University of South Dakota Athletics

Roger Nelson, a native of Brookings, SD, and 13 teammates on the 1957-58 University of South Dakota national small college championship basketball team, was inducted into the Coyote Sports Hall of Fame in a special ceremony in 1980. Nelson was the starting center for the Coyotes, scoring 26 points in South Dakota's historic victory over Morningside, which enabled USD to become the first team in the history of the North Central Conference to go through a league season undefeated at 12-0 in 1957-58. Nelson, who averaged 12.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per outing, was one of four Coyotes named all-NCC in that national championship season. He later compiled a 102-17 record as girls' basketball coach at Canova, SD, High School guiding the team to the State B tournament four years in a row. He is a teacher at Deubrook, SD, High School.