SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Kingdom Sports Center, 440 Watkins Glen Drive, Franklin, will host a free farewell celebration Friday night for Franklin’s Luke Kennard, who will play basketball at Duke University next season. Kennard was two-time Mr. Basketball in Ohio and recently was named National High School Player of the Year by Parade Magazine.
6-7 p.m: Private pizza party for Kingdom AAU players and families
6:45 p.m.: Doors open to the general public
7:15-8 p.m.: Concert and motivational speech by rapper L.G. Wise
8:10 p.m.: Michael Roe, sports director of the Kingdom, introduces basketball trainer Kevin “Air Kev” Duncan
8:15 p.m.: Luke Kennard addresses the crowd
8:30-9 p.m.: Autograph and photo session with Kennard, Duncan and L.G. Wise
SOURCE: Michael Roe, Kingdom Sports Center director
Luke Kennard, two-time Ohio Mr. Basketball, will say farewell to his hometown fans Friday night in the same place some of them saw him play when he was introduced to the game.
Kingdom Sports Center, 440 Watkins Glen Drive, will host a celebration that will include rapper L.G. Wise and basketball trainer Kevin “Air Kev” Duncan as undercards and Kennard as the headliner, said Michael Roe, sports director. He expects the free event to attract thousands of fans.
He said Kennard started playing basketball at the Kingdom as a third-grader, and continued last year during its high school summer league. As Kennard’s talents progressed, he played AAU basketball throughout the United States.
“He’s the Michael Jordan of the Kingdom,” Roe said. “He’s our hometown hero.”
Roe said the farewell celebration will be an opportunity for basketball fans to see Kennard one last time before he leaves for Duke University later this summer. The event will highlight some of Kennard’s basketball accomplishments — including recently being named High School Player of the Year by Parade Magazine — but also celebrate the way he carried himself off the court.
“He has shown that you don’t have to have bad behavior,” Roe said. “He has lived to a higher standard than others have lived. You don’t have to live like the others. You can live a good life, strive for greatness.”
Kennard is the No. 2 all-time scorer in Ohio history. He averaged 38.4 points per game, 10 rebounds and 5 assists for the 26-2 Wildcats. Kennard had a 4.3 GPA, hit 89 percent of his free throws, 49 percent of 3-pointers and 59.3 percent from the field. He scored 50 points in a game five times this year, and his team went 86-11 in his four years at Franklin.
Roe said he started talking to Kennard several weeks ago about possibly holding a farewell celebration at the Kingdom. After Kennard agreed, “it grew into something bigger,” Roe said.
The event also will include a concert and motivational speech from L.G. Wise and a talk from Duncan. All of this leads up to Kennard addressing the crowd. He’s expected to talk for about five minutes, then join L.G. Wise and Duncan for a 30-minute autograph and photo session.
L.G. Wise, who was born of a 14-year-old mother and abandoned by his father by the age of 2, was raised by his grandmother. He spent years in a Riker’s Island cell block for various crimes. Now he’s an international rap artist and motivational speaker in schools and prisons.
All of the events are free and open to the public and food will be for sale at the concession stand.
“This will be a night to remember,” Roe said.
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