Originally from Manchester, England, Luke Gordos PG’21 was recruited for Andover Boys Basketball for the 2020-2021 season as a point guard. Since playing basketball was a key factor in his decision to pursue a postgraduate year at Andover, Gordos, like many other postgraduate athletes, has struggled to adjust to a Winter Season with no interscholastic athletic competition.
Despite being unable to play competitively, however, Gordos has still found ways to become engaged and involved in the Andover community.
Gordos said, “Obviously it sucks, because I came here to play basketball… but it still has been fun. The actual school year and the classes have still been good. And meeting new people has been a lot of fun as well. So it hasn’t been as bad as it could have been because Andover is a wonderful place.”
During the fall, Andover Boys Basketball was allowed to practice and scrimmage within the team, and Gordos is grateful for the connections and memories that he has formed with the team.
He said, “I really enjoyed being able to train on campus while we were on campus… Luckily I got to meet [Co-Captain] Sam [Kumler ’21], as he was on campus in the fall. I really like Sam and it seems like if we had a season he would have been a really good captain.”
Unable to travel home for the Winter Term, Gordos stayed with various local host families until he returned to campus this past week. Gordos has found ways to continue training for the sport even through his different living situations.
“Recently, I have been moving around with a lot of host families, so in some areas, it has been easier to train than in others. Access to courts in different areas has been different. Luckily where I am staying now, the Olsen’s, they have a nice little weight room downstairs so I have been using that quite often. I still have been lifting and playing basketball as much as I can, but obviously not as much as I normally would,” said Gordos.
While his athletic season has not panned out the way he initially hoped, Gordos doesn’t regret his decision to come to Andover.
“I like Andover even though I haven’t been able to experience it that much, which is the only downfall. But I do enjoy the people here and I enjoy Andover’s campus, so yes, personally I feel that it has been pretty fun here,” said Gordos.
