By Bob Hamar
bob.hamar@theindependent.com

You enter the gymnasium and see the banners on the wall. One honors the six boys state championship teams. Another the four that were runner-ups.

There are other sports represented on the wall, but today is all about basketball.

Another practice is nearly complete. You see the players running sprints. You smell the sweat.

You hear pounding of feet on the gym floor folowed by the squeak of sneakers as the players stop abruptly, turn and race toward the other end.

Those sprints are developing the stamina the Hawks will need when they face Bruning-Davenport in the first round of the Class D-2 State Tournament tonight at Lincoln East.

Those sprints and all those drills that coach Jerry Eickhoff puts them through are teaching them about hard work, about discipline, about what it takes to succeed after high school.

The players are learning skills that will benefit them throughout their life.

They just don't know it yet.

"Being a player, I don't know if you realize how much you get out of it while you're in high school," former Hampton player Ryan Bamesberger said. "Now as a dad, I still see I'm learning stuff watching what he's doing with the boys. It's been a good experience all around.

"It's a blessing to have him."

Some day, these youngsters running sprints will look back and appreciate the experience of playing for a state legend, just as their fathers appreciate it now 20 or 30 years after their final high school game.

"At the time, I didn't really think it was that much fun, All the hard work we did and all the hard practices," Shane Dose said. "Looking back, it's all been worth it."

Three generations

Take a look at the picture. Three generations of Hampton basketball are represented.

There's Eickhoff in the front. Current players Carson Klute, Alex Dose, Jason Kohtz (a former player and current assistant coach), Brock Kohtz, Austin Peters, Dylan Bamesberger, DJ Bamesberger and Dwayne Wall stand behind him.

The fathers all of whom played for Eickhoff at Hampton High School back in the day are in the back.

There's Chad Klute (class of 1981), Shane Dose (class of 1988), John Kohtz (class of 1979), Steve Peters (class of 1979) and Ryan Bamesberger (class of 1990).

Brian Wall, class of 1976 and father of Dwayne, is missing. He would have been here if he wasn't playing golf in South Carolina.

"It's neat being able to coach sons of kids I coached 20 or 30 years ago," Eickhoff said. "It's neat to see them still here, interested and still supporting the school. It makes a big difference. You have to have that support from the parents."

In 39 years of coaching, Eickhoff has won 647 games. That's just one behind the all-time state record of 648 set by Spalding Academy's Ed Colloran.

Bill Gavers has had his share of success at Grand Island Central Catholic. Gavers has 334 wins in his 17 years at GICC.

That leaves him 313 behind Eickhoff and amazed at what the Hampton coach has done.

"It's unbelievable," Gavers said. "First of all, you look at him and see loyalty, commitment to one place and commitment to one town. Obviously he's put a lot of time in to win consistently year after year with a variety of types of teams.

"It's a great credit to his coaching ability and obviously the kids and players in that program have a lot of trust in him. It's just a great statement on his ability as a coach."

Eickhoff could tie Colloran's record tonight. If the Hawks beat Bruning-Davenport, he could break the record on Friday or possibly Saturday in a state consolation game.

But he won't talk about the record unless you ask him. Even Jason Kohtz, a 2000 graduate of Hampton who has been an assistant for three years now, didn't know how close Eickhoff was to the mark.

"One thing about Mr. Eickhoff is he'll never bring individual attention to himself," Jason said. "Those 648 wins have never been mentioned to this team all year long. I didn't even know about it until I read about it in the (Lincoln) Journal-Star. I knew he had over 600. Somebody said we were getting close, but I thought we had about four or five more to go."

Stick around long enough, teach fundamentals and teamwork and career records take care of themselves. It's not about the coach, no matter how much the fans and media want to talk about the guy in charge.

"I'm just concerned about these kids, winning the next game and getting to the semifinals," Eickhoff said. "I think after I retire and look back on things, that's when I'll appreciate it.

"But right now it's about the kids. That's the way it should be and that's what we focus on."

Teamwork

Hampton basketball has always been about teamwork. Always has been. Always will be as long as Eickhoff is there.

"Team is a hard thing to coach now days," Eickhoff said. "It's changed over the last 10 to 15 years. That's more how society is. Teamwork isn't stressed anymore."

It is at Hampton. You have to work as a team and you have to be fundamentally sound when you're tallest player is Dwayne Wall at 6-foot-1.

Wall, a state long jump champion last spring, is averaging 14.3 points per game. He's the only Hawk in double figures this season.

They're going up against a Bruning-Davenport team with two 6-4 players up front. Hampton downed the Storm 46-40 in the subdistrict finals, but if the Hawks are going to give Eickhoff that 648th win, they will have to earn it.

"They're the real deal," Eickhoff said of the Storm. "It should be a good game. It's always tough to beat a good team twice within two weeks.

"Probably the advantage goes to them in the rematch, but we're certainly going to give it our best shot. We'll make them play."

That's what the Hawks have done throughout Eickhoff's career. Those state championships in 1973, 1988 and 1989 plus runner-up finishes in 1987, 1990 and 1994 aren't the only way to rate the Hampton program.

There are also the 16 Crossroads Conference Tournament titles his teams have won since 1972. Nobody else is close. Friend stands second during that period of time with five CRC championships.

Then there was the 51-game winning streak from 1972-74, the sixth longest streak in state history.

Eickhoff's teams from 1986 to 1990 went 89-9 and played in four straight state championship games while winning two state titles.

It's hard to believe the Hawks haven't been back to state since a heartbreaking 68-67 loss to Humphrey St. Francis in the 1994 D-2 state final. They have had some good teams that just couldn't get over the hump.

Eickhoff's teams were a combined 181-98 during those 12 years without a state berth.

"We've been consistent," said Eickhoff, who has had only two losing seasons in his career. "We take a lot of pride in being competitive every year. We have a lot of overachievers. When you get to those big games, you have to have the talent. We've done well a lot of those years, but we didn't quite have the talent it takes to get all the way to the state tournament."

Jason Kohtz remembers one of those teams that finished the year 18-5 and just missed the state tournament, thanks to a very good team from Chester-Hubbell-Byron.

"My senior year we got beat in the district final by C-H-B," he said. "They went on to win state that year. It was the year before we had the wild card. We just got in a tough district."

Respect

That long state tournament drought certainly doesn't diminish the respect Eickhoff gets from his former players.

"I think about everybody that's been through the program understands how much time and effort he puts in and how much he cares about his players," Jason Kohtz said. "He's earned the respect given to him."

Steve Peters was glad that Eickhoff is still around for his children.

"I probably didn't get it at the time when I was in school, but later on I really developed respect for the way he was," he said. "You really don't appreciate that when you're in school. I've been trying to tell my kids that too, but it's kind of a hard thing."

No, the kids don't understand. Not yet anyway.

"Over the years, you earn respect," John Kohtz said. "He's earned a lot of respect as I've watched. He has a special knack of teaching the fundamentals of the game. He has great knowledge of the game and he gets the best out of the kids."

That's nothing new. Eickhoff has been getting the best out of his players for 39 years at the same school.

"You bring up Hampton basketball, the first thing people say is, 'Your coach has been around a long time,'" Shane Dose said. "Most of them know his name and know who he is.

"They'll say, 'Is Eickhoff still there?"

Yep. He's still there and going strong, and it doesn't sound like he's going anywhere for a while.

"This has been a good group," Eickhoff said of his 2007-08 team. "We've had a good mix of seniors and younger players. The jayvee went 14-0.

"We have a good nucleus coming up. We should be strong the next few years."