Luke Weemer, a 6-foot-6 junior, has been a key piece for the Hamilton Southeastern basketball team so far. Despite the team’s 1-2 record, Weemer has been putting up impressive numbers. Averaging around 17.5 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, Weemer is much deserving of the Athlete of the Week title for the week of 12/2-12/7.
Luke started playing basketball around age 6, largely influenced by his dad, who played collegiate basketball. His older brother, Payton Weemer also plays in college, at Danville Area Community College. In the 2023-2024 season, the team finished with an 18-12 record. Payton played in all 30 games, averaging 9 points and 5 rebounds per game. He also recorded 18 blocks throughout the season.
Sophomore Zach Tansel says that “Weemer has stepped into a bigger role this year for [the] team.” Even though Weemer is a first-year starter, “[Luke] is really developing into a great leader and does a good job of leading by example in practice with how hard he works.”
Tansel says that “Weemer’s work ethic is amazing” and “[Weemer] has [become] a leader by showing what it takes to win in this program every day. During the summer [the team] would have conditioning after school, then right after that, [Luke] would go straight to another workout.” Just like the rest of us, Zach thinks that “it’s no surprise Weemer won athlete of the week considering how he’s been performing so far this season.”
The HSE Basketball team’s slogan for the season has been ‘All in’. Luke says that “this season, [the] team is working on being all together and connected, and “if [the team] succeeds with that, [he] believes [they] can win a lot of games.”
We saw that ‘togetherness’ in the Royals’ game on December 7th against Marion. They came out on top, with the final score being 75-67, and earned their first win of the season. Weemer played a big part in that game delivering an impressive 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
An important thing for Luke is having 100% focus on gameday. He claims that “listening to music is the best way to get locked in for [his] games.” He says that it helps him get focused and tune out all the distractions during the school day when he knows he has a game to play later.
Although being focused on gameday is important, some athletes struggle with putting the ‘student’ in ‘student athlete’. As many people know, being a student athlete is not an easy task, especially in season. Weemer claims “something that is challenging about balancing school and basketball would be completing homework”. One way he manages it, is by utilizing his study hall period as best as possible, to be as productive as he can. By doing this, Weemer can leave his school stress behind, and focus on being productive while on the court.
Weemer and the HSE Basketball team are now focused up on the rest of the season, hoping they can spark their winning streak this Friday on senior night vs. Brebeuf.
