Navy basketball loses Luke Loehr to season- ending injury
Navy men’s basketball has lost a key member of its rotation as Luke Loehr has suffered a seasonending knee injury.
Loehr announced his retirement via Twitter and Navy coach Ed DeChellis confirmed the news moments later.
“It’s really sad because Luke is a guy that worked very hard to improve over the course of his career,” DeChellis said. “As a coach, this type of news brings tears to your eyes.
“Luke is such a great young man and worked so hard to put himself in position to be an important player for this program.”
Loehr went down three minutes into Sunday night’s game against Bucknell at Sojka Pavilion. He came down awkwardly after battling for an offensive rebound and was subsequently landed on by a Bucknell player.
“My knee was kind of bent backwards and I’m pretty sure the damagewas done when the Bucknell player fell on me,” Loehr told The Capital on Tuesday night.
Loehr underwent an MRI on Monday and was diagnosed with a torn ACL along with severe cartilage damage. He may also have slight tears in the MCL and LCL.
“Obviously, nobody wants anything like this to happen, especially in their senior season,” Loehr said. “I’m very disappointed that I won’t be able to step on the court again withmy guys.”
Loehr, a 6- foot- 7, 225- pound forward, started all 30 games last season and averaged 4.9 points and four rebounds. He scored a career- high 14 points at Lehigh and netted 11 versus East Carolina in the Veterans Classic. He grabbed a career- best 11 rebounds
against archrival Army.
Loehr was the first forward off the bench this season, usually playing the four spot. The Minnesota native this season scored nine points in a season- opening win against George Washington and provided an offensive spark by draining three 3- pointers in Saturday’s comeback victory over Bucknell.
“It’s a huge loss because Luke is an integral part of our team, both on and off the court,” DeChellis said. “He’s a senior who has played a lot of minutes and provided great leadership.
“I’ d describe Luke as a multi dimensional player who does a lot of things well. He’s a hard guy for teams to guard because he shoots the ball well from [ the] perimeter and has ability to post up and score inside.”
Loehr is slated to undergo surgery in a few weeks after the swelling subsides. He plans to remain actively involved with the program as a student coach while undergoing rehabilitation.
“I’m still really excited about this team and I think it will do great things,” he said. “I’m still a senior leader and will do whatever I can to help out the younger guys.”
DeChellis has utilized a 10- man rotation for most of the season and is hoping someone can step up to replace Loehr.
Sophomore Jaylen Walker will get more minutes at forward behind classmate and season long starter Tyler Nelson, but Navy needs additional help in the frontcourt.
“It’s one less guy in the rotation, so we have to find a way to fill that void,” DeChellis said. “We all have to pitch in and find away to overcome losing Luke.”
Alec Loehr is a candidate to earn more playing time in the absence of his identical twin brother. Alec, who starred alongside Luke at Rosemount High in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, appeared in 23games last season.
“Alec will be playing for the both of us now,” Luke said. “I’m his No. 1 fan and I’m confident he will go out and perform.”
Alec and Luke Loehr were both members of the Navy junior varsity team as freshmen and showed promise. Luke emerged as a key member of the rotation as a sophomore, averaging 14.9 minutes in 31games.
“I have no regrets whatsoever aboutmy Navy basketball career,” said Luke, who has received surface warfare as a service assignment and will likely be part of the cryptologic community.
“I was proud of the way I was able to work my way up the ladder.”