Kyle Luckett
Kyle Luckett
7'0, 225 lbs.; PF/SF; 2005
AAU team- Blessed IJN HS- Fort Wayne South Side (IN)
Averaged approximately 17 points per game
Coming into the tournament, I had no clue what to think of Mr. Luckett. At the Roundball, he strictly did post drills, showing off his amazing athleticism and quickness. His AAU coach, Eric Vaughn, told me that he was a small forward, which I immediately laughed off. Over the weekend at Spiece, I saw Kyle do things that only a handful of 7 footers on the planet can do.
At a legit 7'0, one would expect Luckett to play primarily the role of a post player, while going out on the perimeter when need be. It is actually the opposite with him, as he primarily plays on the perimeter, only going in the post when he has a much, much smaller defender on him. The unsigned senior easily broke smaller players down off of the dribble, normally with between the legs or crossover dribbles, then finishing with a power dunk or soft jump shot. To give you an example of his ball handling ability, in one game, Luckett got a rebound at the defensive end, crossed over two opposing players, and nearly jumped over an opposing player trying to take a charge for a dunk that would have easily been the #1 play on SportsCenter's top 10 plays. In another game, I counted Kyle having 8 dunks, most of which coming off of offensive rebounds or drives to the basket. In the majority of games that I saw, I could count the number of possessions in which he posted on one hand, no matter how small the player guarding him was. What is very odd is that Mark Miller, who saw Kyle play in Wisconsin during the 2002-2003 high school season, said he was strictly a post at that time and did not play the perimeter at all. Boy have things changed in the past two years.
Athletically, Luckett is an absolute freak. To give you an idea, 6'5 teammate Marques Johnson was standing around under the basket during a shoot around waiting for a rebound when Kyle decided to run and jump over the unsuspected Johnson and dunk the ball, a la Vince Carter over Fredric Weis in the 2000 Olympics in Sidney. His warmup dunk routine includes a variety of 360 and windmill dunks that could easily receive high scores in the NBA dunk contest. Along with his extraordinary leaping ability, Luckett has amazing quickness that allows him to legitimately guard small forwards on the defensive end, as well as play the role of a guard in Blessed IJN's deadly full court press.
Blessed IJN was referred to by most in attendance as the best team in the event going into the playoffs, as they had won every game by at least 20 points. In their opening playoff game, a player from Mean Streets (an AAU team out of Detroit I believe) attempted to start a fight with Kyle, who has been known to have had anger problems in the past. Luckett reacted the right way, just laughing the matter off, but was ejected along with two other players from Mean Streets two minutes into the game. The Spiece Tournament had a rule stating that any player who was ejected from a game was automatically suspended from the following game. Kyle's coach told me that he was unaware of this rule at the time, or he would have immediately protested the rule. Luckett told me of his desire to play against players such as O.J. Mayo, Bill Walker, and especially Greg Oden. Blessed IJN won their game against Mean Streets without him, advancing to the quarterfinals against O.J. Mayo's D-1 Greyhounds. Without Kyle, Blessed IJN was blown out by the deadly duo of Mayo and Walker.
While extremely talented, it is evident to any scout that Kyle has an extremely low basketball IQ, especially on the defensive end, and really needs to play more basketball before considering making the leap to the NBA. From what I saw, I did not see much of a post game out of Luckett, which will have to change if he seriously wants to play on the next level. Even though he has the perimeter and athletic skills to play small forward, most teams will want Kyle to utilize his height better on both ends of the floor.
As it stands, Kyle has stated that he is planning on most likely attending a junior college or prep school next year, but has made it clear that his ultimate goal is to get to the NBA. Everyone who I have spoken to feels that it is in his best interests to go prep or juco next year in order to gain more experience and to gain a better basketball IQ. Draft fans should not forget the name Kyle Luckett, as if he gains more experience and understanding of the game, he will definitely be able to make some noise in a future draft due to his amazing athleticism and skill set for a seven footer.
College Roundup: Columbia, MJC hoopsters fall
LIVERMORE, Nov 07, 2009 (The Modesto Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Columbia College had three going against it in its basketball season opener in the Las Positas Tournament on Friday night: a 7-footer named Kyle Luckett, its own former coach in Denny Aye, and 30 turnovers. That combined for a 79-67 loss to Chabot.
Luckett did not play in the first half, which allowed Columbia to keep it close (42-39) at the half. But he had 14 points (8 on dunks) after he took the floor. Columbia was led by Evan Scott's 17 points with 10 each from Travis Mayor and Simeon Walker. Today, Columbia plays Gavilan College at 1 p.m
*Interestingly enough I played against most of these teams last year at cabrillo
so he's playing 4 columbia college in Northern Cali
0.o small world ain't it
I know kyle although i have no seen or heard anything in years from him. I recently saw luckett in a local newspaper although it was not him it got me thinking of him so i googled his name and found this
Steward: Chabot 7-footer Kyle Luckett takes long road to college
7-foot hoops nomad finds home at Chabot
By Carl Steward
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 01/19/2010 08:01:31 PM PST
Updated: 01/19/2010 10:35:49 PM PST
IT'S UNUSUAL enough that Chabot College in Hayward has a 7-foot center on its basketball team. More unusual is that Kyle Luckett is a skilled 7-footer who would fit on any of the Bay Area's Division I college teams right now.
Heck, the way the Golden State Warriors are going with their big men, even they could probably use him.
Luckett may have a professional future someday, as long as he continues to shake off a shockingly troubled past that waylaid what should have been a high-profile basketball career long before now.
Luckett is a 24-year-old freshman with a back story that makes even the most tangled tale of junior college athletes — of which there are many — seem tame.
For starters, he has spent much of the past four years homeless. To an extent, he still is. Since enrolling at Chabot, he's bounced here and there, living with friends and teammates, on occasion sleeping on their floors or garages because he had no better options. He's OK with such arrangements, because he's known worse.
"I've had a lot of homeless situations," he said. "I've stayed in cars before. I've slept outside before. Even now, if it wasn't for my friends and my teammates, I wouldn't have nothing at all. They are my family right now."
Luckett clings to dreams of a better life, unsure how it will all turn out but understanding the alternative if he doesn't take advantage of his fresh opportunity,
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in the classroom and on the court.
"This is my chance," he said, pausing for several seconds, then adding, "This is my only chance."
Five years ago, Luckett was regarded as an elite prospect, mentioned with the likes of Greg Oden, O.J. Mayo, Michael Conley and Bill Walker. He played against all of them in elite AAU tournaments. All four of those players have since made it to the NBA. The big difference was that Luckett's academic record was a train wreck, and he wasn't being recruited by the top schools.
No matter, thought Luckett. He believed he would play in the NBA anyway, particularly after a reasonably decent outing in a heads-up AAU matchup against Oden, who after a year at Ohio State became the top pick in the 2007 NBA draft.
Luckett declared for the draft straight out of high school, despite being academically eligible for only eight games over four years at two schools in Racine, Wis., and Fort Wayne, Ind., where he didn't play at all in his senior year.
Against the advice of virtually everyone who told him he wasn't ready for the NBA and that he needed to pull his name out of the draft, Luckett didn't do it. He was confused and had too many out-of-reach stars in his eyes.
Troubles, too. He was taken away from his mother in his early teens. He went to live with his quadriplegic father, who died when Kyle was 17, just when Kyle was getting his life in order and starting to enjoy school. It left him disillusioned, bitter and aimless.
"After I lost my dad, it pretty much went downhill," Luckett said. "I didn't care about anything no more. I was just looking for an easy way out. I thought in that year of playing AAU ball, I was doing what I needed to do to get (to the NBA). But I didn't know or accept the truth."
Luckett not only wasn't drafted, he forfeited his NCAA eligibility for declaring for the draft. He subsequently dropped off the basketball map. Other than the occasional pickup game, he essentially stopped playing for nearly four years, after not having much of a foundation to begin with. He thought he was done.
"I just lost motivation," he said. "I felt like since it didn't look like (playing in the NBA or in college) was going to happen, I had to do things the normal way — get a job, go to work. Then I found out that's hard to do, too."
When Luckett did find employment, it was in low-paying jobs. He worked at Radio Shack and Pak 'N' Save and became one of those guys outside Home Depot looking for a day's work.
"I did a lot of landscaping," he said. "Not good for a 7-footer."
Fate stepped in when an old Racine chum who had moved to California called Luckett in late 2007 and told him to come out and stay with him. Then Chabot coach Denny Aye, who knew of Luckett by coaching at Iowa's Marshalltown Community College, learned the player was in the East Bay and was possibly looking at reviving his basketball career. Aye tracked him down.
The other crucial break was that California JC eligibility rules allow players who formerly declare for the pros to enroll in school and participate in sports as long as they didn't hire an agent or get paid to play. Aye knew what kind of talent might be hiding inside Luckett's 7-foot, 235-pound frame, but he also realized Luckett would be raw and rusty. It turned out to be worse than Aye thought. All he had to do was look at Luckett's feet.
"They were in terrible shape," Aye said. "He had these huge callouses all over. I looked at them and asked, 'What in the world is that?' What somebody basically said is that he had the feet of a homeless guy, guys who wore bad shoes or the wrong size shoes for a long period of time. I'd never seen feet look so bad."
Luckett said he wore the same pair of shoes for nearly two years and did a lot of walking in them.
"The clothes that he owned you could fit into a gym bag, that one old pair of shoes, a couple pairs of shorts and a few T-shirts," Aye said. "I don't think he'd played organized basketball in at least two years, maybe more."
It was more. Even during the significant playing he had done in the spring and summer of 2005, he was utilized as a wing player, facing the basket, using a perimeter game, like Dirk Nowitzki. So at Chabot, at this late stage of his basketball life, he is getting his first real instruction as a true center.
"He has responded really well, wanting to learn post moves and inside play because he's never played with his back to the basket," Aye said. "The progress he's made has been quite phenomenal, and if he stays focused, and it's something he really wants, he could become really good. He just needs knowledge, experience and savvy, and that only comes with playing."
After a so-so start this season, Luckett opened eyes in late December when he scored 27 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and made the winning basket in a 55-53 win over Cabrillo.
"I think it was the best basketball game I ever had in my life," Luckett said. "I felt good, especially to hit the game-winning shot on top of all the points I scored. But I still have a lot of bad games, too. I'm still learning how to play down there (in the post). But Coach Aye has taught me a lot of new stuff that I never knew I could do."
Chabot faced City College of San Francisco, Northern California's top-ranked junior college team, last week. Luckett was impressive inside, scoring 21 points, adding nine boards and blocking a couple of shots in a narrow Chabot loss. But CCSF coach Justin Labagh was astounded by the big man's progress, having played against the Gladiators just a month ago.
"He dominated this time," he said. "I told our guys that he's a 30-point swing for them — probably 15 points difference on each end of the floor. They have good guys around him, but they're a completely different team now, and he's the reason. He seals (off would-be rebounders). He's physical. He doesn't let anything rattle him. He has good hands. He runs the floor."
Luckett said he wants to reward Chabot, coach Aye and his teammates for helping him turn around his life by leading the Glads to a state title. It's not so far-fetched. Chabot is 14-4, ranked fifth in the state and gave CCSF, No. 2 statewide, all it could handle.
Luckett, who has another season of eligibility at Chabot, could be in demand if he sticks it out. He could play professionally overseas, if not in the NBA.
"He's got a chance to make some money somewhere, but now, with us, we just want him to stay in school, stay focused and continue to work to get better," Aye said. "Some of it is just developing good work habits, getting to the weight room, getting to class on time, learning how to study. There hasn't been a whole lot of structure in his life, so those are the things we're working on.
"He's getting there. He's a lot further along toward bettering himself than he was a year ago. If you check his background, you'll realize this is the most he's ever done in his life — he's still in school and he's still on a basketball team. That is a huge, huge improvement."
Luckett smiled when asked how he's feeling about his life now, though day-to-day survival still is somewhat rough.
"It feels real good," he said. "I never thought I'd be out here playing organized ball again, let alone going to school and trying to make something of myself. All the coaching and energy I'm getting from Chabot; there's just so much motivation around me. People want me to make it, so I feel like there's no way I can fail unless I don't want it.
"And I do want it, more than ever."
"Earlier this month, Chabot announced that Luckett, after averaging a double-double and more than four blocks per game as a sophomore, had signed a professional contract to play in Hungary. Besides the ill-fated Division I college recruitment, about 20 NBA scouts had come to Chabot to check him out, as there was interest in bringing him to the NBA Development League. "
Has anybody ever heard of a guy named Kyle Luckett? I remember reading about his performance at the 2005 Spiece Pump-N-Run. He was described as an incredibly athletic 7 footer with a perimeter game and a plethora of off-the-court problems. He was also a little bit old for his class. I thought that he would be one of those guys who just "came out of nowhere," but I haven't heard of him since. I visited multiple search engines, and got nothing........