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Cool Honor for Former Duke Basketball Guard Luke Kennard
Two-year Duke basketball bucket-getter Luke Kennard's Franklin High (Ohio) is moving, set to dedicate its new home on Saturday afternoon before classes begin there on Monday. And "Luke Kennard Court" will be the name of the floor in the new gym, as the Franklin Board of Education approved that honor this week.
Dayton Daily News' Ed Richter outlined the generous contributions of Kennard to his old stomping grounds:
"[Superintendent Michael Sander] said the board wanted to recognize Kennard for what he continues to do for the Franklin schools behind the scenes and being a good role model for students and the community.
"Other things that Kennard continues to do for the community is supplying the Franklin boys and girls basketball teams with shoes and backpacks and hosting a youth basketball camp each summer with all the proceeds going to the camp.
"Kennard and his family have donated $20,000 for the weight room at the new high school as well as $50,000 for the new scoreboards for the new gym."
Luke Kennard, the 2017 ACC Tournament MVP, was a five-star prospect at Franklin and one of three McDonald's All-Americans in the 2016 Duke basketball recruiting class, alongside Brandon Ingram and Chase Jeter.
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"Cool Hand Luke" is one of only five Blue Devils this century to reach 1,000 career points as a sophomore, recently joined on that list by current sophomore forward Kyle Filipowski.
After finishing with the NBA's highest 3-point percentage in each of the past two seasons, the 27-year-old Kennard, a late lottery pick in 2017, is now averaging 10.7 points while shooting 44.8 percent from three (fifth in the league) in his second year with the Memphis Grizzlies.
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