Bishop Luers basketball star DeMarcus Hudson has committed to Park University, a private college in Parkville, Missouri. He announced his commitment via Twitter this morning. He will likely major in Finance.
“I’m very excited for him, and it means a lot to our program to see guys being able to go to the next level and play,” Luers head coach Fonso White said. “That’s one of the things I told him after he went down in the North Side game, that if he really needs to go get this surgery, he needs to get the surgery right away, so that way he can have the opportunity to play at the next level. I’m just excited that he’s made that commitment to further his education and to be able to play basketball.”
The reason Hudson had surgery was because he suffered a knee-injury this year against North Side. The injury proved to be season-ending. However, he plans to be able to get back on the court in time for his first season at Park.
“I should be able to continue to play,” Hudson said. “I go up for a last checkup in May. Everything’s looking good, I’ve recovered well, and I’m looking forward to college.”
At Park, Hudson will play for head coach Jason Kline, the former head coach at Indiana Tech. Kline led the Warriors to 140 wins. He has coached at Park for 15 seasons and led the Pirates to 251 wins, eight 20+ win seasons, and five NAIA National Championship appearances.
One reason Hudson chose to go to Park was that he noticed multiple similarities between their team and Luers.
“Coach Kline, he has the same message as my high school coach, Coach Fonso White,” Hudson said. “He plays the same way that we played in high school, and I like getting up and down the floor, so that was a big thing for me.”
Though Hudson was not able to visit Park’s campus, he was impressed by the information he received about the school.
“I felt good about the tours that I got virtually, and I talked to Coach Kline continuously over the past few weeks,” Hudson said. “I felt comfortable with the decision I made.”
Though Hudson is heading to college, he greatly enjoyed his time at Luers. In fact, playing at Luers actually fulfilled a childhood dream of his.
“As a kid, I always went to Bishop Luers games, and I told my mom, in the second grade, ‘I’m going here, I have to,’ and she made that happen, my parents made that happen for me, and I took advantage of that and I’m here now,” Hudson said.
At Luers, Hudson played three years of Varsity. He has been one of the Knights’ top players the last two seasons. This past season he was the second-leading scorer (behind Naylon Thompson) averaging 15.9 points per game. In his junior year, he was the leading scorer, averaging 17 points per game. His rebounding numbers increased over the last two seasons, going from 2.8 per game last year to 5.4 per game this year. White was able to coach him for the last two years, and he’s seen a lot of growth in Hudson in that span.
“When I first took over at Luers last year, he was one of those kids that…you had to get him convinced that if he works a little bit harder, good things will happen for him,” White said. “And, of course, having him on board this season for the duration of the season that we had him for, he did a lot of things well when he was on the floor. So I would say he had some tremendous growth as a leader and as a player.”
Hudson helped lead the Knights to a 15-7 record and an SAC title this year. The Knights were able to win multiple marquee games against teams such as Mishawaka Marian, Carroll, and Snider. It was a huge turnaround for Luers after going 4-18 the year before.
“We were in [the gym] all summer, all day, every time we could get in the gym together, we were always in the gym,” Hudson said. “We worked on our bond on and off the court and just worked on our leadership as teammates…and that brotherhood worked out and that’s the reason our turnaround occurred.”
Hudson was one of six seniors on the Knights’ roster. The rest of the senior class included Jalen Causey, John Peterson, Landon Moore, Grey Whitman, and Christian Fly.
“I’m sad I can’t see those guys right now because of the Coronavirus and everything, but those are my best friends,” Hudson said. “We’ve worked hard, and played hard, and did the best we could, and we were leaders, and that was our job.”
White’s advice to Hudson as he gets ready to head off to college would simply be to keep working hard even when times get tough.
“There’s going to be times when he’s going to fail, and it’s going to seem like things aren’t going the way he wants them to go,” White said. “But at the end of the day, as long as he keeps on working hard, great things will continue to happen for him.”
