Digging through school trash bins sorting garbage from recycling and carrying a towel to wipe the gym floors may sound like our school janitor, but it’s actually Neenah’s varsity basketball head coach. 

Coach Lee Rabas has organizational habits that carry over from his daily high school routine to his players on the basketball court. His drive to keep things organized and sorted are habits he picks up from jobs in the service industry when he is younger. Rabas learns in these positions that organization and preparation are the secret sauce to success — and success he’s had.

Rabas leads the Rockets to the state basketball tournament three times in the last five years.

His attention to detail allows him to know what’s working well for his teams and what needs to change. Rabas has a mind like a steel trap, remembering specific details from practices, even from years ago. He can always reference the past to plan better for the present and future.

Rabas often posts things of the past on social media to connect with others. It’s his habit.

Rabas says he likes to preserve the past, so the youth knows trends during in the ’80s and ’90s. His habits create an appreciation of legacy in his audience.

The past plays a big part in his love for coaching basketball, whether he’s carrying on the legacy of great coaches before him or making his own history. Rabas feels fortunate to be coaching at Neenah High School, a school with a rich basketball history and tradition.

“Anytime you’re taking over or coaching a team, wherever the program is, you want to embrace the past and try to live up to it.”

Rabas lives up to it,

creating his own legacy —

the ball is in his court as the Rockets start their upcoming 2023-’24 basketball season.