Lyle “Dusty” LeBeaux - Inducted 2013

A  1971 Oglala Community School grad, LeBeaux has been one of the state’s most successful girls and boys basketball coaches for the past 26 years – all on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. 

He is one of a few Native American coaches whose teams have won the state tournament,  and he is one of the few coaches in South Dakota to have guided both girls and boys teams to state titles.

LeBeaux began as a varsity coach in 1987 at Red Cloud, where he guided the girls team to its first state tourney appearance. Over the years he has coached the boys and girls teams at Red Cloud and Pine Ridge and the boys team at Little Wound. His teams have an overall record of 543-175 (303-102 boys and 239-74 girls). He has taken 19 teams to the state tourney.

On the boys side, he won the state title in 1995 with Red Cloud. His 1990 team was a runner-up. He also took the Crusaders to state in 1993, ’94, ’96 and ’97. After taking a year off, he guided the Little Wound Mustangs to the state tourney in 1999 and 2000. He then took the Pine Ridge Thorpes to the state tourney in 2002, ’03, ’04 and ’13.

On the girls side, he coach Red Cloud to state tourney appearances in 1987, 1991 (runner-up), 1992 and 1995. He coached Pine Ridge to a runner-up finish in 2004, a state title in 2009 and a third-place finish in 2010.

LeBeaux has coached each of his eight  children – Beau, Jerome, Lyle, Devon, Danielle, Echo, Feather and Laney  - taking each of them to the state tourney. This past season he coached his grandson Jeff.

He credits his success to the many young men and women he has coached. He includes in his coaching not only basketball skills and teamwork but a healthy mind, body and spirit.

In 2009, LeBeaux was nominated by the South Dakota High School Coaches Association for the national coach of the year.