Floyd Mitchell - Inducted 2004

Born in 1908. 1927 Highmore grad. 1933 Iowa grad. Mitchell's career as an athlete and coach spanned more than 50 years in South Dakota. He was the coach at Southern State Teachers College (later known as USD-Springfield) for almost 30 years, and he guided the Pointers to their first South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference basketball title in 1962. In high school, he was an all-state guard, helping Highmore to a runner-up finish in the 1926 state tourney, a one-class event at the time. In college, Mitchell was the sixth man on the Iowa basketball team, and he also played baseball. He started his coaching career in 1933 at Parkston. His 1938 team was the consolation champ in the state "B" tourney. He stayed at Parkston until 1940, then served five years in the military, as a colonel in the Army Air Force. After World War II, he coached at Highmore. His 1948 team was 23-2. In 1949, he returned to Parkston and coached there until 1955. His 1954 team was 27-5 and was the state "A" runner-up. His 1955 team was the only team to go unbeaten in the regular season in Parkston history, finishing 34-1 and third in the state "A" tourney. Mitchell's high school basketball coaching record was 226-94. In 1955, he became the coach at Southern State. He also was an assistant coach in football and track. He coached there until 1983.