Luke has been on our team since 2019 and is currently in his third season serving players as the Chaplain and Personal Development and Leadership Coach at the University of Tennessee.
Luke played nine seasons in MLB with the Kansas City Royals. He was drafted as the number one overall pick in the 2006 draft after being named the SEC and NCAA Pitcher of the Year and leading the University of Tennessee to the College World Series. In 2009, Luke threw an eighty-pitch complete game allowing only three hits and one run — a feat that had only been accomplished by five pitchers in the AL over the previous twenty years. He posted a career-high thirteen strikeouts in seven innings just one month later. Luke had his best year in 2013 coming out of the bullpen with a 1.92 ERA and eighty-two strikeouts in seventy innings. In 2015, Luke helped lead the Royals to their first World Series title in thirty years and was the winning pitcher of the series clinching game 5 victory.
Luke has years of experience in the game, a passion for the outdoors and a love for Jesus that has led him to join the UPI team. He spends the majority of his time with players at the University of Tennessee and leads small groups for Professional players that return to Knoxville to train in the off-season.
Luke played nine seasons in MLB with the Kansas City Royals. He was drafted as the number one overall pick in the 2006 draft after being named the SEC and NCAA Pitcher of the Year and leading the University of Tennessee to the College World Series. In 2009, Luke threw an eighty-pitch complete game allowing only three hits and one run — a feat that had only been accomplished by five pitchers in the AL over the previous twenty years. He posted a career-high thirteen strikeouts in seven innings just one month later. Luke had his best year in 2013 coming out of the bullpen with a 1.92 ERA and eighty-two strikeouts in seventy innings. In 2015, Luke helped lead the Royals to their first World Series title in thirty years and was the winning pitcher of the series clinching game 5 victory.
Luke has years of experience in the game, a passion for the outdoors and a love for Jesus that has led him to join the UPI team. He spends the majority of his time with players at the University of Tennessee and leads small groups for Professional players that return to Knoxville to train in the off-season.