Luke Hancock embodies what the Hargrave Post Graduate Program is all about.
After being ranked the “Program of the Decade” last summer by RealGM.com, the Hargrave Military Academy Post Graduate Basketball (PGBB) program seemed to have reached the proverbial mountain top. To be recognized as the #1 High School/Prep School basketball program over the past ten years is a testament to not only to the school itself, but the players and coaches that have been a part of the program during its successful run.
Enter Luke Hancock & Company.
“All of a sudden you look up, and we’ve got three Hargrave guys (Former Hargrave Head PGBB Coach Kevin Keatts, Final Four MOP Luke Hancock and Freshman Montrezl Harrell) at Louisville not only making this run to the NCAA Championship game, but winning it!” said Coach A.W. Hamilton, Hargrave’s Head PGBB Coach.
As much of a night to remember as it was for Coach Pitino and the Louisville Cardinal men’s basketball team, it was also a proud moment for Hargrave Post-Graduate Basketball and everything the program stands for.
“You’ve got a guy in Luke Hancock who came to Hargrave with literally zero Division I offers. I think he had some Division III schools looking at him, but he had a vision and was deadset on reaching his goal of being a Division I player,” said Hamilton.
Hancock by all accounts is a “gym rat,” and never was deterred by the lack of interest by Division I coaches.
“Luke has a presence about him that teeters on arrogant, but it comes from the sacrifices he’s made working on his game and his understanding that all the success he achieved, then and now, has been earned from countless hours in the gym,” said Hamilton.
On the surface Hargrave is a national powerhouse that annually enrolls four and five star players that come in and become even better because of the structure and academic support the school provides. But, what people on the outside may not realize is only a few select players are awarded scholarships to attend the Academy.
“We’ve had guys that went on to ACC and Big 10 schools that financed their whole way to come here,” Hamilton said. “And, if you ask any one of those guys was it worth it, literally 100% of them would say, “Without Hargrave, I am not where I am today.”
Hargrave is a unique place in the way it is setup, but it is just like anything else in life where exactly what you put in is exactly what you’ll get out. For Hancock, who was always the first guy in the gym for both the morning and afternoon workouts and the last to leave, he is a living example of what hard work does.”
In talking with Coach Hamilton you can feel the passion and energy in his every word when he talks about the school and a blue collar guy like Hancock. Hamilton cited Hancock’s ability to be coached and the chip on his shoulder he carried with him everyday
The “no days off” theme is popular among all athletes now a days, but it is a lifestyle at Hargrave. Student-athletes come to Hargrave with a purpose, and for the Post-Graduate basketball players it is to become as good as they can while earning a college scholarship.
As Hamilton says, “What Luke Hancock did in terms of having no offers to winning a National Championship at the highest level is rare, very few people in life have a chance to win any kind of championship, let alone the grandaddy of them all for college basketball players. But, what is not an accident is Luke’s work ethic. All we did here was give him the resources to become what he knew he could, and I am so happy for him. It couldnt’ve happened to a better kid.”
“Hargrave meant a lot to me. It got me everything with my career; Led to a national championship a final four MVP. None of it would be possible without Hargrave. Although it was hard that one year of being a little uncomfortable and working a little extra got me everything I dreamed about as a basketball player. I’m in cloud nine right now and it all started with Hargrave,” said Luke Hancock, Hargrave Class of 2009.
