Walter Luckett

Walter E. Luckett Jr. (born July 24, 1953) is an American former basketball player. Luckett starred at the prep level for Kolbe High School in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and played college basketball for the Ohio Bobcats between 1972 and 1975. Following his junior season at Ohio, he declared for the 1975 NBA draft where he was selected by the Detroit Pistons. Luckett played in the Eastern Basketball Association (EBA) / Continental Basketball Association (CBA) and was named Rookie of the Year in 1976.

High school Growing up, Luckett honed his talents at Nanny Goat Park in Bridgeport. As an eighth-grade student he once scored 59 points against another high school's junior varsity team. This scoring outburst previewed what Luckett would do at Kolbe Boys High School—establish a record-setting career that saw him score more points than any other high school player in New England history, win a state championship, and get named the national high school player of the year as a senior in 1971–72.

Throughout his four-year varsity career, Luckett scored 2,691 points, which as of 2012 is still the highest total in the New England region history.

College

Toward the end of high school, Luckett suffered a freak knee injury. He was a confident freshman, proclaiming that he would "drive those rascals wild" when referring to the Missouri Tigers, his first college opponent.

The following season, Luckett averaged 22.8 points per game and led the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in scoring. He was selected as the EBA Rookie of the Year in 1976 and named to the All-EBA Second Team in 1977.

Luckett's company, Unilever Home and Personal Care, paid for his Master of Business Administration (MBA) that he earned at the University of New Haven. Luckett eventually became the company's manager of community relations, then after 25 years he retired. Today he resides in Hamden, Connecticut, with his wife Valita.