by Luke Mullin, Lincoln Journal Star
Feb 11, 2022
HAMPTON — Usually the place of loud cheers, bright smiles and a joyful atmosphere on Friday nights, Hampton’s gym fell quiet and hushed instead.
On Friday, Feb. 11, the Hampton community gathered to mourn basketball coach and math teacher Kyle Ediger, who was killed in a car crash Feb. 8, mere hours after the Hawks defeated Dorchester. The entire gym rose to its feet while observing a pregame moment of silence in Ediger’s honor.
There were tissues pulled out of pockets, long-held embraces and knowing glances between friends that showed all the emotions on display: sadness, love and acceptance all the same.
The reality of losing a beloved coach and teacher was even difficult for the community’s adults to handle, let alone for the 16- and 17-year-old shoulders feeling the weight of the world. On senior night, they were unable to embrace their head coach, unable to tell him what they’d learned that day and unable to truly play a carefree game.
On the court, the final score was a 41-40 victory for Giltner, with a game-winning three-pointer from Cooper Reeson capping a hard-fought game. No matter the result, the Hawks’ attitude on the court is what always stood out to Hampton superintendent Holly Herzberg. Since Ediger played under Hall of Fame coach Jerry Eickhoff at Hampton, detailed scouting plans and a notebook full of information for the athletes were a hallmark of Ediger’s game preparation.
“Regardless of the win or loss, he cared more about their efforts and how they handled themselves on the court,” Herzberg said. “Tonight, the kids know it’s not so much what the scoreboard says at the end of the night; it’s more that they want to make sure they make Coach Ediger proud in how they played and represented the community.”
A former teacher in the Hampton community herself, Herzberg actually taught Ediger junior high math and oversaw his return to the school years later. When an opportunity within the math department opened up, Ediger moved from Sandy Creek to his native Hampton, where he taught math and coached the boys basketball team for nine seasons.
“This is a saying we use around Hampton a lot, that he ‘bled purple’ because he was totally committed to the Hampton Hawks family,” Herzberg said.
Ediger’s impact on the dozens of athletes and students he mentored every day is only part of his legacy to the Hampton community. The Hampton alumni association started a memorial scholarship in his honor at the local Cornerstone Bank, with the funds being used to help Hampton students further their education. The memorial fund is accepting donations online through Venmo @Ediger-Scholarship.
Because Ediger’s mother serves as Hampton’s guidance counselor and assists college-bound students with applying for financial aid and college scholarships, the coach’s commitment to education will carry on for years to come.
So will the many life lessons he imprinted on every Hampton basketball team, and especially this year’s group. Just this season, Ediger began the tradition of wearing ties on game day. Ediger spent many of those mornings helping the players individually tie their ties, something that shows his caring nature for his Hampton students.
After the heartbreaking loss to Giltner, days’ worth of emotion came flooding out on the court. As each player walked by the vacant seat on their home bench marking their coach’s lasting impact, you couldn’t help but feel Ediger’s presence in the gym on Friday night.
With every fortuitous roll of the basketball or moment shared with friends and family, Coach was there.
“Kyle was always committed to teaching kids life lessons through sports as well,” Herzberg said. “That’s the kind of man Kyle was; that’s a life lesson that boys in this day and age don’t always get someone to lead them to those life-long skills. He was just an exceptional man who touched so many lives.”
Editor's Note: Kyle was a graduate of the UNL Mathematics' Master of Arts for Teachers degree program.
Obituary for Kyle:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/theindependent/name/kyle-ediger-obituary?id=32899378