BleedGopher
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per the Daily Republic:
Ninety-six-year-old Harold Thune's basketball story finally came full circle.
From his time in Murdo to the University of Minnesota and back to South Dakota, Thune was found in the Gophers locker room again for the first time in 75 years.
The opportunity was possible when the Gophers honored him during their game at the Sanford Pentagon last weekend when Minnesota played Vanderbilt.
Thune, one of South Dakota's all-time great prep players, played three years for the Gophers from 1939 to 1941, and was the team's most valuable player in 1940. For most of the last seven decades, Thune followed the team from afar and watched it on TV.
Recalling his career after all these years and retracing the steps that allowed a small town kid to get into the Big Ten is still incredible for Thune, father of U.S. Sen. John Thune.
"It was a great experience for a little kid from a small town," Harold said recently in an interview with The Daily Republic.
The highlights of his career include beating Wisconsin in 1941 before the Badgers went on to win the national championship and scoring the most points of any Gopher during a game at Madison Square Garden. Harold, or "Hal" as the newspapers liked to call him, was not much of a collegiate scorer, instead making his name in almost every other way. He relished rebounding and defense, was a strong passer and was a quick guard.
"I did have good jumping ability and rebounding," he said. "Just jump up there and get the ball and then fire it out and start running."
http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/spo...etball-career-comes-full-circle-gophers-visit
Go Gophers!!
Ninety-six-year-old Harold Thune's basketball story finally came full circle.
From his time in Murdo to the University of Minnesota and back to South Dakota, Thune was found in the Gophers locker room again for the first time in 75 years.
The opportunity was possible when the Gophers honored him during their game at the Sanford Pentagon last weekend when Minnesota played Vanderbilt.
Thune, one of South Dakota's all-time great prep players, played three years for the Gophers from 1939 to 1941, and was the team's most valuable player in 1940. For most of the last seven decades, Thune followed the team from afar and watched it on TV.
Recalling his career after all these years and retracing the steps that allowed a small town kid to get into the Big Ten is still incredible for Thune, father of U.S. Sen. John Thune.
"It was a great experience for a little kid from a small town," Harold said recently in an interview with The Daily Republic.
The highlights of his career include beating Wisconsin in 1941 before the Badgers went on to win the national championship and scoring the most points of any Gopher during a game at Madison Square Garden. Harold, or "Hal" as the newspapers liked to call him, was not much of a collegiate scorer, instead making his name in almost every other way. He relished rebounding and defense, was a strong passer and was a quick guard.
"I did have good jumping ability and rebounding," he said. "Just jump up there and get the ball and then fire it out and start running."
http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/spo...etball-career-comes-full-circle-gophers-visit
Go Gophers!!