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March 24, 2017

Hall of Fame girls’ basketball coach Kathy Luke is finally back home.

The longtime Vandebilt head coach announced this week that she has accepted a job to coach Houma Christian School – a team which made the Division IV State Finals this past season.

Luke coached for 27 seasons at Vandebilt Catholic, but was dismissed after a dispute with administration, stemming from an eligibility issue, which caused the team to be taken off the floor just minutes before a Top 28 game.

Since then, she’s coached for Riverside Academy and St. Charles Catholic, where she coached this past season.

Luke said she’s excited to take over the Christian Warriors program, calling it an up and coming program with a lot of potential.

Perhaps more than anything else, though, Luke said she’s happy to be back in Houma – the place she and her family calls home.

“I’m very excited and proud to be named the head girls’ basketball coach at Houma Christian,” Luke said. “I’m extremely happy to be back home in Houma.”

Luke said she plans to hit the ground running with the Warriors.

Houma Christian was dominant this past season, but lost several contributing players to graduation.

Luke said she’s heard from people around the program that Houma Christian has a lot of talent coming up, and she plans to work with that talent to mold them into better players on the court, but also better people off it.

She said her No. 1 focus in the coming weeks will be to teach her team how to compete like a champion – on and off the floor.

“My main goals this summer and throughout the upcoming year is to enhance the concept of team unity and create a picture of how a championship team practices, plays, communicates, handles adversity and commits themselves to excellence,” Luke said. “Our success will be based on effort and doing something positive each day that will contribute to our overall excellence as individuals and as a team.”

It’s a formula that’s worked for Luke throughout her career.

At Vandebilt, she built the program from the ground up – literally.

Over her 27-year career, the Lady Terriers won a state championship, which reaching the LHSAA Top 28 several other times in her career.

By the time Luke departed the program, the Lady Terriers were widely heralded as one of the most prestigious teams in the state – a program that competed for district championships and state championships on an annual basis.

At Houma Christian, a lot of those same values are in place.

The Warriors were dominant last season under first-year coach Tammy Martin, defeating several power programs throughout the season. The team them rolled through the Division IV State Playoffs, before losing to Lafayette Christian in the Championship Game.

Officials with Houma Christian did not return calls asking for information about why Martin will not be back with the team in 2017-18.

But Luke said she’s grateful for the efforts of Martin and other coaches at the school, because they laid a foundation that will allow this transition to be easier in the future.

“The girls’ basketball program at Houma Christian is one that has had great success over the past three years,” Luke said. “Much credit should be given to the former coaches and the players for their time, effort, sacrifice and hard work. My focus as the new coach will be to continue that level of success and move the program forward by working to achieve a high standard of excellence daily.”

Luke said she also wanted to thank her friends in the River Parishes, who have helped her along the way, as well.

Luke coached for three seasons at Riverside after leaving Vandebilt, helping improve that school’s program in her tenure.

After that, she accepted a job at St. Charles Catholic, where she spent one year.

Luke said she enjoyed her time outside of Houma, but always knew in the back of her mind that the Terrebonne Parish area is where her heart was.

Luke said it was difficult to leave St. Charles Catholic after just one season, because she likes to be at programs for a long period as part of the commitment she makes to a program as its coach.