Tom Rudebusch - Inducted 2022

Tom Rudebusch has established himself as one of the most respected and hardest working sports broadcasters in South Dakota history. He began his career at KOTA Radio in Rapid City in 1974. He has been calling games ever since.

Rudebusch is well known as the Voice of South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. He took over those duties in 1978. He served as the president of the Hardrocker Club, a fundraising organization for the school, for seven years. Prior to that, he was the Sports Information director for 27 years. He has been the play-by-play man for Rapid City Post 22 Legion baseball. He was in that role for 41 years, covering well over 1300 of their games. In addition, Rudebusch served as their Traveling Secretary for many years. He has broadcast several high school football and basketball games. In 1985 and 1986, he announced the State Basketball tournament for KOTA Television.

A graduate of Rapid City Central High School, Rudebusch has been inducted into the Rapid City Sports Hall of Fame in 2009, and the South Dakota Tech Hardrocker Hall of Fame in 2019. He is a published author, co-authoring a two-volume set of books with Edson Berg that was titled “Inside the Program: A History of College Football”. The book was released in 2008 and was marketed nationwide. His versatility has also seen him spend time behind the mic for hockey. His legendary career has allowed him to originate games from 26 states and Canada. Earlier this fall he broadcast his 4000th athletic event. That is believed to be the most in all of South Dakota broadcast history.