Homestead’s Goode leading Spartans on special run before heading off to Illinois
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (BVM) — Luke Goode has been a basketball star at Homestead High School and on the area’s AAU circuit for many years. He will go on to play the sport collegiately as well, but he comes from a family with a rich heritage in a different sport.
Goode’s family actually has a tremendous background in the sport of football. His father, Craig was a collegiate player at Indiana University. Craig’s brother, Conrad, was a former player at the University of Missouri and played in the NFL as well. Luke’s grandfather, Irv, is also a former NFL player who won a Super Bowl in the 1970s while playing with the Miami Dolphins.
On the other side of the family, Luke’s uncle is former NFL quarterback and now NFL on CBS color commentator, Trent Green. His sons and Luke’s cousins, TJ and Derek, have each played collegiately at Northwestern and SMU, respectively.
Luke has also had other cousins play at the collegiate level, including former Indiana University player Matt Skowronek, as well as former Northwestern and Notre Dame wide receiver, Ben Skowronek.
Being able to grow up in a family with so many high-level athletes has been special for Luke.
“It’s really cool to be able to grow up and look back and realize who your relatives were,” Luke said. “I remember growing up watching my uncle Trent on TV and never really knew what he was doing because I was so young. But now, being able to look back and see how good of a player he was and seeing my grandpa as well being able to win a Super Bowl is really cool to me.”
Although his main sport is basketball, Luke received a lot of the family genes as a talented football player as well. During his junior season in 2019, Luke led Homestead to an 11-1 record behind his 2,778 passing yards and 27 touchdowns.
“Last season was definitely one to remember for any high school athlete,” Luke said. “It was so much fun and I’m so glad I got to enjoy my last year of football. Everything about last year was so special and I was very lucky to be part of a team like that.”
His impressive play on the gridiron led to college interest from many schools. But ultimately, the senior knew which sport he wanted to play at the next level.
“I did have a good amount of football interest,” Luke noted. “But I always told my coaches that if they get a call from a college football coach just tell them to not to waste their time because I knew in my heart that I wanted to play basketball at the next level.”
While he had some college football interest, the amount of offers and intrigue Luke has garnered at the next level for his play on the basketball court has been impressive. The 6-foot-6 basketball star had offers from numerous Division I schools, and eventually narrowed his search down to two: Michigan State and Illinois. After about a week of thought, Luke decided joining the Fighting Illini would be the best move for him.
“Illinois talked to me everyday and it was a really close relationship,” Luke said. “It wasn’t really a school that I liked at first but from day one they created such a great relationship and I realized it was the school that fit me the best.”
Surprisingly, Luke was not heavily recruited by any in-state schools. He plans to use that as a chip on his shoulder throughout his collegiate career, and also wants to become a true leader at Illinois while winning as many games as he can.
Of course, Illinois is one of the programs truly on the rise in the Big Ten under coach Brad Underwood, and Luke knows there is no better time to join the program.
“It’s an exciting time right now for Illinois,” Luke said. “It’s a pretty good time to be committed to this program and seeing all the successes of the guys before me and knowing that I will be part of that program next year is pretty cool.”
Beyond his time at Illinois, Luke also has visions of being able to play at the professional level someday.
“Any high school or college basketball player has that dream or goal,” Luke said. “To be able to get there, I need to improve on everything. But being at that NBA level has been my goal since day one.”
There is no doubt it takes a rare talent to play at that level, but Luke has shown flashes of it throughout his basketball career. In second grade, the now 18-year-old was already making waves playing for Jeff Teague’s AAU team, helping lead his squad to AAU nationals.
Luke has always been a sharpshooter, but also is a solid rebounder, high IQ player and strong leader while on the floor. Growing up, he was also fortunate enough to play with some of the best basketball talent in Indiana including Purdue commit Caleb Furst, and Grand Canyon University commit Jalen Blackmon.
During their high school years, the trio began playing with Indy Heat. Luke sees his time with the team “as a blessing” as he has been given more and more opportunities to shine. In 2019, Luke got called up to 17U as a 16U-player to compete at the Peach Jam tournament.
“That was probably the most fun I’ve had playing AAU ball,” Luke said. “All the tournaments growing up, the great players I’ve been able to play with and the great programs I’ve played with have really shaped me into the player I am today.”
While Luke’s AAU career has produced many fond memories, so has his time playing high school ball at Homestead. As a freshman, the 6-foot-6 star averaged a modest seven-and-a-half points per game.
But he would take his first leap during his sophomore season, upping his per game averages to nearly 15 points and six rebounds. Luke continued his upward progression as a junior with 17.6 points per game. But it is his current senior season where the 18-year-old and his team are truly putting it all together.
“Freshman year I was averaging seven or eight points per game and now this year I’m averaging close to 21 or 22,” Luke said. “Just my growth over the years and being able to play in such a great program while being coached by great people and having great teammates has definitely contributed to a lot of my successes.”
Currently, Luke boasts averages of 21 points per game, to pair along with nine rebounds and five assists. But more importantly, he has helped lead Homestead to an undefeated 18-0 record, a No. 1 ranking in the state and No. 16 ranking nationally. It’s been nothing short of an impressive season thus far, and Luke is ready to finish it off right.
“For us to even be playing during the pandemic is an honor and we just have to go out there and play every game like it’s our last,” Luke said. “So far, we’re undefeated and No. 1 in the state so it’s an exciting year. Our team camaraderie is awesome and everyone has really bought into the idea that we need to come together as a team to be able to achieve the goal that we want to achieve.
“One of my biggest goals is to win a state championship and if we ever had a chance, this year’s the chance. One of my biggest goals growing up was to also win Indiana Mr. Basketball so I’m going to try and work hard towards that.”
No matter how his career at Homestead finishes up, Luke has been honored to play for such a storied program that has produced the likes of Jack Ferguson and Caleb Swanigan in recent years.
“Playing for such a great program in the state of Indiana has been really cool,” Luke said. “A program with a lot of success is something that as a young kid you dream of and you dream of playing in.”
And while being a four-star recruit and top-100 player in the nation is something special that many can’t say they have been, Luke knows he just needs to continue to get better everyday to achieve his ultimate goals.
“It’s pretty cool to know that you’re a top-100 player in the country, but I really don’t care about rankings,” Luke said. “If anything, it makes me work harder. If I’m No. 83, that means that people think 82 players are better than me in the country and I have to prove them wrong. That’s one thing I really want to do at the next level is prove all those people wrong.”
