Brit with grit leads UCI
Luke Nelson’s hometown of Worthing, England is a seaside city with an elevation of 25 feet. Those who have seen the UC Irvine senior guard torch defenses the last four seasons might identify that as roughly Nelson’s ideal shooting range.
Surely by covering the 5,477 miles from Worthing to Irvine, Nelson has helped the Anteaters put a little distance between themselves and the rest of the Big West Conference title contenders.
With Nelson connecting on a school-record 247 three-pointers, and also climbing the career statistical ranks in points, assists and steals, UCI has claimed either the conference regular-season or tournament title each of the past four years. And it’s no secret that the British invasion has been a leading element behind the ‘Eaters unprecedented run of sustained success.
“Luke has been an incredibly important player for us,” said UCI Coach Russell Turner, who got a refresher course on just how important when Nelson missed 18 games, including the first 15 of the season, with hamstring problems.
Without Nelson, UCI was 7-11. With the 6-foot-3 four-year starter in the lineup, the ‘Eaters are 12-2. Nelson, the Big West Player of the Year, scored 29 points to help UCI thump UC Davis, 79-49, in a Big West title showdown to end the regular season.
He is averaging 17.2 points heading into Thursday’s Big West Tournament quarterfinal against No. 8-seeded UC Riverside (7-20) at 6 p.m. at Honda Center.
“It was disappointing for Luke to go through the adversity that he did,” Turner said of Nelson’s hamstring injuries. “But I’m not at all surprised at the way he handled it. He has been a great teammate and a great captain all season. We were incredibly cautious managing his injury, hoping he would be available for a stretch run. We came into this last three-game period knowing that we needed to win all three to win the conference and he was able to play his best basketball of the season then. That’s a credit to him and who he is and his talent. I’m really happy for him and proud of him.”
Nelson’s father Stephen played professional basketball in England for more than a dozen years and has been an inspiration and a mentor to Luke. The younger Nelson was the Division I club Player of the Year in England in 2013 and represented England in the U18 European championships, and the U20 European championships in 2014.
At the Division I club level in Great Britain, Luke Nelson said he competed against some players nearly double his age.
“I was the little skinny kid, so I had to learn how to play against stronger guys,” Nelson said.
“He has played against men his whole life, over there in England,” UC Riverside Coach Dennis Cutts said of Nelson. “He plays this game at a different level, in terms of seeing the game, getting shots and handling situations. He’s mature beyond your typical college player and that resonates a lot. He rises up in big moments and he’s difficult at both ends. He kind of glues [the Anteaters] together defensively and talking to those guys. And he’s such a gifted offensive player, he’s hard to handle.”
Nelson said it was difficult to handle his time on the sideline this season.
“Basketball has always been my safe zone, so when I didn’t have that it was kind of odd,” said Nelson, who was Big West Freshman of the Year in 2014, has been all-conference three times, and twice made the Big West all-tournament team. “Everything else just kind of weighed heavy on me, especially losing and having to watch the team go through struggles. It was late nights, tossing and turning in bed.
“I have always loved the game and to experience that frustration has really made me appreciate that right now and bring the best I have.”
Nelson said he plans to play professionally in Europe, but would first like to focus on closing his collegiate career with another Big West Tournament crown that would produce the program’s second ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
He said he is haunted by last season’s loss to Long Beach State in the conference tournament semifinals. In that game, he had five points and was zero for four from three-point range, one night following a career-high 36 points in a quarterfinal win over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in which he was 11 for 15 from the field, including six for seven from threedom.
“The way I see it, I am supposed to be at my best at this point in the season, so I feel I could have done more [in last season’s semifinal] to help my team,” said Nelson, who has averaged 22.5 points the last five games. “That really ate me up. Tears were shed.”
Nelson said he is aiming to generate a similar euphoria he experienced by winning the conference tournament in 2015.
“That was a great feeling,” Nelson said of earning the school’s first NCAA Tournament bid in 2015. “It was a blessing and something not many guys get to do. I want to get back [to the Big Dance].”
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
