by an NBA team, taken by the NBA champion Minneapolis Lakers in 1952. Despite the complete loss of two […]

Scherr, Bill

Born July 27, 1961 in Eureka. 1980 Mobridge HS grad. 1984 Nebraska grad. One of the few Olympic medalists that South Dakota has produced, Scherr earned a bronze medal at 220 pounds in freestyle wrestling at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He was the world champion at 198 pounds in 1985 but […]

Scherr, Jim

Born July 27, 1961 in Eureka. 1980 Mobridge HS grad. 1984 Nebraska grad. On and off the mat, Scherr has been a champion of the sport of wrestling. He competed in freestyle wrestling at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, finishing fifth at 198 pounds (twin brother Bill won bronze at 220). He […]

Schleusener, Randy

Born Oct. 23, 1957. Rapid City (1976 Stevens HS grad). 1981 University of Nebraska grad. An All-American offensive guard at Nebraska, Schleusener helped the Cornhuskers go 29-7 with trips to the Orange, Cotton and Sun bowls from 1978-80. The 6-foot-6, 250-pounder was an all-Big Eight Conference performer in 1979 and ’80 and All-American in ’80 […]

Phillippe, Charles

Born May 23, 1872 in Rural Retreat, Va. As an infant, his family moved to South Dakota, to Ashton, north of Redfield. The winning pitcher in the first World Series game ever played, on Oct. 1, 1903, Phillippe pitched a six-hitter and struck out 10 as Pittsburgh defeated Boston 7-3. The losing pitcher that day […]

Graff, Neil

Born Jan. 12, 1950 in Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls (1968 Lincoln High grad). 1972 University of Wisconsin grad. The only National Football League quarterback that South Dakota has produced, the Sioux Falls native spent six years with five teams in the 1970s. Graff got his start in organized football as a seventh-grader playing touch football […]