Aug. 23, 2001
ATLANTA – Luke Schenscher, a 7-foot center from Hope Forest, South Australia, has enrolled at Georgia Tech and becomes the fifth freshman on the 2001-02 Yellow Jacket basketball team, head coach Paul Hewitt announced Thursday.
The 18-year-old freshman comes from the Australian Institute of Sport and Lake Ginninderra High School. He is the first high school player ever named to the Australian National Team, and is also a member of the Australian National Under-22 team, which finished eighth recently at the Under-22 World Championships in Satiama, Japan.
At AIS, he led the team in scoring (15.2 points per game) and rebounding (9.2 per game), while also averaging 1.65 blocks per game and shooting 54 percent from the floor in 2001.
“We were in need of a center, and Luke could not have come along at a better time for our program,” said Hewitt. “A coaching friend of mine told us about Luke, we were able to see him on tape, and we were very impressed with him as a person when he came to visit. His commitment to come halfway around the world to continue his education says a lot about him. He’s an outstanding student, and we feel confident he can add a lot to our program.
“He’s very skilled with outstanding hands, and he shoots and passes well. He has an opportunity to see significant playing time with the departure of Alvin Jones. He’s the only true center in our program, and his time with the Australian National Team and with the Australian Institute of Sport have prepared him for this opportunity.”
Schenscher joins a already-strong freshman class that includes 6-4 guard Barry Elder from Madison, Ga., 6-6 guard-forward Anthony McHenry from Birmingham, Ala., 6-6 forward Isma’il Muhammad of Atlanta and 6-8 forward Ed Nelson of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Tech returns five letterwinners who helped the Yellow Jackets to a 17-13 record and a spot in the NCAA West Regional last season. Starting guards Tony Akins, a 5-11 senior from Lilburn, Ga., who led the Jackets in scoring at 14.5 points per game, and Marvin Lewis, a 6-3 sophomore from Germantown, Md., who averaged 8.7 points. Also returning is 6-4 sophomore forward Clarence Moore (Norco, La.), who missed all but five games last year with a broken foot.
