PRORODEO Sports News - Sept. 9, 2026

One of the state’s finest shooters, Sutton led Onida to the 1953 state Class B prep championship. In high school, he earned four let ters in basketball and track and three in football. He qualified for the state track meet in the 880, discus and pole vault as a junior and senior, placing high in the 880 and winning the pole vault. Sutton was recruited by sever al NCAA Division I schools to play basketball (including Kansas State, a national power at that time), but went to South Dakota State in Brookings instead. At that time, freshmen could not play on the varsity, but he started as a sophomore. A co-captain his junior and senior years, the 6-foot, 170-pound Sutton was the second player in SDSU history to score 1,000 career points. He was selected all-conference in 1956 and 1957 as State won North Central Con ference championships. In college, Sutton gained recogni tion for his long jump shots, and he led the conference in field-goal percent age in 1956 and ‘57. As a free-throw shooter, he may be the best the state has ever produced. In 1957, he shot 92 percent on free throws (127 of 138, including 32 in a row), a national record at the time. He still holds SDSU records for free-throw percentage for a game (100, 12-for-12), season (92) and career (86.3). Sutton played basketball competitively until age 44, helping Onida win the state amateur champi onship twice. Sutton, a 1957 South Dakota State University graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in animal husbandry, was the first South Dakota State player drafted by the NBA, going to the Min neapolis Lakers in the ninth round. Sutton attended the team’s presea son camp and made the first cut for the team while trying out with legendary Hall of Famer Jerry West but ultimate ly decided to return home to work the family ranch with his father, James Sutton Sr., and grandfather, Edwin Sutton. Jim Sutton Jr. was inducted into the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.

“It just gave you something to think about,” Jim Sutton said of knowing his calling from a young age. “You didn’t have to worry about anything to do. It was all right there.” Two years later, Sutton-Korkow, in partnership with the Korkow family, hauled their stock to the first National Finals Rodeo in Dallas, Texas. Sut ton-Korkow was one of the first stock contractors to join the Rodeo Cowboys Association – the predecessor of the PRCA. James and Jim formally partnered in 1968 and launched Sutton Rodeo Company, transforming the contractor into one of the top firms in the PRCA. They supplied stock from their Onida, S.D., ranch to rodeos across South Dakota and the Northwest. By the late 1970s, Sutton was raising more than 90% of his own bucking stock and developed a breeding program that is one of the best in the business. The program has produced three PRCA Horse of the Year winners: saddle bronc horse Deep Water (1979), bareback horse Big Bud (1985), and saddle bronc horse Chuckulator (2012). Chuckulator also won Top Sad dle Bronc Horse of the National Finals Rodeo in 2012. Their horses and bulls won all three categories at the Bad lands Circuit Finals Livestock of the Year Awards in 2011. The program has also earned Sutton four nominations for PRCA Stock Contractor of the Year. James Sutton Sr. was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1982 and received an award of merit from the RCA in 1970 for his contributions to the sport. James Sutton eventually passed management responsibilities to his son Jim. But remained intimately involved in PRORODEO until his death, Feb. 1, 1991. Jim’s wife, Julie, also took on a lot of responsibility in Sutton Rodeo. In addition to helping support operations, she served as an NFR timer in 1970 and passed the skill on to her daugh ter-in-law, Kim Sutton. Jim and Julie took the company to the next level with a focus on produc tion and innovation.

South Dakotan Erv Korkow to form Sutton-Korkow Stock. Sutton-Korkow was one of the first contractors to join the Rodeo Cowboys Association. Jim, who was born April 20, 1935, in Hughes County South Dakota, was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2020 in Colorado Springs, Colo. The South Dakotan was raised in the stock contracting business, but it wasn’t his only option as he also was a star basketball player.

September 9, 2026 PRORODEO SPORTS NEWS DIGITAL MAGAZINE 13