15 Days to Purdue Basketball: Tommy Luce

Walk-ons are awesome. Yes, I know the last walk-on profile on Grady Eifert did not go over well, but let’s make up for it today. Let’s fete Tommy Luce, the newest walk-on.

Tommy Luce – Fr.

Jeffersonville, IN (Jeffersonville HS)

5’10”, 150 pounds

Guard

2016-17 Projection: Deep reserve

Luce is what you see out of many walk-ons across the country. He is the son of a career high school coach that has been all over the map as his family has moved around. His dad, Joe Luce, has coached at Fountain Central, Benton Central, Marion, Richmond, and last season was his first year at Jeffersonville. In 2008 he took Marion to the state finals where they lost because some guy named Gordon Heyward hit the game-winning shot as time expired. His dad has a career record of 285-124 and two years ago, with Tommy on his team, he took Richmond to the Class 4A Semi-State.

Tommy was a large part of that team, and it was the best Richmond team in almost 20 years. When he was a sophomore in 2013-14 it was the first time since 1996 they had even won so much as a sectional. The next year they won a sectional and a regional as they finished the year 26-4 after losing 92-75 in the semi-state to Evansville Reitz. That Reitz team would go on to lose the state title game to Caleb Swanigan and Homestead.

That year Tommy averaged 6.9 points per game and hit 47% from three. His sophomore and junior years Richmond had a 48-7 record, and Luce got to play against some pretty big names. Trey Lyles and Indianapolis Tech put him out of the tournament in 2014. He also played against Tayler Persons, Kris Wilkes, James Blackmon Jr., Josh Speidel, C.J. Walker, Paul Scruggs, and Romeo Langford in his career.

After moving to Jeffersonville his scoring improved to 10.2 points last season, but the Red Devils only went 15-12 before losing to New Albany (led by Langford) in the sectional.

Luce is definitely a gym rat and everything you look for in a walk-on. He will be a solid practice player for years to come.