There are times when Luke Owen, a late-blooming star on the Olympus High basketball team, will pull up highlights on Youtube and watch Grandpa in his glory days. He watches a lean 6-foot-7 small forward perform a variety of balletic dunks and turnaround jump shots in the paint (maybe he even viewed the TV commercial the old man did for Ivory Soap).
“I always looked up the highlights on the computer in school when I was bored,” Luke says.
It’s not every high school player whose grandfather was an All-American who earned a berth on the U.S. Olympic team, was the No. 5 overall pick of the NBA draft and played against the likes of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
It’s not every young player who can claim Danny Vranes as his grandpa.
Owen’s club coach, Dave Hammer, says he never mentions Vranes’ name around the kid “because it is not fair” to compare, but Owen bumps into reminders everywhere. Last Friday night he played a game at Skyline High, his grandpa’s alma mater. After the game, Vranes was asked to pose with his retired jersey, which will be hung in the school’s newly constructed gym. When Luke and his family watch games at the University of Utah, they see Grandpa’s retired No. 23 Ute jersey hanging from the ceiling. A few years ago Luke joined other extended family members to attend Vranes’ Pac-12 Hall of Fame induction in Las Vegas.
“He’s been a great role model for me,” says Owen. “A great example for me. I try to model my game after him. I try to work up to the expectations. People tell me how great of a player he was.”
Owen, a 6-foot-4 senior, earned a spot in Olympus’s starting lineup for the first time this season. He averages about nine points and eight rebounds a game for the defending 5A state champions. In Friday night’s 58-37 win over Skyline, Owen had 11 points and sank two 3-point shots to improve the team’s record to 16-1.
After the game, he exchanged a high-five with Vranes, who had watched from the stands.
“In my opinion Luke made a huge jump this year,” says Vranes. “I wasn’t sure in his progression if he’d be a starter, yet alone a star on his team. He made a big jump. He can take over a game …”
Hammer, the club coach who watched Danny play while attending the U., agrees. “He’s made dramatic improvement, but you could see it coming. That’s what I expected. His motor is good. He plays hard and he has a good understanding of the game. It’s not fair to compare him to Danny, but I see similarities. When I see him run, he reminds me of Danny.”
Owen comes from a family steeped in basketball and athletics. Vranes was a McDonald’s All-American for Skyline High and probably the best basketball player the state has ever produced. Danny’s grandfather, John Vranes, was a longtime high school football coach and an honorable mention football All-American at Utah State.
Danny’s sister, Shauna, competed in track for the University of Utah. Luke’s uncle Jordan was named the state’s Most Valuable Player at Highland High. Luke’s grandfather on the Owen side — Stanford Owen — has coached prep basketball for decades (he still helps coach the sophomores at Highland) and is a long-time Ute basketball fan and booster. He and his family have owned front-row tickets at Ute basketball games for three decades. The Owens are not hard to find in the stands. They mark each 3-point basket by taping a “3″ on the rail that separates them from the court below.
In the ‘70s and ‘80s they watched Vranes as he roamed the court for the Runnin’ Utes. Stanford once asked Vranes if he could name one of his sons after Vranes (which he did), and he invited the basketball star to his house for a family dinner. On one of those occasions, Vranes held Stanford’s third child, David, on his lap for a family photo, little realizing the young boy was his future son-in-law. David would grow up and marry Danny’s daughter, Danielle. Luke is the oldest of their four children.
Over the years, Vranes would occasionally work with Luke on his basketball skills, but times have changed.
“The positions are so different now,” says Vranes. “It’s not even the same game. Everybody plays (every position). Luke can play center and point guard. The strong part of his game is a good outside jump shot. He has a great stroke. He’s a lot better shooter than I was. He doesn’t play with his back to the basket (as Vranes did). They don’t do that anymore.
“We worked a little over the years on things I did inside; he can always apply that. The more skills you know, the better. But some things are not as applicable now. I never brought the ball out. I don’t think I ever shot outside of 18 feet in high school.”
Luke, a late bloomer, hasn’t received interest yet from college recruiters, but Hammer thinks he’ll probably wind up playing for a junior college. Luke plans to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ when he graduates this spring.
As for his grandfather, the 66-year-old Vranes retired from the construction business a few months ago. “I’m getting lazy, old and fat,” he jokes.
