Jan. 3: Within four days, Ashley Koupal continues to break school records set by her Aunt Mandy Koupal at Wagner High School. On Dec. 31, Koupal broke the school record of 40 points scored in one game by scoring 42. Now, Koupal scored 38 in a win against Avon to move past Mandy’s 2,065 career points she scored for the Red Raiders in the 1990s.
Jan. 3: McCook Central/Montrose wrestling coach Scott Andal will resign after this season. He started his coaching and teaching career at the Salem-based school in 1992-93, and was MC/M’s head wrestling coach from the start. He built the program into a consistent winner and respected program. Andal is a Parker and Dakota State graduate, where he was a standout multi-sport athlete.
Jan. 3: Former standout Pierre and NDSU offensive lineman Grey Zabel and his Seattle Seahawks defeated San Francisco 13-3 to secure the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the 2025 playoffs. Zabel, Seattle’s No. 1 draft pick in 2025, was one of only 12 rookies to start every game during the 2025-26 season. Zabel has won high praise from his teammates, coaches and fans and has earned respect from opponents. Zabel’s parents, Mark (Selby) and Tanna (Negaard, Harding County) were athletes at Northern State.

Jan. 4: The Minnesota Vikings and their fans honored team captain C.J. Ham as the team ended its 2025 season with a 16-3 win over Green Bay. Ham, 32, has indicated he is planning retire after being an undrafted player out of Augustana in 2016. Ham has played 141 games, all with the Vikings, in the NFL and has survived and thrived in an era when fullbacks have gone out of vogue in the NFL. Ham is a two-time Pro Bowl member.
Jan. 4: Former standout Sioux Falls Roosevelt and SDSU offensive lineman Mason McCormick and his Pittsburgh Steelers outlasted Baltimore 26-24 in one of the more memorable games in NFL history. The lead changed hands four times in the fourth quarter in a winner-take-all game for the division title and a spot in the 2025 playoffs. McCormick made the key block on a sweep to help get teammate Kenneth Gainwell into the end zone to give Pittsburg a 20-17 lead with less than four minutes left.
Jan. 8: O’Gorman boys’ basketball coach Derek Robey said he is stepping down after the season. As of Jan. 8, his Knights were 2-2 this season. The 61-year-old Mitchell and NSU graduate is 467-234 in 31 boys’ seasons at OG, Aberdeen Central and Aberdeen Roncalli. He was 122-92 in 10 years of coaching girls’ basketball at Roncalli and Central. Before Robey, the OG boys had never won a boys’ basketball state title. They won six (2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2017) under Robey along with three state runner-up finishes (2019, 2021 and 2022). He is the winningest boys’ basketball coach in school history with a current record of 325-154 with the Knights in 22 seasons (including this one).
Jan. 9: Former New York Knick and Duke Blue Devil Trevor Keels scored 46 points to lead host Sioux Falls Skyforce to a 136-128 win over Rip City (OR) at the Sanford Pentagon. He made 16 of his 18 field goal attempts, including all 12 of his three-point attempts to set an NBA G-League record.
Jan. 12: For the first time since 1961 and in 65 years, Sioux Falls will not host at least one of the South Dakota high school state basketball tournaments. The 2026 girls’ tourneys will be held March 12-14 at The Monument in Rapid City (AA), the Watertown Civic Arena (A) and First Bank & Trust Arena in Brookings (B). This year’s boys’ tourneys will be March 19-21 at The Monument (AA and A) and the Barnett Center in Aberdeen (B). The 1961 state basketball tournaments were both boys’ events and both were held at the Huron Arena with Aberdeen Central winning the A and Bridgewater the B.
Jan. 13: For the first time in their careers, Pat McClemans coached against his son Colton as head coaches. Pat is the Watertown boys’ basketball coach and Colton is the Aberdeen Central coach. The teams are in the same conference, with Watertown defeating the Golden Eagles 59-45. The Arrows were led by Jackson McClemans (Pat’s son and Colton’s brother) with 14 points and six rebounds.
Jan. 14: The only Mitchell volleyball coach in school history is retiring. Groton native Deb (Donovan) Thill will retire this summer after a 35-year coaching and teaching career, all at Mitchell. Thill has coached the Kernels to more than 500 wins, two state titles in 1995 and 2003 and 15 trips to the state volleyball tournament. Mitchell started its volleyball program in 1991-92 with more than 100 girls out for the sport. She also has coached track and field since 2012, and will be in her fifth season as boys’ and girls’ head track coach this spring. She was a girls’ basketball assistant for 11 seasons and two seasons as head coaching, winning the state title in 2003 and placing third in 2004, going 43-3 over those two seasons. In her 11 years as a Mitchell assistant coach, the Kernels won two State AA girls’ basketball titles and were state runners-up four times. Thill has won numerous coaching awards in various sports and is a past president of the South Dakota High School Coaches Association.
Jan. 17: NDSU ended host SDSU’s women’s basketball conference winning streak by beating the Jacks 76-68. Before this, the Jacks had won 67 Summit League regular-season games in a row, which is the fifth longest streak in NCAA history. SDSU last lost in Summit League regular-season play was 65-42 to USD on Jan. 8, 2022. The Bison (16-2 and 5-0 in the conference) were led by Avery Koenen with 26 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. The Jacks (14-5, 4-1) were led by Brooklyn Meyer with 24 points, six rebounds, five blocks and two steals. The Jacks had beaten rival NDSU 24 straight games, last losing to the Bison 83-78 on Jan. 4, 2015. The last time NDSU had beaten SDSU in Brookings (78-71) was on Dec. 4, 2010. SDSU leads the all-time series 65-40.
Jan. 17: South Dakota natives Joe Sayler (White River), Matthew Mors (Yankton), Alec Squires (Volga) and the De Smet duo of Kaylen Garry and Damon Wilkinson scored 71 of the SDSU men’s basketball team’s 90 points in its win over Kansas City.
Jan. 18: Aberdeen Central senior Olivia Braun captured the Girls’ 16-18 championship at the West Coast Notah Begay Invitational Golf Tournament at Indian Canyon Golf Resort in Palm Springs (CA). After shooting a 4-under par 68 on Saturday, Braun followed it up with an identical round to win the tourney by four strokes with a 36-hole total of 8-under par 136. Braun is the defending State AA girls’ champion in South Dakota and her Golden Eagles are the defending team champs.
Jan. 20: The Pro Football Writers of America have named Seattle standout offensive lineman Grey Zabel (Pierre) to its All-NFL Rookie Team.
Jan. 22: Sioux Falls native Alexis DeBoer continues to pile up pre-season honors as a University of Washington sophomore softball player. She was named an All-American and one of 50 players to watch as a candidate for the 2026 national player of the year. Last year, she was the Big Ten freshman of the year and first-team All-Big Ten with the infielder’s team-leading .372 batting average, 54 RBIs and 20 homers. Her parents are Nicole and Kalen (Milbank native who is the Alabama football coach) DeBoer.
Jan. 22: Avon girls’ basketball coach Brad Poppe got his 500th career win in Lake Andes, the school where he started his coaching and teaching career 39 years ago. Poppe is the sixth South Dakota girls’ basketball coach to win 500 or more games: Jim Bridge (636), Dawn Seiler (629), Rob VanLaecken (595), Fred Tibbetts (550) and Ron Determan (517).
Jan. 25: Rapid City Central and SDSU graduate Adam Vinatieri was New England’s honorary captain in the Patriots’ 10-7 win over Denver in the AFC championship game to advance to Super Bowl LX (60). Considered by many as the greatest NFL kicker of all-time, Vinatieri is a current finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026. Vinatieri recently was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame.
Jan. 25: With an offensive line powered by NDSU, Seattle defeated the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 to advance to Super Bowl LX. Former NDSU standouts and teammates Grey Zabel (Pierre) and Jalen Sundell (Maryville, MO) started at guard and center for the Seahawks.
Jan. 27: The Aberdeen Christian boys’ basketball game at Mobridge-Pollock was postponed due to a lack of officials being available to work the game.
Jan. 27: Former SDSU and Iowa standout quarterback Mark Gronowski led the West to a 21-17 win over the East in the 101 st East-West Shrine Bowl in Frisco, Texas. He was named MVP, but maybe more importantly, had a great week of practice in front of a bunch of NFL scouts from every team. Many major national publications wrote about how Gronowski’s NFL stock grew during bowl week. Gronowski is now a four-time MVP in four major games: this season’s ReliaQuest Bowl where he led his Hawkeyes to a win and the two FCS national title games (2023 and 2024) in which he led his Jackrabbits to wins. He was a Walter Payton Award (FCS national offensive player of the year) winner and an FCS All-American who had 58 wins as a starting QB, a DI national record.
Jan. 27: Marvin Richard III of Pine Ridge moved into the top 10 of South Dakota’s all-time boys’ basketball career scorers. He now has 2,388 points. The rest of the top 10: 1. Louie Krogman, White River, 3,521; 2. Don Jacobsen, Lake Norden, 2,825; 3. Connor Libis, Dell Rapids St. Mary, 2,731; 4. Matthew Mors, Yankton, 2,707; 5. Joe Sayler, White River, 2,702; 6. Milt Sorenson, Wakonda, 2,577;7. Josh Mueller, West Central, 2,563; 8. Chuck Welke, Warner, 2,550; and 9. Bob Swanhorst, Cresbard, 2,402.
Jan. 29: De Smet native and Sioux Valley boys’ basketball coach Bill Vincent earned his 500th career win, all with the Cossacks. Vincent, who started his coaching career in 1997 with Sioux Valley in 1997, has led the Cossacks to 14 State A tournaments in 28 seasons with state runner-up finishes in 2021 and 2022 and a third-place finish in 2001.
Jan. 30: Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule was in Harrisburg to watch the Tigers play Pierre. He and his Cornhuskers are recruiting Pierre junior Cooper Terwillinger, a tight end that many major colleges are pursing.
Jan. 30: Maddyn Greenway surpassed the 5,000-point club as she led her Providence Academy team based in Plymouth (MN) to a high school girls’ basketball win. She is the daughter of former Mount Vernon, Iowa and Minnestota Vikings standout Chad Greenway. On Jan. 17, Tori Oehrlein of Crosby-Ironton (MN) surpassed 5,000 points. Both Oehrlein and Greenway are seniors with Oehrlein headed to the University of Minnesota and Greenway to the University of Kentucky. Jill Young of Mitchell Christian (2007 graduate) is South Dakota’s all-time leading scorer with 3,317 points while Louie Krogman of White River (2008) is the boys’ leader with 3,521 points. All four players started their varsity careers in the seventh grade.
Jan. 31: USD defeated the SDSU women’s basketball team 73-54 in Vermillion with Angelina Robles leading the way with 25 points for the Coyotes. Going into the contest, USD had lost seven straight to the Jackrabbits with the Coyotes last win (56-45) against SDSU coming on March 8, 2022, in the Summit League Tournament championship game. SDSU leads the all-time series 67-36.

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.