Hall of Fame
HENRY WILLIAM “HANK” FELDT
Alumni Coach and Sports Professional
Class of 1959
Hank Feldt’s roots have always been based in and around the Lebanon and McKendree community. Born just south of town and raised in Mascoutah, Hank served his country during the Korean War before enrolling at McKendree. During his college days, Hank played baseball and basketball before earning his degree in 1959. That fall, he took a teaching and coaching position in the Lebanon school district, and embarked on one of the most remarkable coaching careers in the Metro East area.
In a career that has spanned six decades, Hank has coached seven different sports at Lebanon, both at the junior high and high school levels. Combining his knowledge of each sport, a simple philosophy combining hard work and attention to detail, and the uncanny ability to develop talented athletes, Hank has enjoyed success with all of those programs. At Lebanon High School, he posted 174 victories in his 12 years as the boy’s basketball coach, then added 72 wins in four years at the helm of the Greyhounds’ baseball program. Hank also started the LHS cross country/track and field programs and tennis squads during the late 1960s, producing successful teams in the process. Most notably during this stretch, Hank helped develop Craig Virgin as a five-time state champion for the Greyhounds in cross country and track. Lebanon teams captured numerous conference and district championships under Hank’s guidance.
Not limiting his success to boy’s sports at Lebanon, Hank has also coached girl’s basketball and softball at the high school level. His most recent accomplishments have come with the Lady Greyhound softball program, which he has coached since 1989. Hank has led Lebanon to 355 victories during that time, along with eight regional titles, five sectional championships and six appearances at the Illinois High School Association State Championships. Lebanon posted Class A state runner-up finishes in 1997 and 2010, along with a fourth-place showing in 2008.
Hank also brought his coaching success to the junior high level at Lebanon, starting early in his career with the boy’s baseball and basketball squads, and more recently with the girl’s softball program. In 2007, Hank led Lebanon to a Southern Illinois Junior High School Athletic Association Class M state championship.
