Luke Gore enters the 2012-2013 season in his 11th season with the Valpo basketball program.  Gore, ranked as the fourth-best assistant coach in the Horizon League by recruitdirt.com, helped guide the Crusaders to the Horizon League regular season championship last season.

In his current role, Gore works with player development, with an emphasis on post play.  Over his first ten years, Gore has guided eight all-conference post players and 10 post players who have gone on to professional basketball careers overseas.  Gore also works as director of Valpo’s summer basketball camps and is responsible for overseeing academics, as well as future game scheduling.

Gore has helped to sign recruiting classes ranked as high as 27th in the nation during his tenure with the Crusaders.  He also helped signed the top incoming class in the Horizon League entering the 2009-2010 season according to The Sporting News.

In his ten years with the Crusaders, Valpo has made five postseason trips, including one NCAA Tournament appearance and a pair of Postseason NIT bids, most recently last season.  Over his tenure, the Crusaders have won 177 games, captured three league regular season titles, and won one Mid-Con tournament title.  Last season, Gore helped guide Valpo as it won 22 games and its first-ever Horizon League regular season championship, as well as earning a spot in the Postseason NIT.

During the summer of 2008, Gore served as head coach for an Athletes in Action squad that traveled to West Africa. The team went 5-0 in games against African national teams, and spent time visiting orphanages and conducting coaching clinics throughout Mali and Senegal.

A starting forward at NAIA Bethel College in McKenzie, Tenn., from 1998 to 2001, Gore earned Academic All-America honors as a senior.  He helped Bethel to the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title during the 1998-’99 season after transferring from Cumberland [Tenn.] University where he played his freshman year.

Gore graduated from Bethel in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education and received a Masters of Arts in sports administration from Valpo in August of 2006.  Born in Oak Park, Ill., Gore was raised in Paris, Tenn.

Luke and his wife Cheryl reside in Valparaiso with their son, Bartholomew.