South Dakota State     

Bison Athletic Hall of Fame                

                                                                                                                                                                                  Bill  Bentrim MHS1958

Jeff Bentrim Class of 1989

Induction Class of 2001

Football

Perhaps the best-known football player in NDSU history, it is with good cause. Winner of the 1986 Harlon Hill Trophy as the nation's best player in NCAA Division II football, Bentrim is a member of the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame and a member of the NCAA Division II Football Hall of Fame. He was the starting quarterback for the Bison grid team from early in his freshman season in 1983 through the 1986 season, guiding the Bison to four NCAA national title game appearances (1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986) and three national championships (1983, 1985 and 1986). Bentrim was a first-team All-North Central Conference selection in 1986 and the most valuable player in the league. He became the only quarterback in NDSU history to be named first-team All-America (three different sources--Associated Press, Kodak/American Football Coaches Association, and The Football News). Bentrim was the all-time leading rusher, total offense performer, and scorer in NDSU history when he left. He scored 64 career regular season rushing TDs to break the then-NCAA record (all divisions) of 63 set by Walter Payton. Bentrim won the NCAA Division II national scoring championship three straight years (1984, 1985 and 1986) and to this day is the only player in any division in the NCAA to win three scoring titles. He ran for 2,945 yards and passed for 3,400 yards in his career, and he is second on the career total offense list at NDSU with 6,345 yards. After leaving NDSU, Bentrim played four years in the Canadian Football League for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, helping that team to the CFL Grey Cup Championship in 1989. He is currently in the medical sales field. Jeff and his wife, Angela, have one daughter and live in a suburb of Houston, Texas. Return to List