University of South Dakota Athletics

W.L. "Billy" Ryan is one of the great all-time running backs in school history. Ryan, who earned all-NCC honors in both 1936 and 1937 was South Dakota's first all-American. He was honored in 1937 on the Associated Press's Little All-American Team as a first-team selection at halfback. Ryan also lettered in basketball. Later, Ryan graduated from USD (1939). From March 1941, to May 1952, Ryan was a special agent and supervising agent with the FBI. In 1952, he joined the Indland Steel Company, East Chicago, Indiana and had been assistant general manager of Industrial Relations since 1957. Ryan later lived in Porter, Indiana.