Nov. 1: South Dakota, Huron College and Canadian Football League legend Garney Henley, 88, will have his No. 26 retired by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in their first home game during the 2025 season. The Hayti (SD) native had 59 interceptions and 56 touchdowns in his 16-year CFL career as a defensive back, running back, wide receiver, punt returner, punter, blocker and holder for field goals and PATs. Henley and his teammates won four of seven Grey Cup championship games and Henley was one of the fastest, if not the fastest, players in the league. Henley, a 10-time CFL all-star, was the MVP of the CFL in 1972. The national College Football Hall of Famer was the last person cut from the 1960 Green Bay Packers, who had drafted him. After Henley was released, Packer coach Vince Lombardi called Hamilton coach Jim Trimble to lobby on Henley’s behalf.
Nov. 1: Rapid City Christian quarterback Simon Kieffer ended his high school football career with 15 school records. For his career, he completed 418 passes for 5,945 yards and 71 touchdowns. He had 81 total TDs and 7,063 total yards as well – all school records.
Nov. 3: Former NSU standout Dakotah (Bullen) Popehn placed 17th in the New York Marathon. A week after getting married, Popehn (formerly Lindwurm) ran the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 31 minutes and 45 seconds. Winner Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya ran a 2:24.35. Popehn, 29, finished 12th at the 2024 Paris Olympics; she was leading at mile 15. Two-time Grandma Marathon winner (2021, 2022) Popehn’s highest finish in a World Marathon is 12th, which she finished at the 2023 Chicago Marathon and the 2021 Boston Marathon.
Nov. 4: The Southern Illinois men’s basketball team started its season at the Field of 68 Showcase at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The Salukis, under new head coach Scott Nagy, fell to the College of Charleston 90-80. Nagy is 577-333 in 30 seasons as a head college coach, including 410-240 in 21 seasons (1995-2016) at SDSU.
Nov. 4: The SDSU women opened a basketball season of high expectations with a 65-63 win over Rice in Houston thanks to a Haleigh Timmer (Rapid City/St. Thomas More) three-pointer with eight seconds left. The Jacks were down by 10 with less than five minutes to play and outscored the Owls 18-6 over the final stretch to get the win.
Nov. 4: The SDSU men opened their basketball season with a 80-73 win over McNeese State in a national showcased televised on YouTube and X in The Field of 68 Showcase at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. SDSU freshmen Joe Sayler and Owen Larson combined for 32 points while Oscar Cluff had 14 points and 14 rebounds. The visitors from Lake Charles (LA) were the Southland Conference season and tourney champions with a 30-4 record last season and were an honorable pick in this season’s preseason NCAA DI Top 25 poll.
Nov. 6: Former SDSU standout Clint Sargent got his first win as a college men’s basketball head coach as his Wright State (Dayton, OH) Raiders defeated Ohio Christian 89-60. Sargent played at SDSU under former Wright State head coach Scott Nagy (now the Southern Illinois coach) and was an assistant for Nagy at SDSU and Wright State. Sargent is married to former SDSU and Mitchell Christian standout Jill Young.

Nov. 6: Former NSU standout Parker Fox started his eighth college basketball season with his University of Minnesota teammates at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. In the Gophers’ 130 th season of men’s basketball, Minnesota defeated Oral Roberts 80-57. Dawson Garcia led the winners with 30 points while Fox had 13 points. Fox played last season for the Gophers after suffering back-to-back season-ending knee injuries in 2021-22 and 2022-23, injuries which sidelined him for almost 1,000 days. From 2018-21 after redshirting the 2017-18 season, Fox played in 86 NSU games and collected 1,452 points, 666 rebounds, 196 blocks, 119 assists and 82 steals. Plus, the NSU graduate had 186 dunks as a Wolf. Fox has played in 35 games as a Gopher, with 195 points and 99 rebounds.
Nov. 7: The SDSU volleyball team’s 22-match unbeaten streak is over, thanks to a 3-2 Summit League win by St. Thomas. The 22 wins by the Jacks (22-1) is a school record and SDSU was the only undefeated DI team in the nation.
Nov. 8: It was a big night for the SDSU women’s basketball team as they opened First Bank & Trust Arena (refurbished Frost Arena) with a 76-71 win over No. 21 Creighton. It also was win No. 600 for SDSU coach Aaron Johnston (all wins at SDSU in his 25 th season). Brooklyn Meyer (17 points) and Madison Mathiowetz (13) led the Jacks. Frost Arena opened in 1973 at a cost of $3.685 million. First Bank and Trust of Brookings provided the lead gift of $20 million for the $66 million refurbished facility on the SDSU campus.
Nov. 8: The SDSU men opened First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings with a 80-79 win over Long Beach State, thanks to a three-point play by Oscar Cluff with 1.5 seconds left. De Smet sophomore Kalen Garry secured the win when he blocked a half-court Long Beach shot at the buzzer. Cluff ended with 23 points and 14 rebounds while White River freshman Joe Sayler added 21 points.
Nov. 8: NSU’s Kegan Mountain broke up a Wayne State pass in the end zone as time expired to give the Wolves a 28-21 win over Wayne State. The Wolves’ defense — led by Logan Grossinger (19 tackles), Mountain (10 tackles and one interception) and Jake Adams (12 tackles) — made several key stops in the game, especially the fourth quarter, to star in the win. NSU lost their first four games of the season, before winning six of their next seven to finish 6-5.
Nov. 8: NSU football sophomore Jake Adams (Pulaski, WI) had a school-record 147 tackles this season. He is leading the DII nation in tackles.
Nov. 8: It was a big day for Augustana (8-2) as it defeated rival USF (7-3) 27-21 for the Key to the City. Augie clinched a share of the NSIC title. The Vikings will repeat as conference champions, something an Augie football team has not done since 1942. This also was Augie’s first home win over the Cougars since 1986. Leading the Vikings to the win were Jarod Epperson (202 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns) an Kade Lynott (11 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble).
Nov. 9: Dean Zahn of Aberdeen will become the director of competitions for the South Dakota Golf Association, which is based in Sioux Falls. Over the past 32 years, Zahn has held many positions at Moccasin Creek Country Club in Aberdeen where he started as the club’s golf pro in 1992.
Nov. 10: SDSU freshman Hailee Christensen (Harrisburg) helped the Jacks defeat Oral Roberts 3-1 to win the Summit League Tournament championship and advance to the DI national soccer tourney. Christensen was named to the All-Tournament team along with teammates Katherine Jones (Minnesota), Hayley Lindaman (Wisconsin) and tourney MVP Kaycee Manding (Hawaii).

Nov. 12: College basketball’s top-rated Kansas has opened the season 3-0 after a 77-69 win over Michigan State which made Bill Self the winningest coach in Jayhawks’ history. Self is now 591-143 in 22 seasons with the Jayhawks, surpassing former legendary Kansas coach Phog Allen (590-129 in 36 seasons). A big reason for the Jayhawks’ great start is SDSU transfer Zeke Mayo, who had 10 rebounds and seven assists against Michigan State. In Kansas’ 92-89 win over No. 9 North Carolina on Nov. 8, Mayo scored 21 points, including four of the Jayhawk’s final seven points.
Nov. 12: Kadoka Area defeated Parkston 3-1 to advance to its first State B Volleyball Tournament since 1982. The Kougars, led by Bella Williams, have come close as they have been in the SoDak 16 (winner advances to state) seven times in the last eight seasons.
Nov. 12: Redfield native Tracy Hellman will resign as the Augustana director of track and field/cross country at the end of the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships. After 25 years at Augie, Hellman will have the same title at DI University of Idaho. Hellman brought Augustana Track & Field/Cross Country to unprecedented heights over the course of his career. A 2011 National Champion head coach in cross country, he has coached 191 All-Americans and seven individual National Champions. Hellman has been named NSIC Coach of the Year 27 times and Region Coach of the Year 11 times. Hellman’s Augustana athletes have won 23 Drake Relay titles and have earned numerous honors in the classroom with 700 academic all-conference and 150 academic All-American honorees.
Nov. 12:  The South Dakota State women’s basketball team is ranked No. 25 in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll. On Nov. 8, the Jacks defeated then-No. 21 Creighton.
Nov. 13: Former Harrisburg standout and NSU junior Abby Meister of Sioux Falls was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference volleyball libero of the year.
Nov. 14: Northern Colorado defeated SDSU 78-69 in front of 4,887 fans in the Summit Arena at The Monument in Rapid City. The winning Bears are coached by former NSU standout Steve Smiley.
Nov. 15: It was a special football season for the Watertown Arrows. They closed their 83-year run at Watertown Stadium that started in 1941. The Arrows are scheduled to play at the new Watertown Athletic Complex next season. The complex featuring football, soccer and track facilities is being built in stages and is expected to cost more than $15 million. Watertown ended Pierre’s reign of state football championships with a 14-13 win over the Governors in the Class 11AA title game. Pierre scored with 50 seconds left and went for two points but Watertown’s Nathan Briggs and Kaden Decker teamed up to stop the play. Lineman MVP Micah Hach and game MVP Marcus Fossum led the Arrows to their first state football championship since 2001. Watertown is coached by John Hodorff. Pierre had won the last seven 11AA championships. In nine seasons as Pierre head coach, Michigan native Steve Steele has a 85-21 record, with six of those losses coming in his first season in 2016. In Steele’s tenure, the Governors have won seven state titles in a row with winning streaks of 20 and 18 games along with its latest state runner-up finish.
Nov. 16: The Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the South Dakota Coyotes 113-70 in front of a sellout crowd (3,297) at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The Huskers made 63 percent (41-65) of their field goals and all 11 of their free throws. Nebraska, coached by Spearfish graduate and former USD coach Amy Williams, is now 4-0.
Nov. 16: Doane nipped Mount Marty 22-21 as Doane scored a touchdown as time ran out and then added a two-point conversion for the win. The Lancers finished 6-5, their first winning football season since the Lancers started their program in the fall of 2021. Mount Marty is 12-30 overall. It was senior day, and Mount Marty honored 36 seniors, including the group that were members of that first team four years ago.

Nov. 16: Yankton graduate and Mount Marty two-sport athlete Rugby Ryken played in two games in two different sports for the Lancers. At 1 p.m. at Crane Youngworth Field in Yankton, the sophomore Ryken quarterbacked the Lancers as they lost on a last-second touchdown to Doane 22-21. That night at 7, Ryken and his Mount Marty basketball teammates lost to Northwestern (IA) College 78-61. Ryken played 19 minutes and scored two points.
Nov. 17: Nov. 16 Duke clipped No. 25 SDSU 75-71 in front of 4,582 fans at First Bank & Trust Arena Brookings. Brooklyn Meyer led all players with 25 points for the Jacks. It has been quite a stretch for SDSU at home defeating No. 21 Creighton 76-71 on Nov. 8 and undefeated Wisconsin 79-57 on Nov. 13. The Jacks will next play in Hawaii, vs. Georgia Tech on Nov. 23 and vs. No. 25 Oregon on Nov. 26.
Nov. 18: The National High School Gymnastics Association has named 2024 state champion Mitchell as an All-American team. Coach Audra Rew and her Kernels led the nation in scoring average (149.72) this past season. Bentley Bates, Aubrey Gelderman, Sidney Malde, Olivia Prunty and Lainee Forst were named All-Americans as well for Mitchell. The Kernels have won nine state titles since 2007 under Rew, and three of the last four Class AA championships.
Nov. 19: Former NSU standout Parker Fox scored a Minnesota career-high 18 points, including a 40-foot three-pointer — his first three as a Gopher — to end the first half, to lead the Gophers past Cleveland State 58-47. Teammate Dawson Garcia added 13 points, seven rebound and four assists. Garcia (Savage, MN) is the son of Dave and Stacey (Nelson) Garcia, who were former standout athletes at Black Hills State. Dave Garcia threw for 6,093 career yards as the Yellow Jackets’ South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference-MVP quarterback. He also played basketball at BHSU. Garcia’s mom Stacey helped Milbank win the 1987 girls’ basketball State A championship. She was a track and basketball standout at Black Hills.
Nov. 19: Coach Dan Georgalas and his SDSU volleyball team solidified the outright Summit League regular season title Tuesday night with a 3-0 sweep at South Dakota. The Jackrabbits wrap the regular season with a 26-1 overall record and 15-1 mark in conference play. The Jackrabbits are the champions of the regular season for the first time since 2007. The victory is SDSU’s first in Vermillion since 2002. Set scores against the Coyotes went 25-16, 25-22, 25-20. The Jacks were led by Sydni Schetnan and Sylvie Zgonc.
Nov. 19: The NSU men’s basketball team defeated Dakota State 81-71 behind 34 points from James Glenn. It was the 100th win for Saul Phillips as the Wolves head coach. In six seasons at NSU starting in 2019, Phillips is 100-49.
Nov. 20: One of the greatest basketball players in South Dakota history will be the 64th athlete, coach and/or administrator to be inducted into the University of Colorado Hall of Fame. Yankton native Lisa Van Goor will be inducted April 9 in Denver. After the high school All-American led Yankton to three straight state titles, Van Goor starred for the Lady Buffs from 1980-1985 as a 6-foot-3 center. Despite missing a year and 15 games games due to a season-ending stress fracture, Van Goor left Colorado as its all-time leader in points (2,067), rebounds (1,127) and blocked shots (281) in 115 career games as a four-year starter. She remains as the only women’s or men’s basketball player in Colorado history to record more than 2,000 career points and 1,000 or more career rebounds. One of Van Goor’s coaches at Colorado was fellow South Dakota Sports Hall of Famer Russell “Sox” Walseth Jr., who was born April 6, 1926 in Aberdeen and grew up in Pierre.
Nov. 23: USD stormed back to defeat No. 1 NDSU 29-28 as the Coyotes earned a share of their first Missouri Valley Football Conference championship with the Bison and SDSU. USD scored two touchdowns in the final four minutes to take down NDSU. With 3:22 left, Jack Martens hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Aidan Bouman to leave the Coyotes trailing 28-23. With 12 seconds left, Bouman threw a 25-yard TD pass to Javion Phelps for the game-winner.

Nov. 23: Despite four field goals by Jake Pecina and a 19-10 lead with 3:11 left, Augustana dropped a 20-19 heartbreaker to Mankato in the first round of the NCAA DII football playoffs. With 1:35 left, Mankato got a 33-yard TD pass from Hayden Ekern to Grant Guyett and the PAT from Matthew Jaeger. Then Jaeger executed a successful onside kick that was recovered by teammate Lorenzo Jones. On the final play of the game, Jaeger drilled a 34-yarder to give Mankato the win. The game’s two kickers scored 21 of the game’s 29 points.

Nov. 23: SDSU clinched a share of their third consecutive Missouri Valley Football Conference title with a 45-9 blowout of Missouri State. It was the Jacks fifth MVFC title since joining the league in 2008. SDSU quarterback Mark Gronowski threw for 258 yards and two TDs while Adam Bock led the Jacks’ defense. Bock moved into third place in career tackles at SDSU with 419. First on that list is Christian Rozeboom with 475 tackles from 2016-19 followed by Greg Osmundson (435 from 1986-89), Bock and T.J. Lally (415 from 2012-15).

Nov. 23: Harrisburg defeated Sioux Falls Washington 3-1 to win its third State AA volleyball title in a row. Coach Ronette Metz Costain’s Tigers have won 78 matches in a row and are the first Class AA volleyball program to three-peat. Harrisburg was led by junior Gabi Zachariasen with 28 kills and 11 digs. Costain is a Webster native.

Nov. 23: After a dominating 26-1 season with a 15-1 conference championship season, the SDSU volleyball team dominated the Summit League year-end awards: Dan Georgalas was named the conference coach of the year. Sylvie Zgonc (Hartford, WI) was named the player of the year and first-team all-conference along with teammate Sydni Schetnan (Sioux Falls Washington). And the Jacks’ Madison Burr (Goodhue, MN) was named freshman of the year.

Nov. 23: Madelynn Henry had 24 kills, eight digs, three blocks and one ace to pace Dell Rapids to a 3-1 win over Dakota Valley to earn the State A volleyball title. It is first time since 2010 that a team other than Sioux Falls Christian or Dakota Valley won the State A championship. The night before, Dakota Valley defeated SFC in the semifinals to end SFC’s run of seven state titles in a row.

Nov. 23: With seven appearances in 12 seasons, the Burke volleyball program has thrived under head coach Billie Jo Indahl and assistant Mandy Frank. This year, Burke finished third. A Burk native, Indahl played high school sports against Frank, who is from Gregory. And now, their children have made their family-like connection official. Taylee Indahl and Jaden Frank have been dating since high school and plan to be married in the summer of 2025.

Nov. 24: For the first time in Missouri Valley Football Conference history, the league earned three of the top four seeds in the NCAA DI FCS playoffs. NDSU is No. 2, SDSU is No. 3 and USD is No. 4. SDSU has won the last two national titles.

Nov. 24: After defeating No. 14 BYU 28-23 and improving to 9-2, Arizona State is ranked 14th in the nation. Leading the Sun Devils was Cam Kattebo, who rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Helping to open holes for Kattebo was Arizona State seventh-year senior offensive lineman Emmit Bohle. The 6-foot-6, 310-pounder is a former NSU and Selby Area standout. Bohle is one of only 35 FBS players who is competing in their seventh year of college football in 2024. He has played in 47 college football games, 25 for Arizona State and 22 for NSU. Arizona State is having one of its best seasons in the history of the program and is tied for first place in the Big 12.

Nov. 26: The SDSU women’s basketball team dropped No. 21 Oregon 75-70 in the North Shore Showcase in Hawaii. Brooklyn Meyer led the Jacks with 21 points. The Ducks are SDSU’s second win over an AP Top 25 team this season and 19th in the Division I era. The win has led early national bracketologists to give the Jacks a ranking as high as eighth as they make picks about who will get into the NCAA DI Tournament and the seedings they will earn.
Nov. 27: The USD women’s basketball team was nipped by Arizona State 95-88 in the Coast2Coast Music City Classic in Nashville. Grace Larkins led the Coyotes with 30 points while Aberdeen Christian graduate Hanna Miller got into the game for the Sun Devils. For the past two seasons, Hanna and younger sister Mallory Miller (Wolsey-Wessington graduate) have been on the Arizona State team.
Nov. 27: For the fifth time in seven seasons, the USD volleyball team has won the Summit League Tournament to advance to the NCAA DI national tourney. USD beat rival SDSU 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 16-25 and 15-10) to win the title. The Jacks (27-2) won the Summit League regular-season title, beating the Coyotes twice. USD was led by Kylen Sealock with 23 kills. The Coyotes are now 231-100 with a combined nine Summit League regular-season and tourney titles under Leanne Williamson, who is in her 11th season as USD head coach.
Nov. 29: The NFL is running national commercials for its “My Cleats, My Cause” campaign where its players raise money for their various causes. One of those commercials features the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and its Cheyenne River Youth Project that Green Bay tight end Tucker Kraft is promoting. Kraft, a Timber Lake and SDSU graduate, grew up on the Cheyenne River Reservation and is an honorary member of the Sioux Tribe.

Email us at dave@sdsportscene.com if you think we missed something or if you have an event you would like us to consider for this feature.