Luke Scarlata and the Morton Mustangs have lofty expectations following a stellar season last year. After going undefeated in conference play and giving Evanston its only regular season loss, the Mustangs fell to star studded Whitney Young 90-63 in the Regional Championship. This year, Luke knows that his crew can put on a better show. Oscar Macias, Joe Belcaster, and Raul Guzman all all return as starters with Scarlata from last years squad and hope to make some noise across the Land of Lincoln. ” Playoffs will be tough again this year,” Luke stated.  “Our regional and our sectional are both loaded, but I think we can win both of them. That is my number one post season goal, winning our regional and sectional. I’m not going to worry about the state tournament until that times comes.”

Multiple colleges are pursuing Luke, yet he is a rare commodity in high school sports. I say this because his ultimate factor in choosing his future home will be academics. With his superb grades, Luke has Ivy and Patriot teams drooling over him. He attended elite camps at Harvard, Cornell, Princeton, and Yale. The University of Chicago also is at the top of Luke’s list, along with a host of mid-major programs including SIU Edwardsville, Loyola, Louisiana Lafayette, and Boston University. “SIU Edwardsville is up there on my list, but right now, I’m probably leaning towards the educational route,” claimed Luke. “Augustana and Illinois Wesleyan are also on my list. Cornell was probably my favorite Ivy League school, and I really liked the University of Chicago. I’m not going to make my decision until after the Proviso West Thanksgiving tournament.”

Stay tuned with more updates for information on Luke’s recruitment and the rest of the Morton squad…