Mines Basketball's first all-American, Joe Butkovich '72 joins the Harry D. Campbell Oredigger Hall of Fame in recognition of his record-breaking career for the Orediggers as a member of its Class of 2025.

A prolific scorer and rebounder in the post, Butkovich was named an all-American as a senior in 1971-72, the Orediggers' first national honoree. Upon the conclusion of his career, Butkovich was Mines' all-time rebounding leader with 891 and third on Mines' all-time scoring list with 1,641 points. More than 50 years after graduating, he still owns Mines' career and season per-game rebounding records of 11.7 and 12.3 (1970-71) rebounds per game, respectively, and he also set the record (since broken) for season scoring average with 24.9 points per game in 1971-72; today he ranks third in that category. That senior season saw him lead the RMAC in scoring and rank among the NCAA and NAIA national leaders in both scoring and rebounding, and his top individual games were a 37-point night against Western New Mexico (the Mines single-game record at the time) and 20 rebounds against UMKC. 

Butkovich earned his degree in engineering from Mines in 1972. His post-collegiate basketball career included tryouts with the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls, and he played professionally in France and Belgium before returning stateside to work as an engineer, spending much of his career dismantling chemical weapons across the United States. 

The Harry D. Campbell Oredigger Hall of Fame Class of 2025 will continue to be announced on minesathletics.com during the week of July 28, leading up to the ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 4 as part of Homecoming Weekend. Tickets are now on sale for the event.