“I sure could have used him,” said Hedric, wearing a familiar sweater vest. “He’d have made me a good coach.”
Kennard, a 6-foot-6 junior, is the latest area national-caliber boys basketball talent to escape the University of Dayton. It can be a tough area sell for UD hoop, despite the infusion of Sweet 16 success this week.
Dayton, Xavier and Cincinnati all long ago offered to Kennard. So had Duke, Kentucky and Ohio State, his top three choices. Sometime between his freshman and junior years Kennard’s recruiting stock skipped from a local to national level.
“I don’t know how many offers he had, but if I’d have called UCLA and said Luke would like to come there, they would have said OK,” Franklin coach Brian Bales said. “That’s where we were at.”
Duke won out. Kennard warmed up to the small-town atmosphere at Durham, N.C., likening it to Franklin. Like so many Duke recruits before him, Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski also won him over.
Here’s what the Flyers were up against in recruiting Kennard: Duke has won four national championships since 1991, made 15 final fours and 37 appearances in March Madness. It’s been 30 years since UD was this deep into the NCAA tournament.
Krzyzewski met with Kennard after school Monday to receive the good news personally.
“We had to sneak Coach K in here and sneak him out because Luke wanted to tell him in person,” said Luke’s father, Mark Kennard. “(Krzyzewski) was ecstatic. It’s a great fit and we’re excited.”
Playing men’s basketball at Duke is the best of the best. Krzyzewski is considered among the nation’s best college coaches, if not the best. He’s turned down repeated offers to coach in the NBA. He’s coached Olympic gold-medal teams. He’s a proven motivator of various degrees of talent.
Duke’s success in college basketball was established long ago. Like the Dallas Cowboys used to be, it’s a championship program that many love to hate.
“I know Luke well enough to know that he responds to that,” Bales said. “How many times have we been in a gym and he doesn’t start well and you hear the chant ‘over-rated.’ That almost gets him playing better. I almost love when they do that; he responds to that.”
Close to 1,000 of Kennard’s best friends packed Hedric Gymnasium on Monday night for Franklin’s version of “The Decision.” Among them were Kennard’s AAU teammates Kyle Ahrens of Versailles, Dunbar’s Amos “A.J.” Harris and Nate Fowler of Moeller.
All juniors, they’ll play again this summer for the final time on the King James Shooting Stars 17U team.
Harris verbally committed to OSU last year. Ahrens and Fowler, a 6-9 center, are uncommitted. Like Kennard, both have received offers from UD and many others.
“It’s going to be a tough decision,” Ahrens said of when he’ll make a choice. “It’ll be tough to tell some colleges no. It’s just got to feel like home wherever I go.”
Franklin is UK country. Several times before the announcement Bales implored the crowd to respect Kennard’s decision. Bales also said Kennard will evolve into a “national favorite.”
That’s not just coach-speak. Ahrens hinted at the same.
“He’s going to do something big over there,” Ahrens said. “I already know it.”
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