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Carroll grad Luke 'The Machine' House making his impact felt for Drexel

01/07/2023, 10:00pm EST
By Sean Barnard

Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1)
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To most, the 6-foot-4 sharpshooter wearing No. 14 on Drexel is Luke House. To his teammates and coaches, he is ‘The Machine’.

Stemming from all the time spent working in the gym with a shooting machine, the nickname has stuck for House. His hard work has not gone unnoticed and seventh-year head coach Zach Spiker credits the senior for helping to establish the team culture as well as making an important impact on the court. 

“I think we have all envisioned Luke House doing what he's done and it's really no surprise to anybody, especially if you're here in the building at 6:45 on Monday,” Spiker said. “You hear the ball bouncing, odds are it’s him.”

“He gets his mail here, doesn't get it where he lives. He's part of the fabric of the deck. We love his work ethic. And I think it flows to our other guys on the team too.”


Archbishop Carroll grad Luke House has started Drexel's last five games. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

House, who played sparingly in his first two seasons in University City, made his fifth straight start Sunday against Monmouth — a 67-35 wire-to-wire Dragons win. House has played in all 16 games this season and Drexel (9-7, 3-1 CAA) is now 4-1 with him in the starting five.

The Dragons put together a well-rounded effort in Saturday’s lopsided win with junior forward Amari Williams leading the way with 13 points. House was right behind with 10 points, to go along with five rebounds and two assists. He shot 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc. 

The 6-foot-4 Archbishop Carroll product has gone for double digits in three of his five starts. He had a career-high 25 points against Delaware State on Dec. 17 and followed with 11 in a win against Elon. House played in 35 minutes in a win over William & Mary before going scoreless in a loss to Towson on Jan. 5. He got back on track with another strong outing Saturday.

“I mean it was a pretty quick one,” House said about the conversation he had with Spiker about starting. “I think he just said ‘We’re going with you instead of Mate.’ I think it was mainly just because we were getting off to like slower starts and he thought I could help to bring some energy.”

Though he didn't yet have the moniker, the origin story of ‘The Machine’ goes back to his days at Archbishop Carroll. House didn’t quite have the keys to the gym, but the Patriots coaching staff helped him put in workouts before school, which got him in the habit of the early-morning workouts that are still a staple of his routine. 

Paul Romanczuk, now the head coach at Malvern Prep, coached House’s older brother Alex and then Luke for three seasons at Carroll. He recalls that work ethic, in particular noting the effort House put into his quickness, strength and agility to be an asset for the Patriots at the defensive end.

“The success he is having right now starting for Drexel is a direct result of his tireless work-ethic and his team first mentality,” Romanczuk said. “Luke would beat me to the gym about 90% of the time and wait for me to turn the lights on and take the basketballs out of the closet…His hunger to get better was, and I’m sure still is insatiable.”


Luke House didn't have any Division I offers coming out of Archbishop Carroll. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

By the end of his career at Carroll, House was a second team All-Catholic League player as a senior under Francis Bowe. He had offers from several Division II programs, but wasn’t on the Division 1 radar. 

House kicked off his college career at California (Pa.) where he started all 30 games as a freshman, averaging 13.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game. House shot 42 percent on three-pointers, connecting on 73 total on the year, and hitting at least one in every game. The Dean’s list student also cracked the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Player of the week twice.

Despite seeming to be in the midst of a successful college career already, House had a change of heart.

“I just wanted to be closer to home and I knew that once I decided to transfer,” House said. “Then it was honestly a bunch of other Division II schools reaching out and coach Spiker did towards the end.”

“They liked obviously that I can shoot and they said that I could fit in really well here, so I mean I knew it was the right decision.”

House landed at Drexel ahead of the 2020-21 season. However, he saw action in just nine games as a sophomore. The following season, House saw his workload cut back even further by playing in six games and logging just 18 total minutes. Throughout the two seasons, he combined for 25 points across his 68 total minutes. 

Things changed this season for House. The Dragons graduated four out of their five regular starters, including their top three scorers. This paved the way for some available minutes, although House still was not certain his opportunity would come. 

“I wasn't really sure (if I would play) but I just kept working, working hard every day and see where we're at, see what happened,” House said. “I knew we had guys leave. So I knew I had to step up this year and I thought I was going to be able to do it.”

House has played 15-or-more minutes in 13 of Drexel’s 16 games including the last eight consecutive matchups. He's averaging 6.6 ppg and 3.4 rpg while shooting 38.3 percent from deep in 22.5 minutes per contest.

“It's been awesome,” he added. “I just try not to take it for granted. Every single day, just be grateful for the opportunity because I know a lot of people would love to be in this spot.”

House replaced senior Mate Okros in the starting lineup for the first time on Dec. 17 and the switch in roles seems to have benefitted both players. 

Okros, who finished with 11 points on Saturday, has shot 11-for-20 from beyond the 3-point line in five games off the bench and brought a positive offensive spark to the second unit.

“They're both very good basketball players,” Spiker said. “Mate and Luke House are different players and they bring different things to our team.”

Drexel has its sights set on a CAA championship this year. They already played the league’s preseason favorite Towson tough and their matchup on Thursday with Stony Brook, which is 3-0 in conference play, will give a glimpse of where the Dragons stack up in the league’s pecking order. 

House was there for Drexel’s most recent CAA championship in 2021 and the team’s NCAA Tournament appearance against No. 1 seed Illinois. However, he was a spectator for that run. Now, as a key member of the rotation, ‘The Machine’ hopes to get the Dragons back.

“That's our main goal honestly,” House said. “For me personally, it was awesome to be there like watching being part of it. But honestly, in the back of my head, I was always thinking it would be awesome to play in it. Win with the guys and celebrate after.”


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