Chadron State College Athletics

He may be the only athlete in Chadron State history who was recruited by the college’s president. It occurred in the summer of 1931. McGregor had completed two years at Wentworth Military Academy in Missouri and was planning to attend the University of Wyoming. His father had recently been named the Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendent on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Late in the summer, the father and son decided to stay overnight in Chadron while en route to Laramie. From their vantage point in the Blaine Hotel downtown, they noticed footballs in the air at the south end of town and went to investigate. The Eagles were practicing. When the McGregors arrived on campus to watch, they were approached by CSC President Robert Elliott, who, as was his custom, was attending practice.
Elliott told the McGregors that Chadron State was a fine school and said John should attend it. His father thought that was a good idea since it was close to the family’s new home in Pine Ridge. They went to the Western Union office in Chadron and sent a telegram to Wentworth requesting that a transcript be sent to the registrar at CSC. They also wired Wyoming that John would not be attending there.
McGregor played both football and basketball at CSC. He earned all-conference honors in basketball both years he played and was the Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s scoring champion on the CSC 17-4 basketball team his senior year in 1932-33. He also was the college’s intramurals champion in tennis.
After graduating, he coached at Batesland, S.D., before working in several Civilian Conservation Corps camps. He was an Army officer during both World War II and the Korean War and later was a supervisor for the U.S. Postal Service in Seattle. He and his wife bequeathed $10,000 to both the CSC Rodeo Club and the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center.