Northeast running back Jon-Luke “Juke” Peaker dedicated his commitment to ODU to his mom, who he lost to Covid 19 earlier this month
Tagged under: District 12, News, Recruiting
Billy Splain | June 21, 2020
Jon-Luke ‘Juke’ Peaker, running back for the Northeast Vikings, made a very special announcement today. Peaker committed to play for Old Dominion following completion of his senior year. “Above all I wanna thank my Mom for being there for me throughout my whole life supporting me through thick and thin and always pushing me to be the best and and to be a role model to others and I know right now the she’s smiling at me from up top waiting for me to do great things” he said through an announcement on twitter:
— Jon-Luke ‘Juke’ Peaker (@__Jukee) June 21, 2020
Head Coach Eric Clark knows what kind of player Old Dominion is getting when Jon-‘Juke” Peaker steps on campus next year. “He’s really been through a lot these last few months, I know all of us say 2020 has been rough but for him it’s been a nightmare. Peaker lost both his brother, and then a month ago he lost his mother to Covid 19. “It’s kinda more true for him than most” said Clark, “but he just keeps carrying himself with a smile.”
“Being honest, I didn’t know how to approach him so I’d just sent him a text, and another and finally he reached out and asked “‘what’s up coach?”‘ so I let him know that I’m here for him for anything he needs. As a 35 year old man I depend on my mom so much I can only imagine what a 17 year old is going through. His mother, I had a relationship with her and she was a beautiful person. She was an involved mom but she didn’t care about anything but academics with him. I never heard her question what we are doing for football.” That’s another reason, coach says, he was special.
Jon-Luke was “in his own lane” when it came to recruiting according to Clark. “We have power five schools coming through here with Tyreek Chappell and Elijah Jeudy garnering a lot attention, but it’s unusual a little to see schools like Yale, UPenn, Army, Princeton and those type of schools coming through. But they’re also not just looking for good football players, they’re looking for kids with high academics so that was kind of awesome to get those schools coming to our building.”
Coach Clark also says he’s one of the hardest working kids on the team. He’s the first in last out kind of player when it comes to conditioning. “He’s not just one of the smartest kids in our school, he’s one of the toughest. “When our season ended I told the kids to take a few weeks off to let their bodies rest. Jon-Luke was one of the first kids to show up at indoor track working on his sprints” said Clark. “And he’s slippery quick but what a lot of people don’t see is how powerful he is. He’s the complete package. Blocker, makes the moves, doesn’t “talk” but leads by example.”
Coach Rahne and the staff at ODU really laid the ground work last year, but were very passionate and “did an amazing job” with recruiting. “We had a great relationship with that staff, many of which came from the Penn State coaching tree, already and they genuinely made him feel at home” said Clark.
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