Saturday afternoon, 19 former high school athletes became the inaugural class in the South Dakota High School Basketball Hall of Fame. But you might notice one member over the others.
Harold Thune played for Murdo High School in the late 1930s before moving on to future success as a Golden Gopher at the University of Minnesota. On Saturday, the 90-year-old shared his honor as part of the Hall of Fame with his son, South Dakota Senator John Thune. But the Senator says he didn't know too much about his dad's playing days growing up.
"You really had to pry it out of him," Senator Thune said. "It's just like his experiences as a combat pilot in World War II. That generation of Americans didn't talk a lot about their accomplishments. And so, typically, what would have to happen is we would have to pry it out, ask a lot of questions."
"I guess there's an old adage that 'he who blows his own horn blows it exceedingly well,'" Harold Thune said. "And I guess I didn't want to blow it that much, so we just live and let things take care of themselves."
Despite his humble nature, Harold's accomplishments are legendary. In 1937, he led Murdo to its first ever state tournament and was named the Associated Press' most outstanding player. And his son says today's ceremony unveiled more from his father's past.
"It wasn't something he talked a lot about, so it's now kind of nice, we're finding stuff now that we didn't even know existed in terms of some of the old news clippings and getting him to talk a little more about those experiences," Sen. Thune said.
And while it's been more than 70 years since his high school days, Harold is thankful for the lessons basketball helped him learn.
"It's a good teaching instrument for sportsmanship of course, for character, integrity, team play, those things and it's been a big part of our lives," Harold Thune said.
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