I want to share a few thoughts about @coachhueser and what makes his state championship so special to former players like me π
I was a junior on Coach Hueser's 2003 McCook team, his last at that school before he became the first coach in the history of the @PLSHSTitans.
We went to the state tournament that year and were legit contenders to win it all. But we got upset in the first round.
In the locker room after the game, in what must have been one of the most difficult moments of Hueser's career, he had to not only provide comfort and perspective to a devastated group of kidsβhe also had to say goodbye.
He let us know he had accepted a job at a new school. He wanted us to hear it from him. It was a move up, to a bigger city and the largest division in the state. It was a chance to build a program from the ground up. And that was Hueser's gift: He had the discipline, patience, and vision to build a sustained culture of basketball development.
He had done it in McCook. He had turned our football town into a place where basketball was also a big deal, where players actually learned how to play the game and where we consistently made state tournament appearances.
For me, Hueser was more than a coach, too. There's a reason I mention him in the acknowledgments to my book. He was an important spiritual mentor, helping to lead the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at our school. He was the person who really inspired me to begin to think about what it looks like to combine faith and sports.
Losing a coach like that before my senior year was incredibly hard. And yet I always knew it was the right decision.
I ended up moving to Omaha for college, close to Hueser's new school, and I became an honorary Titan myself. I helped out at some of his first basketball camps in Papillion. I attended games when I could, and I regularly stopped by to hang out and talk about hoops and life.
I saw him stay true to his vision of patient, long-term development and community investment, even as success in high school basketball seemed to be moving in different directions.
After I moved to Texas I stayed in touch and continued to follow the Titans. Hueser had some good teams and several state tournament appearances over the years. But the thing that makes him special is that it's always been about process, about *how* you do the thing.
He didn't need a state championship to validate his lifetime in coaching or the way he goes about teaching and leading. But man, there's a part of me that kind of needed it. It's good to see, once again, that championships are compatible with humility, patience, and quiet faithfulness.
Congrats @coachhueser! I couldn't be happier for you and your teamβand for the many people like me who have been inspired and encouraged by your example.
π SENIOR NIGHT π
π Bellevue East
β° 4:45 PM & 6:30 PM
π Bahe
Seniors will be recognized before the varsity game. We hope you can brave the cold and make it out to our last regular-season home game!
Extremely grateful for this opportunity. It is an honor I donβt take lightly. Excited to get to Fremont and start working with the team and all the youth in the community! Go Tigers! π
An emotional title game for the Hueser sisters.
@avariehoward31 joins Jessa Hueser after their class C1 title game against Sidney.
#nebpreps | @LCS_GBB
Lincoln Christian leads Sidney 34-22 with 4:22 remaining in the Class C-1 title! π #NebPreps
Made possible by @RocketRoofingNE - the real MVPs of our town! ππ