Bryon Noem Is Trending. His Secret Is Out. And It Goes Deeper Than You Think.
Bryon Noem Is Trending. His Secret Is Out. And It Goes Deeper Than You Think.
Bryon Noem is all over the internet right now. His name is on every timeline, every trending list, every group chat in America. People are talking about his secret life.
So let’s talk about it.
Bryon Noem is a basketball guy. Always has been. Played it at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Studied business finance. Graduated. And then, instead of leaving the game behind like most people do, he went and coached it.
That’s what he did after college. He coached basketball. He also ran the family ranch, sold insurance, and helped raise three kids in Hamlin County. But basketball never left.
The Governor’s Mansion Became a Basketball Court
When Kristi Noem became the 33rd governor of South Dakota in January 2019, Bryon became the state’s first ever First Gentleman. Most political spouses pick a cause. Literacy. Mental health. Nutrition. Bryon Noem picked hoops.
He organized 3-on-3 basketball tournaments at the Governor’s mansion and invited youth from all over the state to come play. That was his platform. Not policy. Not photo ops. He wanted kids playing basketball at the Governor’s mansion.
He also launched an initiative focused on South Dakota’s small towns, visiting communities across the state to talk about their needs. But the basketball tournaments were his signature.
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The Kids Got the Gene
It wasn’t just Bryon. The entire Noem family runs on sports.
Their oldest daughter, Kassidy, played volleyball at the University of Sioux Falls and basketball in high school. She also competes in rodeo, entering events in barrels, poles, and goat-tying. That’s not a weekend hobby. That’s a lifestyle.
Their other daughter, Kennedy, was a basketball player too. A serious one. During her sophomore year at Hamlin High School, she went up for a last-second shot and was hit from behind by a defender. The collision fractured her back. She spent six months in a brace.
About a year and a half later, Kennedy had surgery. Doctors put a screw in her L4 vertebra, attached a hook connecting her L4 and L5, and fused the area together. She came back. She played basketball at the University of Sioux Falls. But the injury eventually won. She had to retire from the sport, transferred to South Dakota State, and focused on her education.
A broken back from a last-second shot in a high school basketball game. That’s how hard the Noems play.
Their son, Booker, played both football and basketball at Hamlin High School. Same gym his mom once walked as Snow Queen back in 1990. Same town. Same competitive streak.
Kristi’s Sport Is a Little Different
Kristi Noem didn’t grow up on the hardwood. She grew up on a ranch. Her sport was the land.
She’s an avid pheasant hunter who has said the sport “keeps me grounded.” In 2020, she posted a video of herself hunting pheasants that went viral. Her caption: “More hunting, less COVID.”
Rodeo is the state sport of South Dakota, and Kristi has been one of its most visible advocates. She attended the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and has said she loves watching steer wrestling and team roping because of the family connections to those events. She received the NRA Distinguished Hunters Leadership Award in 2023.
Her daughter Kassidy competes in rodeo. Her husband coaches basketball. Her other daughter broke her back playing basketball and still came back for more. Her son played two sports. This is a family that doesn’t just watch from the stands.
The Real Story
Bryon Noem is trending right now for reasons that have nothing to do with basketball. The internet is talking about something else entirely. But somewhere in South Dakota, there’s a Governor’s mansion where a former basketball coach used to invite kids over to play 3-on-3, and a family where one daughter competes in rodeo, another broke her back going for a game-winner, and the son played football and basketball at the same high school where his mom was once crowned Snow Queen.
That’s the Noem family’s actual secret. They’re sports people. Top to bottom.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
