Luke Kennard 2014-15 Season:
CHICAGO (March 20, 2015) — In its 30th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with USA TODAY High School Sports, today announced Luke Kennard of Franklin High School as its 2014-15 Gatorade Ohio Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Kennard is the first Gatorade Ohio Boys Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Franklin High School.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Kennard as Ohio’s best high school boys basketball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award to be announced in March, Kennard joins an elite alumni association of past state boys basketball award winners, including Dwight Howard (2003-04, SW Atlanta Christian Academy, Ga.), Chauncey Billups (1993-94 & 1994-95, George Washington HS, Colo.), Jason Kidd (1991-92, St. Joseph Notre Dame HS, Calif.), Paul Pierce (1994-95, Inglewood HS, Calif.) and Chris Bosh (2001-02, Lincoln HS, Texas).
The 6-foot-6, 195-pound senior guard has led the Wildcats to a 25-1 record and a berth in the Division II regional semifinals, scheduled for March 19. Kennard averaged 38.4 points, 9.8 rebounds and six assists per game while shooting 51 percent from 3-point range through 26 games. The state’s returning Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year and Ohio Mr. Basketball award winner, he is a 2015 McDonald’s All-American Game selection and a 2015 Jordan Brand Classic game invitee. Kennard was a member of the 2014 USA U18 National Team that compiled a 5-0 record and won gold at the FIBA U18 Championship last summer.
Kennard has maintained a 4.22 weighted GPA in the classroom. A member of the National Honor Society and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, he has volunteered locally as an elementary school tutor and as a youth basketball coach.
“Luke Kennard just does it all,” said Ben Buehner, head coach at Valley View High. “If you try to stop him, he is willing and capable of making passes and will find open guys. He has a unique combination of skills that allow his whole team to be successful.”
Kennard has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball on scholarship at Duke University this fall.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade high school sports leadership team in partnership with USA TODAY High School Sports, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
Two-time winner Kennard joins Gatorade Ohio Boys Basketball Players of the Year Jack Gibbs (2012-13, Westerville North High School), Adolphus Washington (2011-12, Taft High School), Travis Trice (2010-11, Wayne High School), Jordan Sibert (2009-10, Princeton High School), C.J. McCollum (2008-09, GlenOak High School), B.J. Mullens (2007-08, Canal Winchester High School), and Jon Diebler (2006–07, Upper Sandusky High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.