LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Imposing at 6-foot-11 and coming off one of the best campaigns by any prep basketball player in Nevada, one wouldn't think that Faith Lutheran sharp shooter Graydon Lemke's top accomplishments came off the court.
The brother to a former basketball guard at Faith now playing for Portland University, Lemke persevered through adversity to soon play at the Division I level.
The star senior's father, Mike Lemke, suddenly passed away in June of 2022 due to an illness. Several months later, his mother received a brain cancer diagnosis that she eventually recovered from.
Channel 13's Nick Walters went to Faith Lutheran to go 1-on-1 with Lemke and Crusaders head coach Ernie Rama.
“We hadn't seen our dad the day before, so we were just like 'let's go check on dad,'" Lemke said, remembering his dad's passing. "We go up to his house and walk into his room. He was kind of laying there still. I went and checked on his pulse. It wasn’t there so I called my mom. It was just really sad for us."
Gifted as a shooter while always being the tallest in the room — 6'4" in middle school and now nearly 7-foot — Lemke has fond memories of his father and says that he was the biggest supporter in his athletic journey.
“He was amazing," Lemke said. "He was at every game, every practice, he brought me to everything. He paid to send me to camps. We always talked about my journey and where we see me going. It was a really big inspiration.”
“That was kind of his outlet," Coach Rama said of Lemke turning to basketball after his father's death. "When he was on the court, he could forget about some of the issues he was dealing with. And when he was off the court, his family and friends really supported him and helped him deal with the grieving process.”
After his junior season was cut short due to a partially torn Achilles tendon, Lemke put it all together in his senior season: averaging 17 points a game, totaling 51 three-pointers, being team captain and league MVP, leading Faith to the program's best season in years, and coming one win away from the 4A state tournament.
“We hung a banner," Lemke said. "We went 10-0 in league. I think it’s our best league campaign we’ve had in the history of the school. On our jerseys, it had an ML for my dad. They put a logo for it. Every time I look at that I see it as a remembrance.”
Lemke received widespread recognition for his perseverance in the wake of personal tragedy when he became one of five finalists for the national Naismith Award for courage, awarded to high school basketball players who inspire and better their communities.
“I didn’t have the same journey as nearly anybody in high school so to be recognized for that, it was a big honor for me," Lemke said.
Lemke will announce where he intends to play college basketball on his Instagram account over the coming days.
There's much more Lemke's story. See our full interviews with the Faith Lutheran graduate and the Crusaders head coach below.
