Senior Axtell back, better than ever

By Felicia Haynes     Nov 9, 2000

Luke Axtell is healthy again and, he says, in the best shape of his life.

No wonder he has high expectations for his final college basketball season.

“I’m in the best shape I’ve been in, ever,” Axtell, Kansas University’s 6-foot-10 senior swingman, said. “I wanted to make sure I have all the advantages, whether an injury happened or not. I did that, and it worked out great.”

To make sure he can do those things, Axtell pushed himself over the summer. Once he received a clean bill of health Axtell says after the season he might reveal the nature of the undisclosed medical condition that kept him out of half of his junior year Axtell threw himself into a conditioning and shooting regimen designed to make him better and fitter than ever.

But Axtell insists he’s not entering his senior year with a sense of urgency.

“I wouldn’t call it urgency,” Axtell said. “I’m more excited about it than urgent. We’ve got some great challenges coming up. I’m eager for the challenges and eager to come out on top.

“Every time I go through something this season, it’s going to be the last time I do it.”

Axtell’s college career has had its fits and starts.

After averaging 13.3 points a game for hometown University of Texas as a true freshman, Axtell left the Longhorns behind in an ugly divorce. He sat out his sophomore year at KU, then played just 20 games last year before his medical condition forced him off the court.

In those 20 games, Axtell averaged 8.7 points and hit 39.2 percent of his three-point shots.

“There were flashes of my old self last season, definitely,” Axtell said.

Axtell got a feel for his new self over the summer. In addition to recording a compact disc the sale of which has been blocked by the NCAA Axtell played plenty of pick-up games in his hometown.

Then he took the show on the road when he played on the Big 12 Foreign Team Tour, a six-game roadshow in Austria. Axtell averaged 10.7 points in three games before pulling a groin.

“It was fun,” Axtell said. “It was good to get some games. The competition wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad, either. I’d played pick-up, but I hadn’t played with refs and stuff. You don’t waste time arguing and stuff like that. We had plays and defenses.”

Speaking of the latter Axtell hopes to prove he’s a more well-rounded player than his gunslinger image.

“My shot’s fine,” he said, “but my goal is to do more than just that this year, such as rebounding and defensively.”

KU coach Roy Williams cited Axtell and fellow senior Eric Chenowith as the keys to the season. It’s a role with which Axtell is comfortable.

“That’s fine. I’ll have a good year,” he said matter-of-factly. “It’s my senior year. This team has the talent to do whatever. I look around and it’s kinda scary.

“We have a lot of talent condensed into seven, eight players.”

The other half of the keys to the season has noticed a difference in Axtell already.

“He is stronger, more enthusiastic about things,” Chenowith said. “He has so much confidence in his shot. I see big things for Luke, whether he’s starting or comes off the bench.”

Axtell sees big things for himself, too.

“If people are surprised, they shouldn’t be,” he said. “I know what I can do.”

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