Luke Hancock wasn’t a highly touted recruit when he came out of Hidden Valley, where he made the All-Timesland second team and helped the Titans reach the Group AA semifinals. And he didn’t have the big boys beating down his doors after his postgraduate year at Hargrave Military Academy where he helped them become national prep school runners-up and earned a spot on the all-tournament team. He was viewed as a low to mid major prospect.

Hancock received a rating of zero stars and received only two scholarship offers to play ball one from Toledo and one from George Mason. However, that didn’t get Luke down and he never stopped believing that he belonged. He wasn’t a small guy at 6’8″ yet he lacked superior strength and wasn’t a physically gifted athlete. The one thing he could do was shoot. At George Mason, he shot his way to the CAA all-rookie team as a freshman. He averaged 10.9 points and made All-CAA third team as sophomore, and he made the winning shot against Villanova in NCAAs.

Through two seasons at George Mason Luke Hancock kept his vision and focused on his goals and the basket. After that huge shot in the Tournament and after his very efficient two seasons where he helped make George Mason a consistent winner one person took notice. That person was Rick Pitino. Coach Pitino was looking for a great shooter and passer for his high-octane offense to compliment a great group of guys he figured on having in 2012-13.

Finally Luke would get the affirmation that had been absent for his career up to this moment. Schools that turned him down for scholarships before were now competing for his attention. That affirmation and the opportunity were too much to pass up and Luke chose to transfer to Louisville where Kevin Keatts, Hancock’s coach from Hargrave, was now working.

After battling through long odds and years of doubt, Luke Hancock’s basketball career was finally in good balance. With two strong years of college basketball behind him, Luke’s road should have been easy. Stay in shape, then work his way into the lineup once eligible to play for Louisville. What could go wrong? Having a history of injury problems Luke suffered quite a blow in a pick-up game before the 12-13 season, injuring his shoulder severely enough to require surgery.

According to coach Pitino, the injury was so bad he was not sure Hancock would recover in time for the season and the doctor said it was the worst shoulder he ever operated on. It would take him over a half hour of warm-ups just to lift his arms up over his head but he did maintain his balance getting things pointed in the right direction again. He was in the lineup for the first game of the season not just as a member of the Cardinals, but as a junior co-captain.

When Luke Hancock did make his way onto the court in the early part of the 12-13 season it wasn’t pretty. Cardinal Nation was comparing Hancock’s hype to that of Mike Marra and calling for coach Pitino to keep him off the floor. The theme of those calling into the local radio shows after he went 4-for-29 on three-pointers through Louisville’s first four games was that of dismay. Luke did not let the dissatisfaction affect him. He chose to stay confident, remained positive, kept playing his game and eventually found his form, as he ended up leading the team with a .432 three-pointer percentage.

And as for his role as the captain. The Louisville basketball team faced a very difficult moment during their Elite 8 game of the 2013 NCAA Tournament when one of their brothers Kevin Ware suffered a gruesome injury. When the other players, coaches, and trainers appeared to be in a moment of shock Luke Hancock remained calm, kneeled down, and grabbed the hand of his fallen comrade. Luke was able to calm Kevin with a prayer. And by doing so enabled Kevin to inspire his team to eventually beat Duke and go to the Final Four.

Luke Hancock’s confidence, vision, focus, balance, and adjustments led him and the Cardinals to a national championship. He was also named the most outstanding player along the way. Luke played in all 40 games during the 2013 season, knocked down a team-best 63 3-pointers, and totaled 40 steals. In the national championship victory over Michigan, Hancock totaled 22 points and two steals, going 5-of-5 from beyond the arc.

His senior season with the Cardinals would also started out with some adversity and he battled a achilles injury that held him back through the first part of the schedule. But just like in previous seasons Luke recovered was a key contributor during the Cardinal’s surge to the Sweet 16. He was the third leading scorer on the team averaging 11.8 points a game and was the best free throw shooter at 86%.

I haven’t mentioned in this story about how Luke Hancock’s father was battling cancer along his journey. I didn’t mention it because Luke never mentioned it. It wasn’t until after the Final 4 during the 2013 season that most of us learned of his father’s illness. Luke’s father lost his battle, but did get to see his son take the lessons he had taught him and apply them to a game. He got to see his son be great. And even with the end of his life near continued to push Luke towards his game and the pursuit of greatness. With his father, gravely ill Luke went to try out for the USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team. Luke did what he has his whole basketball career and rose above his adversity to make the 12-man roster. Another great accomplishment for this young man from Roanoke, Virginia.

Luke Hancock has started back at square one with his latest challenge to become an NBA player. Again he faces long odds and a lot of adversity and again people are doubting that he has a chance to make an NBA roster. He started out playing in the NBA Summer League with the Orlando Magic and due to a pretty stacked roster didn’t get much of an opportunity for playing time. But he finally got his moment playing with the Houston Rockets in Las Vegas.

Luke really has made the most of his opportunity to play with the Houston Rockets in the NBA Summer League. He logged 80 minutes of playing time, scored 36 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, dished out 5 assist, snatched 3 steals and 1 blocked shot in 7 games.

And Luke isn’t done yet as he remains the last Cardinal standing in the Summer League. He helped the Rockets reach the Championship game tonight at 9:00pm with a 9 point, 6 rebound, 1 steal performance in the Semi-Finals. The Championship game of the NBA Summer League can be seen on the NBA Network.

Gun violence is a big issue and a growing problem for most cities in the United States. Louisville is no stranger to that problem and according to Louisville Metro Police statistics, 197 people were hit in Metro Louisville with gunfire in 2013. Kids are especially the innocent victims in these crimes and some of them are surrounded by this violence everyday.

Christopher 2x is a community activist in the city of Louisville and he along with other community leaders like rapper Master P have launched peace keeping campaigns and events to help stop the gun violence, to support those who have been victims of these crimes, and to help inner city children achieve their goals.

These events in 2014 are held to bring victims of gun violence together to create a sense of hope and to assure that they get the support they need to help them overcome the tragedy they’ve been involved in.