NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head men's basketball coach Ryan Pedon has added to his inaugural recruiting class with the addition of former top-200 prospect and Kansas State student-athlete Luke Kasubke.
"I've known Luke for some time now as we recruited him coming out of high school while I was at Ohio State," said Pedon. "First off, Luke is a winner. He was a four-year letterwinner at Chaminade High School, one of the top programs in the state of Missouri. He was coached there by Frank Bennett, who I respect very much as a coach and teacher. Luke was also highly successful on the AAU circuit, as his MoKan Elite program won the Peach Jam Championship heading into his senior year. I have seen firsthand how Luke effects winning. He is a tremendous shooter, a high-level competitor, and he plays to win."
Kasubke, who played his last two seasons at Kansas State, and will come to Normal with three years of eligibility remaining. Last season he played in 30 games off the bench, averaging 12.2 minutes per game. He scored 57 points while dishing out 14 assists and pulling down 32 rebounds, while also grabbing 10 steals. He scored a season-high eight points at Wichita State and added seven points at Ole Miss on January 29 where he also grabbed a season-high five rebounds. His three assists against North Dakota were the most in the season for Kasubke, and he had two steals in three different games.
"Luke is an impressive young man and comes from a tremendous family," commented Pedon. "We could not be more excited about adding him to our Redbird family."
A year earlier Kasubke played in 16 games – all in Big 12 play – after he missed the first 13 games of the season with an injury. He scored 35 points over 16 minutes of action per game, while pulling down 20 rebounds and grabbing six steals. He scored a season-high eight points, four rebounds, and two steals against eventual NCAA Division I Champion Baylor on January 27 and scored at least five points four times and double-digit rebounds five times. He gave out three assists against Texas State on February 6. He was named to the Fall 2020 Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll, and the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team.
As a prep at Chaminade High School he was a top-200 prospect by several recruiting services and was rated among the top 40 shooting guards in the country including No. 31 by Rivals.com and No. 37 by 247Sports.com. He was rated as the No. 6 prospect in the state of Missouri by 247Sports.com.
He lettered all four years at Chaminade and led the team to three trips to the MSHSAA Final Four and an 84-30 overall record during his four seasons. His senior year, the Red Devils had a 22-6 overall record and advanced to the MSHSAA Semifinals before the tournament was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chaminade was voted as Co No. 1 team in the state by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association.
Kasubke was twice named to the Class 5A All-State team by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association and was named to the First Team Metro Catholic Conference and to the all-district team, while he was a member of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's All-Metro Third Team during his junior season. He scored nearly 1,500 points over his four seasons, which ranks fourth in Chaminade High School history, behind NBA standouts Jayson Tatum and Bradley Beal, and former NBA player David Lee. His 218 career three-pointers are second-most in school history behind Beal's 256.
His 22.3 points per game during his junior season ranked 10th in the St. Louis area, and he led the team in nearly every offensive category including points, field goals made, three-point baskets made, and free throws made, and averaged 4.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.0 steals, and 0.6 blocked shots per game.
Kasubke joins Colton Sandage, Darius Burford, and Malachi Poindexter as newcomers for the 2022-23 basketball season.
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