Hoover, Gayle

Born Dec. 15, 1934. Washington High and 1958 Sioux Falls College grad. Ranks as one of the state’s finest both as a player and as a coach. At SFC, the 6-foot-2 Hoover became the first South Dakota college player to score over 2,000 career points (2,069). He averaged 28.5 points during the 1956-57 season. Forty […]

Houk, George

Born in Oldham. 1937 Oldham grad. 1941 Sioux Falls College grad. Guided Webster to back-to-back-to-back state Class B boys basketball titles in 1946-48, the only time the feat has been accomplished. Houk nearly coached four state title teams in a row; the 1945 team lost 30-28 to Madison in the finals. He coached only seven […]

Hoy, Carl B.

Born Oct. 17, 1893, near Huron. 1915 Huron H.S. grad. 1919 USD grad. Came to USD in fall of 1927 as head basketball and assistant football and track coach. Was head track coach from 1931-46. Was athletic director from 1935-56. Was basketball coach for 24 years (1927-49, ’52-54), going 167-189. His 1947-48 basketball team defeated […]

Kolb, Gus

Gus Kolb graduated from Leola High School in 1943 and South Dakota State College in 1951. As a high school athlete, he lettered four years in football, basketball and baseball. He did not participate in athletics in college. As a basketball coach, Kolb literally built teams from scratch. Walt Conahan, Kolb’s nominator, commented “Kolb was […]

Kooistra, Clarence

One of the state’s most successful high school football coaches, Clarence Kooistra, had a 221-77-2 record in 31 years, all but one at Garretson. He lost his last 300th career game to Freeman 44-24 in the 1997 State 9A championship. He guided the Blue Dragons to four, two mythical and two playoff-era, state titles, four […]

Krauth, Dave

Dave Krauth is the winningest women’s basketball coach in Augustana history and one of the winningest in NCAA DII history. His teams have compiled a 670-296 record in 33 years at the end of the 2021-22 season. Krauth has never had a losing season at Augie and his Vikings have won 20 games or more […]

Kueter, Steve

Steve Kueter graduated from West Central High School in 1973 and Dakota State College in 1977. In high school he participated in football, basketball and track & field. At Dakota State he played fullback for the Trojans his freshman and sophomore years until an injury sidelined him his junior and senior years. He started officiating […]

Lambert, Ward

The legendary Purdue coach was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., in 1960. He was born in Deadwood and lived there until age 10 or so before moving to Indiana. The 1911 Wabash (Ind.) College grad was coach at Purdue from 1916-17 and 1918-46. He was 371-152 in 29 seasons, including […]

Larson, Don

Don Larson was a championship runner and unmatched track & field coach in the North Central Conference. As an All-American track & field athlete at SDSU, Larson won seven NCC championships. He set three conference records and still holds a share of the retired 600-yard indoor mark. Larson captured his NCAA DII All-American honors in […]

Lavin, Chad

Chad Lavin is one of the earliest South Dakotans to coach women’s basketball at the NCAA Division I level. He revitalized the University of Wyoming program, leading the Cowgirls to a 175-162 record from 1986-98, significantly improving from their 23-60 record in the three years prior. Lavin guided the Cowgirls to their only regular-season conference […]