Cleveland “Cleve” Abbott ’16
Abbott, the first African-American athlete at South Dakota State, majored in dairy but made his mark at Tuskegee (Alabama) University, where he coached from 1923 to 1955 and produced 38 national titles in four sports.
Born in Yankton in 1894, the family later moved to Watertown and Abbott earned 16 varsity sports letters. At State, he earned 14 letters in football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis as well as being captain of the basketball team.
His success at Tuskegee included coaching two Olympic gold medal high jumpers—Alice Coachman in 1948, the first African-American woman to win a gold, and Mildred McDaniel in 1956 with a world record mark of 5-9. Abbott also twice served on the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Committee
Abbott, the second inductee into the Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame, was a 1996 inductee to the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame and was honored with the Trailblazer Award from the American Football Coaches Association in 2005
He initially joined Tuskegee as an assistant coach and an agricultural chemist, where he worked with famous scientist George Washington Carver.