Lovley, Leonard

Born Oct. 28, 1900, near Arcadia, Iowa. 1920 Elkton HS grad. 1925 Creighton grad. In 1901, moved to Elkton, where his dad ran a livery stable and was school custodian. One of South Dakota’s earliest and greatest basketball stars, Lovley led Elkton to state titles in 1919 and ’20 and was a two-time All-American at […]

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 […]

Mahoney, Megan

One of the state’s greatest basketball players, Megan Mahoney was a five-time Class AA all-stater in high school, four times on the first team, feats never before done at the Class AA level. She graduated from Sturgis High School in 2001 and Kansas State University in 2005. The Piedmont native averaged 18.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, […]

Marske, Bob

1944 Andover High School grad. The 6-8 Marske was one of the state’s greatest prep players, but he never went on to college ball though he was highly recruited by many big-time colleges. He led Andover to its only state-tourney appearance in 1944, and set a Class B state tourney record by scoring 71 points […]

Marso, Lien

Lien Marso graduated from Harrold High School in 1951. That same year he led Harrold to a 33-2 record and the State B basketball title. He was an all?state center known for his ferocious defense and shutting down centers much taller than himself. Harrold became the smallest high school in state history to win the […]

Matthews, Bill

Bill Matthews played seven seasons of pro football, mostly in the NFL, with a couple of seasons in the USFL including three seasons with the New England Patriots. He was a fifth-round pick of the Patriots in the 1978 NFL draft but missed the entire 1978 NFL season with a neck injury. He played in […]

McCormick, Frank

Born Nov. 5, 1894, in Genoa, Neb. Family moved to Wagner in 1905. Wagner High School. University of South Dakota. The 5-11, 190-pounder was the first South Dakotan to play pro football, signing with the Akron Indians of the early NFL in 1920, and playing on a team that beat out Jim Thorpe’s Canton Bulldogs […]

McGrann, Tom

Watertown High School. Minnesota. The 6-foot-8 McGrann led Watertown to its first state basketball title in 1959, scoring a tourney-record 32 points in the finals against Lead, a record that stood for 30 years. He was named to the Senior Scholastic magazine national high school All-America team and was chosen to play in a Midwest […]

Iverson, Chuck

A 1969 graduate of Vermillion High School, Chuck Iverson ranks as one of the best basketball players in Coyote history. He holds every major rebounding record at USD, 50 years after graduating in 1973. Iverson was also a tremendous offensive threat, scoring 1,536 points. He set the North Central Conference rebounding record and held it […]

Jacobsen, Jon

1957 Lake Norden grad. 1961 SDSU grad. Was the No. 1 career scorer (2,825 points) in the history of South Dakota prep boys basketball for 50 years. At SDSU, the 6-2 guard was a three-time all-NCC performer, earning the league MVP award in 1961. He was named Outstanding Player of the 1961 NCAA College Division […]