Tays, Jim “Slim Jim” & “Jumping Jim”
1950 Gettysburg/1954 USD graduate. Won 18 letters as one of SD’s best all-time basketball players and high jumpers — 4 TF letters, 4 BB and 3 FB at Gettysburg and seven (4 track and 3 BB) at USD. Left USD as its second leading scorer in history and “the greatest high school and college high […]
Reeves, Tom
1981 Cheyenne-Eagle Butte High School graduate who studied Rodeo Business at Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Member of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. The 2001 World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider and 18-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier (consecutive from 1985-2002). The year Reeves won in 2001 he was one of five South Dakotans (Billy Etbauer of […]
Sanders, John “Deac”
1968 Sunshine Bible Academy (near Miller)/1973 USD graduate. Born in Chicago, Sanders played six seasons as a defensive back in the NFL (1974-76 with New England and 1977-79 with Philadelphia). The 6-1, 177-pounder intercepted six passes in 1977 (second best in the NFL that year) and five each in 1974 and 1978 for a career […]
Musiel (Nielsen), Candi
1984 Armour /1988 Augustana graduate. Candi Nielsen Musiel was an all-state in prep basketball as a junior and senior. Led Armour to 1983 state basketball title (first of five in a row) and to three State B track titles. Armour went to the State B basketball tourney three times with Nielsen patrolling the court, and […]
Mackner, Guy
1965 Sisseton/1969 SDSU graduate. The 6-foot-7 center teamed with John Thomas and Gene Zulk to make South Dakota State a men’s basketball powerhouse in the late 1960s. He averaged 19.9 points and 11.6 rebounds a game as a junior. Mackner earned all-conference honors as a junior and senior and led the North Central Conference in […]
Lone Hill, Hobart
HOBART LONE HILL (Born 1936. Died 2018.) 1956 Rapid City Central graduate who attended South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Born in Pine Ridge. Hobart started boxing his brothers at a young age when one of their dad’s friends, a former boxer, gave his friend’s children his boxing gloves. Hobart was hooked from the […]
Lone Hill, Edgar
EDGAR LONE HILL (Born 1932. Died 1999.) 1952 Rapid City Central graduate who attended Black Hills State before leaving for the military. Born in Pine Ridge and moved to Rapid City at age 6 where he lived until he died. West Point nominee and Korean War veteran. Lettered in football and basketball. He was the […]
Jansa, Ryan
1991 Sioux Falls Lincoln/1996 New Mexico State graduate Perhaps the greatest, but for certain the most decorated, amateur golfer in South Dakota history with a record 33 South Dakota Golf Association champions and numerous state runner-up finishes. Won nine husband-wife state titles with wife and fellow SDGA Hall of Famer Julie. He played professionally for […]
Halter, Vern
1967 Flandreau/1971 USD graduate who later earned law degree in Vermillion. In the Flandreau Athletic Hall of Fame. One of the world’s and South Dakota’s most famous sled-dog racer, Halter competed in the 1,000-mile (Anchorage to Nome) Iditarod 19 times in a 22-year span (1983-2005). His best finish was third in 1999 to earn about […]
Grubb (Coyle), Cathy
1979 Belle Fourche/1983 Northern State graduate. Cathy (Coyle) Grubb was a two-time All-American basketball player at Northern State who led Wolves to a four-year record of 98-15. She scored 1,342 career points and was one of the school’s best-ever free throw shooters (82 percent career average). She led the Wolves to third in the nation […]