Welcome to Duke, Luke Kennard!

[El_Diablo]

So did he actually take (and make) 20+ free throws that game or did they just show a handful over and over again? I think that he is going to be a solid player for Duke but I'm not sure about the level of competition in that video. They guys guarding him seemed to all be 2-4 inches shorter and none seemed to have very good defensive postures.

The YouTube video description says he set a school record for made free throws, going 22 for 24.

[flyingdutchdevil]

The YouTube video description says he set a school record for made free throws, going 22 for 24.

Hack-A-Luke doesn't work so well, huh?

[subzero02]

I counted 5 and ones... He does a good job of keeping his head up when driving to the hoop.

[Kdogg]

I saw Kennard again the year at the Beach Ball Classic last night. Last year be broke Kobe Bryant's scoring record and this year he over took Mike Bibby's all time record for the tournament. He's any impressive scorer.

[roywhite]

Kennard Shoots Franklin into Championship Game

Luke Kennard posted another great scoring game at the Beach Ball Classic to shoot Franklin (OH) into the Championship Game with a 77-53 semifinal victory over Hough (NC) at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center...

Kennard ended the game with 39 points on 11-of-17 shooting from the field, including 8-of-12 from behind the 3-point arc, and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. Kennard, who has signed to play at Duke University, has now scored 130 points in his first three games in the 2014 BBC. That total breaks the four-game scoring record of 119 which was set by Nick Emery of Lone Peak (UT) in the 2011 Beach Ball Classic.

***Additional note -- Franklin, OH may face Bishop Gorman from Las Vegas in the finals. Duke signee Chase Jeter had 15 points and 12 rebounds in a 78-60 win over Shadow Mtn, AZ in the quarter-finals.

Franklin would be at a serious size dis-advantage against a Bishop Gorman team that features not only Jeter, but 6'11" Stephen Zimmerman, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the quarter-finals.

[Henderson]

Kennard Shoots Franklin into Championship Game

Wow, thanks for the link. Those numbers are pretty impressive. I like the FT numbers, because quality of opponent is almost not a factor. And this guy can shoot.

Anyone know good this Hough (NC) team was? Or more generally what quality of defense he's been facing while putting up gaudy numbers in so many games?

[roywhite]

Wow, thanks for the link. Those numbers are pretty impressive. I like the FT numbers, because quality of opponent is almost not a factor. And this guy can shoot.

Anyone know good this Hough (NC) team was? Or more generally what quality of defense he's been facing while putting up gaudy numbers in so many games?

Pretty good team from Cornelius, NC that was 10-2 coming in to this game; they feature UNC signee Luke Maye, who had 18 points and 15 rebounds against Franklin.

Boxscore; Franklin 77, Hough 53

Franklin had some shooting help for Luke, and ended up 16-30 from 3-points as a team!

[roywhite]

Kennard Shoots Franklin into Championship Game



***Additional note -- Franklin, OH may face Bishop Gorman from Las Vegas in the finals. Duke signee Chase Jeter had 15 points and 12 rebounds in a 78-60 win over Shadow Mtn, AZ in the quarter-finals.

Franklin would be at a serious size dis-advantage against a Bishop Gorman team that features not only Jeter, but 6'11" Stephen Zimmerman, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the quarter-finals.

Update: We'll get the championship game matchup between teams led by Duke recruits as Bishop Gorman shot 61.5% from the field and beat Sagemont, FL in the other semi-final.

Bishop Gorman 64, Sagemont, FL 49

[Henderson]

Update: We'll get the championship game matchup between teams led by Duke recruits as Bishop Gorman shot 61.5% from the field and beat Sagemont, FL in the other semi-final.

Bishop Gorman 64, Sagemont, FL 49

BG is a serious team with a high ranking and several future high level D1 recruits. I'm going to be seriously interested in how Luke Kennard plays. Chase Jeter is a known commodity starting against top talent. Let's see how our Luke fares against a team like Gorman. It might answer some questions about his incredible numbers. Unlike his int'l experience, he'll be the man for his Franklin team against BG.

[JohnJ]

If anyone is interested, there is a live webcast of the game at 7:30pm ET this evening. Here is the link:

http://www.beachballclassic.com/sche...-ball-classic/

[JMarley50]

After watching their first two games online, I decided to go see our guys in person last night. I came away very impressed with Luke. He can flat out shoot! His handle is well above average, he rebounds well and he is Redick-like at the charity stripe! There were times in the 2nd half where Hough was essentially running two and three guys at him every time he touched the ball. I thought he handled the pressure fairly well, and it led to a lot of open threes for his teammates.

I wasn't as impressed with Chase. I'm not sure if he has been a little under the weather or something, but I feel like he hasn't really been aggressive on offense in this tournament. I suppose it could also be a case of playing down to the level of the opponent. Bishop Gorman is by far the biggest, deepest, and most athletic team in the tournament. Last night's game against Sagemont was a snoozer. Sagemont ran a 2-3 zone most of the night and it was fairly effective. Gorman's guards did not do a good job of attacking the zone and making it move, but still I felt like Chase and Stephen Zimmerman both did a poor job of working to establish position and get open looks.

[gurufrisbee]

The game is on right now and just went to half. Fun to see those guys with a little Duke preview for next year.

[roywhite]

BG is a serious team with a high ranking and several future high level D1 recruits. I'm going to be seriously interested in how Luke Kennard plays. Chase Jeter is a known commodity starting against top talent. Let's see how our Luke fares against a team like Gorman. It might answer some questions about his incredible numbers. Unlike his int'l experience, he'll be the man for his Franklin team against BG.

Yeah, a mismatch, unfortunately for Franklin, which trails by 30+ late in the game.

BG has waaaay too much size for Franklin, and they've tailored their defense to contain Kennard. Luke has not shot well, and has 17 points near game end.

18 points and 12 boards for Chase Jeter.

Update: BG 71 Franklin 39 Final

[gumbomoop]

I'm not disappointed in Luke's performance tonight. Total mismatch between the teams, but Luke's first-rate handle, stutter and quick crossover change of direction, fluidity, vision, court sense, soft touch still evident. He converted 10 of 11 FTs, all swishes. Three first-half no-look passes to open teammates, but no conversions, IIRC. He can and I suspect will play some at all 3 perimeter positions for Duke, I hope, but doubt, for 3 years.

Apologies if I'm boring any of you with this praise. Just to make sure you're fully offended, I repeat a comment I've made previously: I don't believe there are 20 2015 HS seniors better than LK. Actually, I doubt there are 10.

Happy New Year. We're gold.

[FireOgilvie]

Yeah, a mismatch, unfortunately for Franklin, which trails by 30+ late in the game.

BG has waaaay too much size for Franklin, and they've tailored their defense to contain Kennard. Luke has not shot well, and has 17 points near game end.

18 points and 12 boards for Chase Jeter.

Update: BG 71 Franklin 39 Final

Kennard finished with 17 pts, 3-8 fg (1-4 3pt), 10-11 ft, with 9 rebounds. The commentator mentioned that his friend, a former UNC player for Dean Smith, called Kennard "the greatest shooter he's seen," which was pretty cool. I hadn't seen Kennard play a full game until now, but I was definitely impressed despite his "off" game tonight. He reminds me a lot of Scheyer.

Bishop Gorman is more like a college team than HS with its size and talent. Jeter is a very good athlete, but I can't really judge much else about his game when he's going up against guys 8 inches shorter than him.

[FireOgilvie]

I'm not disappointed in Luke's performance tonight. Total mismatch between the teams, but Luke's first-rate handle, stutter and quick crossover change of direction, fluidity, vision, court sense, soft touch still evident. He converted 10 of 11 FTs, all swishes. Three first-half no-look passes to open teammates, but no conversions, IIRC. He can and I suspect will play some at all 3 perimeter positions for Duke, I hope, but doubt, for 3 years.

Apologies if I'm boring any of you with this praise. Just to make sure you're fully offended, I repeat a comment I've made previously: I don't believe there are 20 2015 HS seniors better than LK. Actually, I doubt there are 10.

Happy New Year. We're gold.

Agreed. He's definitely in my top 5 of "players most likely to have an immediate impact in college." Most of the guys on ESPN's list (he's #26) are ranked ahead of him due to potential/athleticism.

I need a catchier name for my list.

[gumbomoop]

I need a catchier name for my list.

Diaper Dandies is taken.

[Bluegrassdevil1]

I fully admit to knowing little more about Kennard other than my Dayton OSU friends being very, very, very disappointed that he will not be a Buckeye; however, the ones that have seen him in person perceive his offense prowess to be spectacular.

My brother often travels to Nevada for work purposes, and has caught Jeter in person three or four times. His option (Florida grad that dislikes Duke) is that Jeter's fluidity and size paired with Okafor and T. Jones would make Duke disgustingly good, but paired with Obi's post game, though not as great as Okafor's, will free up Jeter to roam a little more than he can currently in high school, and coupled with his stellar hook/finesse game, will lead to Jeter being very tough for college kids to defend for forty minutes.

I view next seasons' current line-up as follows:

T. Jones - Ideal point guard. Can score, but lets the game come to him.

Kennard - Similar to freshmen Redick with Duhon, but Kennard appears to be able to generate his own shot better than young Redick.

Jeter - Jon Henson with better instincts. I never thought that the title game demolition by '90 UNLV would have another positive result beyond the '91 rematch, but young Mr. Jeter is just that.

Jefferson - A senior leader that understands his strengths and weaknesses.

Sulaimon - I'll suspect that year four Rasheed would be desirable to any college team.

Plumlee 3 - Much like Jefferson, knows his role, does it well.

M. Jones - He may never be the scorer everyone hoped for, but he is a fine defender, and more importantly, he has a great attitude in-game.

Allen - He is fine as he is, and I suspect year two will be better than the current version.

Robinson - Walk-on with great work ethic/genes, so I will take that without any hesitation.

Obi - Following Okafor is impossible, but I saw Rice a few times last year, and I have no problem with a kid like Obi manning the middle.

UNNAMED RECRUIT - I suspect that one more big time player is coming to Duke, and I think this UNNAMED INDIVIDUAL will fit in quite well.

[gumbomoop]

Incidentally, I'm in Myrtle Beach this week and the local commentators are going nuts over Kennard. The local Beach Ball tourney has included Kobe, G Hill and many, many other superstars. The local guys have seen HS talent and to hear the raves about Kennard is exciting news.

Imported from post-Wofford thread, as it concerns Luke.

Having myself gone close-to-overboard in praise of LK, I'm happy to hear of this enthusiastic report from guys who've seen him up close. I've only seen him a few times on TV, including his subpar-for-him, but still impressive, performance last night (streamed rather than TV).

I was hoping we'd see him on this winter's ESPN HS selective coverage, but I think his team just isn't good enough to merit national coverage. I expect we'll see him in several All-Star games in spring.

[Clay Feet POF]

I need a catchier name for my list.

How about Five on Fire