A Young Star in the Making: Luke O’brien
High school basketball is much like College basketball because there are so many teams to follow and thousands of players to follow. Most of the time you can’t follow them all. Players like Stephen Curry and international players were not always recognized because where they played.
In a lot of cases it’s easy to fall in love with players that play for good teams and have the most exposure because you see them the most. Just like it’s easier to like a song on the radio because you are exposed to it more often. A player the state of Colorado hasn’t seen enough is Luke O’brien, a long athletic shooting guard who can do it all.
My first experience seeing Luke was early in the 2018 season as his Columbine Rebels played Liberty High School, a very solid team. He was one of the tallest kids on the court standing at 6’6 and the most surprising thing was the way he handled the ball at his height. Luke completely controlled the offense and it was easy to tell that the offense was ran through him. It’s not often at the high school level that you see a player 6’6 handling the ball as much as he did. Usually at this level of basketball you see 6’6 players playing down low as a power forward or center.
Shortly after the game had started I learned that Luke was a sophomore. I couldn’t believe what i was hearing because it truly sounded like a joke. He was easily the best player on the court and carried himself like he was a senior. The way he plays would make anyone think he’s older than he actually is. Luke finished his sophomore year averaging just under 17 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He finished the season with nine games of 20+ points and also one 40 point performance. Going in to his Junior year he can only get better and learn from his previous season. Here is a strengths and potential improvements breakdown of Luke in his sophomore year:
Strengths
- Good perimeter shooter
- Solid ball handling for his height
- A play maker who gets teammates involved
- Strong finisher at the rim
- Excellent on the fast break and leaking out
- Great Rebounder
- Spot up and off the dribble shooting is good.
- Can score at will
Potential Improvements
- If he wants to be the primary ball handler then he must improve his dribbling. He’s good for his height but he needs to be great.
- A player of this caliber can make any shot at any time but that can get you in trouble. Shot selection can be improved.
- All around quickness
If you’re looking for an exciting young basketball player to follow then look no further than Luke O’brien.