Heroes Den Bosch signs contract with point guard Austin Luke!
Heroes Den Bosch signs contract with point guard Austin Luke!
Heroes Den Bosch signs contract with point guard Austin Luke!
The last time Austin Luke played in the Maaspoort, he scored 31 points and sprinkled 9 assists on top of that. In the 'wrong' shirt, admittedly, as the 27-year-old playmaker played in Donar blue. That will change this season, as the 1.91m tall Texan is the first new signing this summer to sign a one-year contract with the 17-time national champion from Den Bosch.
Luke is coming over from Helios Suns of Slovenia, with whom he made the finals of the playoffs and played in the ABA2-League. His stats were fine there too: averaging almost 12 points and 8 assists per game. Before playing in the Slovenian league, Luke gained experience in the BNXT League at Yoast United (where he was the league's No. 1 passer with 9 assists per game) and as mentioned above at Donar Groningen. On Monday, August 21, he will be clad in Heroes red for the first time, when head coach Erik Braal's team starts team practice in the Maasport.
Technical manager Roel van de Graaf is obviously happy with the arrival of the point guard: "One of the objectives this summer is to recruit strong characters. We need personality and 'over my dead body' mentality to move forward both in European and BNXT. Austin fits that profile and has proven to be a leader within the teams he has played on." Erik Braal added, "We have had regular 'trouble' with him in the past, because Austin is a huge competitor and winner. Therefore, he is going to help us further roll out the top sports culture within our organization. We have spent the past two weeks talking for hours about basketball, my vision, his role, the team and the ambitions of Heroes Den Bosch, which makes us convinced on both sides that this is an incredibly great fit!"
The floorleader himself is equally enthusiastic about his move: “I couldn’t be more excited about joining Heroes for the upcoming season. Such a well-run organization with great history and great fans. The Maaspoort has always been one of my favorite atmospheres to play in. After a few conversations with coach Braal, I knew it would be a great fit, so I can’t wait to get to Den Bosch, meet everybody, work to get better every day and help our team win as many games and prizes as possible!”
