Varsity Insider

I’ll start this post with a quick story that didn’t make it into the paper because it’s first-person.

About two years ago, I saw Luke Wooters at the County Center and we started talking about basketball. I had known him for about six years or so as a scorekeeper/jack-of-all-trades for his mom, Beth Wooters, the longtime varsity coach at Ursuline who had won over 400 games and two state championships. Luke had spent every free moment at her games and practices since back in 1998. He had been there through gold balls, state championships and even a McDonald’s All-American.

Luke and I had always been cool through the years. So when I saw him, I asked him about school, his team, etc. To my amazement, Luke was already on the JV and he hoped to play varsity at Iona Prep the next season. At the time, the Gaels were probably the second-best team in the coverage area and one of the top Class A teams in the state. They were fresh off a run to the state Federation tournament and boasted three future Division I players: Brian Voelkel, Jordon Bronner and Sandro Carissimo.

If you saw Luke then, you couldn’t have imagined him playing alongside the 6-foot-5 Voelkel, who looked like a trimmer, taller Brian Urlacher. As I learned throughout much of last season, I wasn’t the only person who had his doubts.

Wooters’ fortitude had pushed him onto the court at every level. At just 5-foot-7 and 135 pounds, he’s probably one of the area’s smaller varsity players, certainly in the CHSAA. But he’s provided a spark for Iona, which will enter tomorrow’s 4 p.m. rivalry game with New Rochelle at 16-2 with him as the starting point guard.

If you have a minute, check out the story to find out how Wooters have overcome physical obstacles and scores of naysayers to succeed at a pretty high level. Playing nearly every minute as a senior, Wooters has developed a reputation for drawing charges at a rate nearly 10 times that of anyone else on the roster. He’s taken a whopping 36 charges so far, including eight in a recent two-game stretch against Bishop Ford and Monsignor McClancy.

That’s nothing new for Luke. Back when he was an even smaller freshman, his coach, Rob Cerone, offered to buy lunch at the school if his players drew a charge.

“That little guy,” Cerone said, “he cleaned me out.”

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