Logan basketball: Johnny Luke profile

On Monday, March 12, I interviewed Logan (Utah) High School basketball player Johnny Luke. He's quite an athlete and played a big role in the Grizzlies' success. Here is the article I wrote for the Logan boys basketball yearbook.

Johnny
Luke:

Grizzlies’ athletic guard led the way
to great success in multiple sports

By Bruce Smith
Matchup

Johnny Luke was considered the most athletic player on the Logan basketball team. But, in retrospect, he was also the most crafty.

And his talents weren’t just limited to basketball.

Luke also played on Logan’s 4A state championship football team. He was a three-year starter and led the state with 12 interceptions as a senior. One of his best memories was celebrating as the Grizzlies defeated East in the title game at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City Nov. 18.

He didn’t celebrate long. A few days later, Luke was on the basketball court.

“I played very sport,” he said. “Soccer, football, basketball. My favorite sport is volleyball, but I only played football and basketball at Logan.”

Luke grew up in 29 Palms, Calif., but his family moved to Logan to be near his newly married sister, and also because it had a better economy. The Grizzlies, of course, already had a fine athletic program, but were glad to have Luke’s help.

“There wasn’t a more athletic kid in our region, maybe in our state, at the guard position,” said coach Logan Brown. “He can do so many things. He can surprise you. He played great defense, but he’ll get steals and deflections.
“You can’t teach his instincts.”

His instincts caused opposing quarterbacks all kinds of problems. Luke said his all-time favorite sports memory was when he intercepted three passes in Logan’s 67-7 victory over Sky View. He had three other games when he picked off two passes.
Not surprisingly, he did the same thing in basketball.

Luke was the Grizzlies’ point guard. He averaged 6.7 points per game, but helped beat teams in other ways. He grabbed 4.6 rebounds/game and easily the team leader in steals (4.0) and assists (3.6). Those impressive statistics helped Logan to a 16-6 year.

“It was a good season. It was really successful,” Luke said. “We did what we wanted and were really productive. Coach was a real motivational guy. He told us to do what we were great at and that affected us.”

Luke had five games where had seven steals. Not surprisingly, he saved his best thefts for Sky View. In both games against the Bobcats, he had seven each.

“They’re our rival, and probably the best team we played all year,” he said. “It was great to beat them. It was a good game by all of our players. Everyone had an ‘on’ game that night.”

Luke was one of those guys whose success on the football field continued on the court. Brown said it was a pleasure to have the football players join the team after they had won state.

Luke’s winning attitude affected the other players. Even though he came into the season with no experience at point guard, Brown felt good things would happen if Luke had the ball.

“He just understands the game,” Brown said. “He had been an off-guard before, but he stepped in and led our team.”

Less than two weeks after his first practice, Logan opened the season against Uintah and Luke quickly showed he could handle his new position. Luke said one of his most-memorable assists came late in the game. He stole the ball from a Utes’ post player, grabbed it and saw teammate Russell Murphy downcourt. He fired a two-handed chest pass to him as quickly as he could.

Murphy was all alone and turned it into a dunk, firing up the home crowd.
“As long as I knew my teammates had my backside help, I could do whatever I wanted,” he said. “I could float around and try to make plays.”

Luke said his best game came late in the year when Logan played Box Elder. That night, he scored a season-high 17 points, but added four rebounds and three assists. Surprisingly, just one steal.

With basketball over, Luke took the spring off from competition. He said he planned to attend Utah State after graduation and walk-on to the football team.

There, he’ll see if his instincts and athleticism can carry on at the college level.
You can bet his Logan teammates will be cheering for him.