On December 30, 2023, Gretna basketball coach Brad Feeken died after a long battle with a rare type of cancer, neuroendocrine cancer. The people closest to him still remember that day vividly, like his player Emmitt Dickes did. Feeken was a leader and role model to everyone around him and in the community. He treated everyone around him with respect and created a sense of family with his team. His goals were always focused on bigger than himself and made for others, not himself. However, on September 14, when he got inducted into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame (NHSSHF), the tables turned, and it was finally about him getting the spotlight and attention for his good works.
“I had no doubt Coach Feeken would be a Hall of Famer, because I truly believe he is not just the best high school basketball coach in the state, but the true definition of what a coach should be with the impact he left on people,” former Gretna basketball player Landon Pokorski said in an email interview.
To be inducted into the state hall of fame, nominees must meet a strict set of standards to even be considered. For example, according to their website, for a coach to be inducted, they would have needed to have coached for at least 20 years before being retiring from coaching or be 60 years or older at the time they were nominated. Just because someone was nominated for the award, though, doesn’t mean that they automatically make it into this prestigious group.
“A misconception is that the public believes that once we receive a nomination, that individual will be selected,” NHSSHF assistant executive director Mike Rasmussen wrote in an email interview. “To be selected means that an individual has outstanding credentials and may await selection for a long time. Yes, there are ‘slam dunks,’ but most inductees may not be considered for some time.”
According to Rasmussen, there are 10 to 12 new nominations per year and over 600 people whose names are waiting for possible consideration. The Hall currently has 649 inductees. This year’s class was no different than the others and just as full of amazing and inspirational people as ever.
“I thought it was pretty cool,” Brad Feeken’s daughter Rylinn Feeken said. “It was cool cause there were people in the NFL there and they were getting inducted, and it was cool cause he was getting inducted with a bunch of people.,” Brad Feeken’s daughter freshman Rylinn Feeken said.
Some of the most notable people in the 2025 class were Al Closter, a pitcher for the New York Yankees, Shaquil Barrett, a linebacker who won Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the legendary female basketball player Jordan Hooper, whose number is now hanging in the rafters of Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln. The Hall of Fame isn’t the only way Feeken’s legacy lives on, though. One organization that does this well is “Hoops For Feek.”
“We started ‘Hoops For Feek’ as a way to give back to Coach Feek as much as we could for what he did to us when he was still alive,” Pokorski said. “When he passed, it became a way to carry on his legacy through basketball and now also reading with our new event ‘Read for Feek.’”
“Hoops for Feek” was founded in 2022 by former Gretna players Ty Duin and Pokorski. The organization started off as a 3vs3 tournament at Next Level Academy in Gretna for two years before quickly outgrowing their space. Their new home is at the Union Bank and Trust Sports Complex in Elkhorn. The organization continues to grow by adding a high school tournament to the list of events and by partnering with “For Feek Forever.”
“For Feek Forever” is the blanket non-profit organization that oversees all three events in the community: the 3vs3 tournament, the high school tournament, and the “Read for Feek” community reading event. Founded in 2024 by Feeken’s family, the non-profit has continued to grow and spread its presence in the community. Even with the non-profit playing such a big role, the ones that mattered most to Feeken are still the ones at the center of it all, helping out.
“I’m going to volunteer,” Rylinn Feeken said. “I’m going to be helping a lot with their stuff that they have. So they have a ‘“Hoops for Feek’” thing in March and they have a ‘“Read for Feek” in November, and so I’m going to help volunteer at that.”
Because of all of these things, Feeken’s legacy continues to grow. Zooming back out, into what Feeken did for the community, he truly is a role model for what an amazing person should be like and strive to be.
“It’s humbling,” head basketball coach Bill Heard said. “He wouldn’t like any of it, but it’s just cool seeing him get the recognition that he earned and deserves.”
