Emmerich, Jim

Born March 18, 1911, in New Ulm, Minn. 1929 New Ulm HS and 1940 SDSU grad. Coached track and cross country at SDSU from 1946-60 and was prominent nationally as an athletic trainer. His track teams won 10 North Central Conference titles. He started the cross country program at SDSU in 1947. His 1953 track […]

Evans, Doug

As a coach and teacher at Washington High in Sioux Falls, Evans was a forerunner and leader in physical education in South Dakota and the nation. The 1937 University of Minnesota grad grew up in Wimbledon, N.D., where he competed in football, basketball, baseball and track. In 1939, he joined the Washington High faculty as […]

Burt, Jim

Born in Melcher, Iowa, in 1914. 1936 grad of Melcher High School. Brown Institute in Minneapolis. A broadcast pioneer, Burt spent 40 years at KELO Radio and TV, retiring in 1987. To South Dakotans, no state sports figure was more recognizable. Burt started at KELO Radio in June of 1947. He did play-by-play of KELO’s […]

Brewer, Bryan

Lakota Name. Ohiyaku (Returns Victoriously) Bryan Brewer, Sr. was born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. He is a 1965 graduate of Pine Ridge High School and graduated from Black Hills State University in 1976. Brewer served in the United States Navy from 1965 to […]

Booher, Jim

One of the founders of the South Dakota Athletic Trainers Association, Booher was inducted into the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 1998. The Ashland, Neb., native and 1965 Nebraska Wesleyan grad has been an athletic trainer and instructor/professor at South Dakota State since 1967. He split time between the university and Brookings […]

Ginn, Ralph

Born July 23, 1907, in Lenox, Iowa. 1925 Lenox H.S. grad. 1931 Tarkio (Mo.) College grad. Was South Dakota State football coach from 1947-68, compiling a 113-89-9 record. In his 22 years at SDSU, his teams won nine conference titles, including back-to-back-to-back titles twice (1953-55 and 1961-63). He coached Brookings High School from 1944-47, going […]

Ferguson, Stewart

Born Jan. 27, 1900 in Carthage, Mo. Dakota Wesleyan Academy in Mitchell. Dakota Wesleyan University. One of the most innovative and unconventional coaches in the history of college football. In eight years at Arkansas A&M, Ferguson gained national attention with his “Wandering Boll Weevils.” It was at A&M that he invented the “swinging gate” offensive […]

Coplan, Burdell

Born Jan. 13, 1928 in Watertown. 1946 Watertown HS grad. 1952 USD grad. Coplan was the football coach at Canton High School for 35 years (1955-89), compiling a 228-82-9 record. Seven times his teams were undefeated (1959, ’61, ’63, ’70, ’71, ’75, ’86) and five times the C-Hawks were ranked No. 1. His 1986 team […]

Dirksen, Jay

A 1963 graduate of General Beadle High School in Madison, Dirksen excelled as a runner and a coach. The 1968 South Dakota State grad coached SDSU to the 1973 NCAA Division II men’s cross country title before spending more than 30 years as a coach at the Division I level, mostly at Nebraska. He began […]