Player Bio

Luke Douglas Kennard was born in Middletown, Ohio in 1996. He is the son of Jennifer and Mark Kennard and has an older sister, Lauren. Kennard went to Franklin High School in Franklin, Ohio near Dayton. He was named the Ohio Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year in both his junior and senior seasons. As a senior, Kennard averaged 38.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game. For that effort, Kennard was also named the Parade National Player of the Year after his senior season. Known as "Cool Hand Luke", Kennard also played high school football, lettering for three years as a quarterback. As a QB, he was named Ohio Division II Offensive Player of the Year in 2013. Follow the guard on Instagram and Twitter (@LukeKennard5). Kennard came to Duke from his native Ohio, where he was the state's Player of the Year in both his junior and senior high school seasons. As a freshman in 2015-16, he had some strong performances, including 30 points in a loss to Notre Dame and six other games of at least 20 points. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski moved Kennard in and out of the starting lineup, but the 6-foot-5 guard was a starter in both the ACC and NCAA Tournament. Despite Grayson Allen, Jayson Tatum and Frank Jackson also suiting up for the Blue Devils in 2016-17, it was Kennard who led the team in scoring with 19.5 points as a sophomore. He added 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists while converting 43.8 percent of his three-point attempts. In non-conference play, Kennard scored at least 20 points in six games of a seven-game stretch, topping out at 34 points twice. After excelling in the ACC Tournament (20.0 points in four games) to help Duke win the conference title, Kennard recorded 19 points on 4-of-18 from the field over two games of the NCAA Tournament. After the season, he gave up two years of college eligibility and went pro after being selected 12th overall by Detroit in the 2017 NBA Draft.