Local Sports
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Kraus adjusting to life as a Bowling Green FalconSPORTS EDITOR
BOWLING GREEN -- Like most NCAA Division I players, Luke Kraus was a star in high school.
Unlike many, he's chosen to check his ego at the door to the coach's office.
Bowling Green State University coach Louis Orr is looking for Kraus to be a role player, so that's just what the freshman from Findlay High School aims to be.
"I'll just go out there and do what I've got to do to help the team win," Kraus said at the Falcons' media day. "I don't have to score 30 points like I did in high school. Other guys here can score.
"He wants me to take charges, dive on loose balls, create and hit shots and just be on the attack at all times -- just to play basketball."
When the 6-foot-2 guard played basketball for the Trojans, it was to the level of being named All-Ohio; he averaged 24 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists per game as a senior, was named Greater Buckeye Conference's player of the year three times and passed Ben Roethlisberger as the school's career scoring leader.
Now it's a different ballgame for Kraus, on the court and off.
He's away from home, but his freedom may actually be more limited as a scholarship athlete.
There's weight lifting a couple of times a week, three-hour practices every morning, classes in the afternoon and either more practice, videotape to watch or a walk-through later in the day.
He's part of a program that won the Mid-American Conference regular-season championship last year, lost narrowly in the National Invitation Tournament to eventual runner-up Creighton and is out to prove it's better this season than the fifth-place prognostication in the MAC East levied in the preseason.
Indeed, it is a learning process, and as a former All-America performer at Syracuse in the 1970s -- he was half of the "Louie and Bouie Show" with Roosevelt Bouie -- Orr is well aware that most freshmen aren't ready for starring roles at the college level.
"To me, Luke is a competitor," he said. "He epitomizes toughness, hustle and being a competitor.
"All of the freshmen are doing a lot of thinking right now. Sometimes when you're doing a lot of thinking and trying to figure it out, it can slow your feet down. My thing is, while you're thinking and figuring it out, you've got to play hard. You've got to keep your feet moving and get what you can physically. Eventually, the mental part will catch up with the physical part.
"Luke is coming around. He's going to be a very good player here. I've got no question about that."
Kraus visited Bowling Green as a sophomore at Findlay when Dan Dakich headed the Falcons program. Orr continued to recruit Kraus after Dakich's departure, and the Findlay product chose BGSU over a number of other mid-major and Division II programs.
"The coaches here are great," Kraus said. "They recruited me for awhile. They came to all my AAU games and some of my high school games. And it's close to home. It's about 25 minutes from Findlay. My parents can come see me and if I need something at home I can just drive down the road and come back. It's a good atmosphere and I've always wanted to play in the MAC, so it was a great fit."
Kraus, who has been at school since late June working with his teammates, acknowledged that the commitment to playing college basketball can be difficult to handle at times. But it's an adjustment he's willing to make.
"Some days it's tough, some days it's good," he said. "It's all part of playing basketball. You keep working hard. Some days I wonder, like, 'Dang, I could be doing something else.' But I like the game, so I'm staying here."
NOTE: Fans can get a behind-the-scenes look at the Bowling Green squad Sunday, with "Falcons at Work" scheduled for 11 a.m. at Anderson Arena. The team will practice until 12:30 p.m. and then scrimmage for a half-hour before finishing with an autograph session. Fans can pick up a schedule poster, with schedule cards and ticket information also available. The Falcons will open their season at home Nov. 14 against Wayne State.
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Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
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