KEARNEY, Nebraska – Alex Hammeke was the best male tennis player at Ellinwood Middle School, an insider tip he often reveals when talking about his athletic background.

“There were six of us on the team. One guy. I just ignore the fact that the rest were girls,” he says, laughing. Hammeke describes himself as “not athletically gifted.” He didn’t play any sports in high school. Instead, he found another way to pursue his passion.

“I didn’t get the family’s intelligence. I gave that to my sister. I got my aunt’s inability to keep her mouth shut,” he joked. “And I couldn’t have found a better way to put it to good use.”

With his talent for storytelling and connecting with people, Hammeke decided to enter the world of sports communication.

The Ellinwood native began commentating games in high school, first through the NFHS Network, an online platform similar to Striv, then as a co-commentator for a local radio station. At nearby Barton Community College, where he earned an associate degree in sports management, Hammeke was the full-time announcer for the Cougar baseball team.

“After my sophomore year of college, I was pretty convinced I wanted to be a sportscaster,” he explained.

Before he could take the next step toward that career, Hammeke needed to find a school that offered a four-year degree in the field. Of course, he simply googled “sports reporters near me.”

“Kearney showed up. Oklahoma State showed up. If I didn’t like either university, I would have said screw it and just gone to Wichita State. They were my insurance,” Hammeke said.

He visited the University of Nebraska at Kearney on a cold and stormy day in January 2021. It was Semester J, so very few students and faculty were on campus. However, Ford Clark, a lecturer at UNK and general manager of the campus radio station KLPR 91.1 FM, agreed to meet with Hammeke and his father and show them around the Department of Communication.

Four days later, after a tour of Oklahoma State University with about 60 other students, Hammeke made his decision.

“I didn’t want to go south. I wanted to go north and be a loper,” he said. “After Ford met me and showed me what I could do here, I was convinced this was the place for me.”

Hone your skills

Clark was excited to have an experienced writer and broadcaster and “very cool guy” on the program.

“Alex is a hilarious, hardworking and extremely intelligent person. He is also someone I would describe as having an ‘old soul,'” Clark said. “He is reminiscent of someone you would think grew up in my generation. He loves AM radio, he loves reading paper newspapers and he can talk to just about anyone, regardless of age. He also loves to travel and gather knowledge, and he retains it better than anyone I have ever met.”

“He’s really someone I’ve never known before.”

Apparently, the former UNK faculty member and his candidate hit it off immediately. In his first semester on campus, Hammeke was commentating on UNK athletics for KLPR. He was also hired by NRG Media as a board operator and co-commentator for Kearney High School football games.

“The experience I gained here basically helped me advance more quickly in radio,” Hammeke said. “Working in a smaller environment where I could hone my skills and gain hands-on experience really accelerated my career.”

Hammeke was part of the KLPR sports team while at UNK, co-hosted the weekly talk show “Throwin’ Lopes” and commentated on games for several UNK teams. One of his favorite moments was the historic Nebraska Volleyball Day when 92,003 people filled Memorial Stadium in Lincoln to watch games between the Lopers, Huskers, Wayne State College and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, setting a record for the most attended women’s sporting event of all time.

In addition to his involvement in athletics, Hammeke served as news director for two years and music director for one year at KLPR. Hammeke was also a sports journalist and news editor for the student newspaper The Antelope.

He has received awards from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and was a national finalist in the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Media Awards.

“Alex has tremendous ability in all areas of broadcasting,” said Clark, who recently accepted a teaching position at Briar Cliff University. “He has incredible subject matter knowledge and tremendous radio skills, he’s a wonderful interviewer and he’s easy to work with. I could go on and on. He’s going to be successful for a very, very long time.”

Voice of Kearney

Dallas Nau, general manager of NRG Media in central Nebraska, agrees with Clark. Nau calls Hammeke a “do what needs to be done” guy with a great attitude.

“Alex is a very talented, personable team player who is a joy to work with,” Nau said. “He’s a true utility player, as they say in baseball.”

After two years of working part-time, Hammeke was offered a full-time position with the media company in December 2023. He is currently the midday presenter at Hits 106, afternoon presenter at Y102 and live commentator at KGFW, while also serving as interim sports director for all five NRG stations.

“If you had told me three years ago when I first stepped foot on this campus that I would have a full-time job before graduating, I probably would have slapped you in the face and called you crazy,” he said.

Hammeke’s “wild journey” at UNK ended last week when he graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in sports communications and a minor in sound recording technology. He represented the College of Arts and Sciences as a gonfalonier during the graduation ceremony.

Nau and Clark both believe he has the passion and skill to achieve anything he wants in the industry, and everyone is grateful that the former middle school tennis player ended up on Kearney radio.

“I’m really happy where I am now,” Hammeke said. “I couldn’t have picked a better community than Kearney to start in. I don’t think I really want to go anywhere else.”