Luke Vargo expected to be key freshman player
Freshman Luke Vargo is expected to be a strong player in this upcoming basketball season. Photo by: highpointpanthers.com
By Edward Lennon// Staff Writer
With the High Point University Men’s Basketball season in its early stages, the Panthers are looking for improvement from their returning players and for their new players to develop and contribute. New Panther’s forward Luke Vargo looks to continue his success from high school at the collegiate level.
Coming from Dublin Coffman High School in Dublin, Ohio, 6 foot 7 in. tall Luke Vargo experienced a lot of academic and athletic success. He was the valedictorian of his high school’s graduating class and a three-year captain for their varsity team. He truly was a balanced student-athlete in high school.
While playing for Dublin Coffman, Vargo received all-conference honors three times; first team all-metro honors, a district top ten player award his junior year, and helped his team capture a Columbus district title in 2014. He received scholarship offers from multiple Division I programs. Vargo has a very well-rounded game. As one of the taller guys on the team, he will be playing inside the paint a good amount, rebounding and protecting the basket.
His athleticism makes his game dynamic according to one of the Panther’s assistant coaches, Eric Gabriel. He says three point shooting will be a big part of the stretch power forward’s game. Gabriel added that Luke’s high intelligence has really strengthened his game.
“His high basketball IQ has made him a very smart player, especially a stronger defender,” Gabriel said. “He knows so much about basketball and the knowledge about the game makes his ability to position himself on defense.”
He also believes that Luke’s hustle and tenacity on the court has really made him a better player. Vargo is looking to continue to make improvements to his game as he continues his transition into a Division I basketball player.
In addition to his triumph on the basketball court in high school, he experienced immense success as a scholar. His weighted GPA was 4.2. Vargo really reiterated the importance of academics in his life.
“Nobody can every take your grades away,” Vargo said. “A person earns their grades and I valued my grades a lot. My competitive nature from basketball transferred with me when I was in the classroom.”
He looks to continue his academic excellence at HPU. He is majoring in accounting, and is planning to minor in finance. He is an aspiring investment banker.
With every successful student athlete, comes a group of supportive and motivated people. His varsity coach, Jamey Collins, has been a strong influence on his development as an athlete.
“He really pushed me for years and always did whatever he could to help me improve,” Vargo said. “He has been a huge factor in my success.”
As well as his former coach, his family has provided encouragement throughout his journey.
“He grew up with a really great family,” Gabriel said. “His parents set a very good foundation with him and I truly hope we, his new family, can continue to build and add to that foundation.”
Gabriel went on to say that Vargo is very coachable and has made it easy for Panther’s head coach, Scott Cherry, and the rest of the coaching staff to work with him.
Vargo chose to continue his journey as a basketball player and a student at HPU because of all the school has to offer.
“This school is really the complete package,” Vargo said. “It has a great combination of strong academics, new and elite facilities and supportive coaches.”
He is proud to be a Panther and really looks forward to gaining experience this season and developing with his team into a stronger unit.