Newport Central Catholic has hired Jake Luhn as the new head coach of the boys basketball program.
Luhn has coached at the Division I college level for the past 15 years, including working for former head coach John Brannen at both Northern Kentucky University and the University of Cincinnati. He also coached at Longwood University in Virginia and St. Bonaventure.
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"I'm incredibly excited for the opportunity to join the NewCath basketball program,” Luhn said in a press release from NCC. “I'm thankful for Principal (Kenny) Collopy and Athletic Director Jeff Schulkens for bringing me into the Thoroughbred family. I am anxious to immediately get to work with our current Breds and continuing the tradition-rich history on 'The Hill.’”
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Collopy said: “We are confident in Coach Luhn's vision for our basketball program and its alignment with who we are as a community. His energy, background, and experience will be a great resource in helping our student-athletes improve on and off the court.”
Luhn attended Melbourne Central Catholic in Florida where he played for Ron Johnson,(a four-time high school state champion head coach, and Dagan Nelson, current head coach at New York University.
A 2002 graduate of the University of Massachusetts Boston, Luhn was a three-year letterman and two-year captain, earning a degree in exercise science and physical education. He also earned a master's of business administration in 2004 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Luhn worked with Jayson Gee at St. Bonaventure, where Luhn spent time as the director of operations from 2003-06 before being named an assistant coach for the 2006-07 season. Brannen was also on the staff.
After four years at St. Bonaventure, Luhn stepped away from basketball after the sudden passing of his father. He left St. Bonaventure to return home to Melbourne, Florida, to run the family business as CEO of LifeStyle Homes Builders, Inc. While there, he also served as assistant coach at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy under lifelong friend Steve Henderson.
Gee brought Luhn back to the college level at Longwood in 2013. Luhn was the first hire for Gee when he took the helm of the Lancers' program.
At Longwood, Luhn was involved in every aspect of the program, from recruiting, scouting and player development to scheduling, community outreach, fundraising and monitoring academic progress for Lancers' men's basketball student-athletes.
Luhn spent five years there before coming to NKU and becoming director of operations in May 2018 for Brannen when he was head coach.
A year later, he went to UC with Brannen as an assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator and spent the past two seasons there.
Coach Luhn, his wife and three children reside in Cold Spring, Kentucky.
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