By Andrew Hanson, UNK Student

Kearney, Neb. – It all started over a meal at small truck stop near the Kansas-Nebraska border.

Carrie Hofstetter was wrapping up her prep career where she won 95 straight games and four state championships for Sandy Creek High School, right outside her hometown of Edgar.

Meanwhile, Tony Hobson was leaving his post as the head coach at Barton County (Kan.) Community College to be the co-head coach at Hastings College in 2000. Hobson was also in line to succeed longtime Bronco coach Ken Rhodus, who was about to retire.

"I found out that Coach Rhodus was going to be retiring and that Tony was going to be the head coach after my freshman year," Hofstetter said.

Hobson drove to Salina, Kan., where he met with Rhodus, Hofstetter and Elizabeth Herbeck, a volleyball player at the University of Kansas who was considering transferring to Hastings to play basketball.

"Coach Rhodus swung by and picked me up in Edgar, and we rode down there," Hofstetter recalled. "We drove down to a gas station so that I could meet him because I was a little bit unsure as to whether or not I wanted to stay committed to Hastings."

The four came to a consensus over lunch.

"We met and had lunch. That was the first time I met Carrie or Elizabeth," Hobson said.

"I liked Tony. I thought he was a winner. I really thought I could enjoy playing for him," said Hofstetter.

The partnership blossomed from there. As a point guard at Hastings, Hofstetter helped propel the Broncos to two NAIA national championships.

"Carrie was always prepared. I never had to worry about whether she was going to be ready to play or not," Hobson said. "She was always ready to play and was just a very competitive person. As a coach, you just like to have players like that because you don't ever have to worry about them."

Hofstetter did everything asked of her as a player and then some. When she graduated in 2004, it was only natural that she joined Hobson's staff as an assistant coach.

"As a point guard, I was always in constant communication with Tony," Hofstetter said. "I felt like I had a good relationship with him, so it was a very natural and easy adjustment for me. I just continued to learn under him."

The two spent four years coaching together at Hastings, where they won a third national title in 2006. After all the success and deep NAIA Tournament runs, it was time for a change of scenery, though.

Hobson was named the head coach at Fort Hays State in June 2008 and took Hofstetter with him as his top assistant.

"It was one of those things where we needed a change and where we worked so well together," Hofstetter said of the move to FHSU. "Anytime you're going in to a new challenge, it's always helpful to have somebody that you know and trust and understands what you want to establish in a new culture."

One of the biggest reasons for the pair's success coaching with each other was Hobson's willingness to let Hofstetter coach.

"Tony's a type of boss that lets you work and do your thing. He allowed me to really coach," Hofstetter added.

After four years down in Hays, though, it was time for Hofstetter to leave the nest. Hobson knew she was ready to take charge of a program.

"I knew she was ready to move on from the assistant type of position," he said. "She'd been an assistant with me for eight years. That's probably more than long enough. Especially the last couple years, I could tell that she was getting a little restless as an assistant."

Hofstetter's career came full circle when she became the head coach at her alma mater in 2012. While Hofstetter knew how to coach, it was the day-to-day operations of running a program that took some getting used to.

"Really, the biggest adjustment for me was taking over the recruiting and understanding the scholarship structure," Hofstetter said. "I'd never called a timeout before. I think it was one of those things where it was more figuring out how to do those little things that I hadn't done before than anything else."

The fact that her first head-coaching job came at Hastings made it special for the two.

"I was more than happy to help Carrie get that position at Hastings because I thought they were getting a good coach," Hobson said. "They'd had a couple of down years, and I thought she was good one to come in and turn things around."

She quickly did, too, as her aptitude for winning rubbed off immediately. In her second season, Hastings advanced to the NAIA quarterfinals, and Hofstetter had them in the NAIA Final Four her third year there.

Hofstetter's time at Hastings was short-lived, though, when she left to take the University of Nebraska at Kearney job in 2015.

It was an opportunity to return to the league where she refined her craft as an assistant at FHSU. There would also be the chance for her to coach against her mentor.

Hofstetter said that she reached out to Hobson during the potential move to Kearney.

"Throughout the whole process of my consideration for the job at UNK, I reached out to him a couple of times to ask for advice and his perspective, with him having been in the league," Hofstetter said. "I was out of it for a few years, so he's always been somebody I go to when it comes to coaching decisions and jobs."

Their relationship has changed now that the two are coaching against each other.

"It just different now. We still have a mutual respect for each other, and I always will have that for her," Hobson said. "She hasn't coached with me for three years now. You get going in your own direction and you're so involved with your season and recruiting."

Their first game coaching against each other was an instant classic at Gross Memorial Coliseum, a place all-familiar to both. The Lopers took Hobson's No. 1 ranked team to overtime before ultimately falling, 82-75.

"That was a fun game regardless of the outcome," Hofstetter said. "It was a highly competitive game where players gave great effort, and it was one of those games where both teams performed at a really high level."

Round two at the Health & Sports Center Saturday at 5:30 p.m. should be no exception.

Hostetter's Lopers are fresh off a road win over fifth-ranked Missouri Western State, a team that Hobson's team dropped a two-point game to two days prior.

"They did us a big favor by knocking off Missouri Western," Hobson said. "Right now, we're both playing for different things, so it's a big game."

Both teams have a lot on the line. UNK is looking to secure a first-round home game in the postseason tournament, while Hobson's Tigers are looking to repeat as conference champions.

"It's a rivalry game. It always has been one," Hofstetter said. "I can't expect that this one will be anything other than a really intense, highly competitive fun game."

The rivalry just happens to have an added layer.

"It's important for both of us to win," Hobson said. "It should be a great atmosphere."