Luke Kennard to speak at Wildwood Golf Club
Luke Kennard, the senior at Franklin High School who was named Mr. Basketball in Ohio, will be the guest speaker at this month’s Old Jocks Club luncheon at Wildwood Golf Club. Kennard and his father, Mark, will speak at noon Thursday, July 17. The event is free and open to the public. Attendees may order off the menu. The club meets the third Thursday of every month. Kennard, who also plays football for the Wildcats, has committed to Duke University.
Workers have been placing signs around the city this week that pay homage to hometown hero and Ohio’s Mr. Basketball 2014, Luke Kennard.
The city ordered five signs — which read “Franklin, Home of Luke Kennard Ohio’s Mr. Basketball 2014” — from the state at a cost of about $75 each, according to Franklin City Councilman Carl Bray. The three-foot-by-three-foot signs are going to be placed at the entrances to the city “to let people know when they come through Franklin that we have Mr. Basketball 2014 residing in our city,” Bray said.
In this rural town of nearly 12,000 tucked off Ohio 73 in Warren County, Kennard, who will be a senior at Franklin High School this year, is a bigger-than-life figure. Wildcats’ home games are the hottest ticket in town, if you’re lucky enough to get one. When Kennard plays, it’s always a sellout.
City Council unveiled the signs and presented one to Kennard at its July 7 meeting. Bray said Kennard, who had also just served as the grand marshal in the city’s Fourth of July parade, was “surprised by and grateful” for the gesture.
Kennard, who has a laundry list of awards he’s won, was recently named Ohio Associated Press Mr. Basketball, an honor that goes to the state’s best boys high school player. The 6-foot-6 Kennard averaged a state-best 40.0 points and three times surpassed 50 points in a game. Kennard, whose USA Basketball Under-18 team won a gold medal this past Father’s Day, has committed to play basketball in college at Duke University.
Kennard and his father, Mark, could not be reached for comment for this story. However, Luke Kennard said after being named Mr. Basketball that “it’s a great accomplishment, not just for me but this community.”
Bray agreed, saying all of Franklin is bristling with pride over Kennard’s accomplishments.
“There is only one Mr. Basketball in the state of Ohio and he’s here,” Bray said. “Luke is a class act and a humble kid. He’s great for our community. He takes pride in his community and his community takes pride in him.”
When asked if the signs might be a bit much for a kid who hasn’t even graduated from high school yet, Bray didn’t back down from the city’s action.
“This kid has done so much. He deserves it,” Bray said. “People say, ‘Why are you putting a sign up? He’s just a junior.’ Well we are not Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus or one of these other big towns and sports is such a big thing in this community.
“When you have a winning atmosphere like the one Luke has brought, your town is more exciting, everybody is more friendly, you meet more of your neighbors that you don’t see a lot because everybody is at the games,” he said. “What he does for our community, for these little kids who look up to him as a positive role model, is unbelievable.”
Bray even suggested that Kennard’s basketball prowess has had an impact on local politics.
“We are passing our school levies. A lot of that has to do with the fact that we are a happy community, and I think that goes a long way,” he said.
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