Young, Don

1933 Edgemont High grad. 1940 Black Hills State grad. Young’s name is synonymous with Black Hills State, where he spent almost 50 years as a coach, teacher and administrator. A coach who loved football, spent endless hours diagramming plays and creating new formations while demonstrating unbridled enthusiasm for the game, Young was first and foremost […]

Zulk, Gene

South Dakota State men’s basketball had many of its greatest days while Zulk was a player and coach at the school. The 1965 Spencer High grad helped the Jackrabbits to North Central Conference titles in 1968 and ’69. In 1969 he was all-NCC. That season the 6-foot-5, 215-pound forward averaged 18.5 points and 7.4 rebounds […]

Luce, Jim

Always one of the smaller players in the game, Luce was always one of the best as well. The Sioux Falls Washington High grad quarterbacked Augustana to the 1959 North Central Conference title – the Vikings’ only football title in a span of nearly 70 years. The 5-foot-11, 160-pound junior was all-NCC that year for […]

Mann, Dean

The 1950 Washington High and 1957 Augustana grad has been involved in track and field in South Dakota for more than 60 years. This year (2007) marks his 50th year as a track official – as a starter and referee at the college and high school level. As an athlete, he was a four-year letterwinner […]

Marshall, Stan

Born Jan. 8, 1927 in Yankton. 1945 Centerville grad. 1950 SDSU grad. SDSU athletic director from 1965-80. Served as president and secretary-treasurer of the NCAA and was an influential member on many NCAA committees. Marshall was instrumental in initiating national championships for NCAA Division II and III schools. As a high school coach (1950-55), Marshall […]

Meile, Mark

Mark Meile, a 1972 West Central graduate with degrees from NDSU-Bottineau (1974), USD-Springfield (1976), and SDSU (1992), was a pivotal figure in Sioux Falls athletics. As the Sioux Falls School District athletic coordinator from 1993 to 2018, Meile transformed the city into a national sports hub by spearheading the development of new facilities, programs, and […]

Miller, Jerry

Jerry Miller is a 1959 White Lake High School and 1963 Dakota Wesleyan College graduate. As a high school athlete, Miller was an all-state football player who scored 147 points in eight games for White Lake his senior year. He was also the punter and one of the state’s six-man football’s finest drop kickers. During […]

Naasz, Howard

Born Nov. 16, 1929 in Java. Mobridge HS. USD. Naasz was a coach and athletic director at Rapid City Central for 32 years. He began his coaching career at Mitchell, as assistant football coach for two years and head coach for three. From 1959-70 Naasz was head football coach at RC Central. He also was […]

Roger, Nelson

A 1954 Brookings High and 1958 University of South Dakota grad, Nelson has been a referee/official/umpire for more than 50 years in a host of sports: football, boys/girls basketball, volleyball, wrestling, track, baseball and softball. And he was an outstanding athlete and coach as well. He began officiating in 1955 while in college, mainly football […]

Nielsen, Howard

Born March 4, 1921. 1938 Yankton HS grad. 1949 USD grad. Nielsen, of Yankton, chronicled South Dakota sports as a radio broadcaster and/or as a sportswriter for 50 years. He began doing play-by-play for KYNT in Yankton in 1958, continuing for more than 30 yers. He became sports editor of the Yankton Press & Dakotan […]