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January 24, 2017
Colonels adjusting without several key players
January 24, 2017
Houma native Kathy Luke is used to being recognized for her many achievements as a coach.
After all, she is a member of the Louisiana High School Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and is widely considered to be among the best local girls’ basketball coaches in the history of the sport at the prep level.
But what many don’t know is that before Luke picked up a clip board, she was a pretty good player, herself – a talented guard who attacked the game with the same tenacity then that she does now as a coach.
In February, it is an on-court achievement that will be bringing Luke back to one of her favorite places – the hardwood floor at Louisiana State University.
It’s not commonly known in Terrebonne Parish, but Luke was a guard on the Lady Tigers AIAW National Runner-Up Team in the 1976-77 season – an accomplishment that the longtime coach says is one of proudest moments of her career.
Luke and her teammates will be honored at the upcoming LSU women’s basketball home game against Alabama – a day which will celebrate the 40-year anniversary of the team’s achievement.
Luke said she can’t wait to see her teammates and reminisce about a tie she credits as molding her from a girl into a motivated, ambitious woman, who left collegiate athletics and got straight into coaching.
“Being a member of the LSU basketball team and playing for a national championship was one of the most exciting and memorable experiences of my life,” Luke said. “I believe that experience had such a powerful influence on me that it shaped my coaching career and everyday life in three distinct ways: First, I learned the importance of leadership. Secondly, I learned that success is only obtained through hard work and preparation. Lastly, I learned to strive for excellence.”
And excellence is what Luke has been able to attain for a lot of her career.
Of course, almost everyone knows about the Vandebilt days – one of the most historic and successful runs of local prep basketball dominance in the past several years.
With the Lady Terriers, Luke built Vandebilt from the ground-up – literally.
In 27 seasons, Luke coached the team to more than 600 wins while seemingly annually leading the Lady Terriers deep into the State Playoffs – if not all the way to the LHSAA Top 28.
Luke’s pinnacle came in 2010 when the Lady Terriers won the Class 4A State Title – the school’s only such girls’ basketball crown in its history.
She went on to spend a few more seasons with the Lady Terriers before resigning after hoopla surrounding the eligibility of a player, which cost the Lady Terriers a crack at the Top 28 in 2013.
Since that time, Luke has been in the River Parishes.
She first coached at Riverside Academy – a gig she held for three seasons, posting a 51-30 record in three seasons, while leading the Lady Rebs to the playoffs in each season.
In the offseason, Luke moved down the road to St. Charles Catholic – a position that she said was appealing because it offered her the opportunity to do less classroom work and more basketball, a change-up from the old routine she’d enjoyed in the previous 30-plus years.
At press-time, St. Charles has 10 wins and is on its way to a winning season.
Luke said she’s teaching the team the same way she did at Vandebilt and Riverside – using the principles she learned as a Lady Tiger to power the young, aspiring players.
The Lady Comets are young, she said, but are gifted and have a desire to be champions.
Through the daily chase for excellence, Luke said she’s motivated to bring the Comets to a position where they can play in the final game of the season.
It’s a spot she’s enjoyed a player and also as a coach – a feeling of accomplishment she said can’t be replicated anywhere else.
“Playing for a national championship is a feeling that I will never forget and that I never want to forget,” Luke said. “I believe throughout my life, it has pushed me daily to work tirelessly, constantly striving to achieve excellence in all that I do. I love the feeling of being at the top of the mountain and I work toward that feeling every, single day.” •
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