First, there were Danny and Sandy. Then there were Troy and Gabriella. Now Perth has its own high school power couple.
The Lukes, Travers, and Jackson are on their way to becoming Perth’s most famous high school duo, and despite playing different sports, their paths to sporting stardom will forever be intertwined.
The pair graduated from Willetton Senior High School together in 2019 and could grow into two of Australia’s top athletes in the next decade.
DISCOVER THE LATEST NEWS NEAR YOU WITH PERTHNOW DIGITAL EDITIONS
It’s not uncommon for professional athletes to go to school together. Still, it’s incredibly rare for two aspiring talents of their caliber to have been part of the same graduating class.
There are similarities between the two high school friends – both are bean sticks with above-average athleticism for their size and sporting characteristic, flowing mullet.
Camera icon Luke Travers (left) and Luke Jackson hanging out in 2020. Credit: Instagram
But while school brought them together and helped forge a strong friendship, Travers and Jackson have walked different paths to stardom.
The pair shared the basketball court for Australian youth teams before Jackson shifted his focus from pick and roll to rucks and roving, and it’s fascinating to watch them make their way into the world of professional sports in different ways.
Travers was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the 56th pick in last week’s NBA Draft and has spent the past two seasons with the Perth Wildcats, demonstrating that he has the tools to survive in the world’s premier basketball league.
In 2018, a friend told me he thought Travers—still in high school—would make it to the NBA after seeing him more than hold his own against grown men in the old State Basketball League (now the NBL1 West) for the Rockingham Flames.
Camera IconLuke Travers at the 2022 G League Elite Camp in Chicago, Illinois. Credit: Randy Belice/NBAE via Getty Images
After being picked up by the Wildcats, it took Travers a few years to work his way into the team’s rotation, but by the end of his tenure, he had become a reliable player.
It’s rare to see a player as young as Travers play so confidently on the basketball court; he never looks nervous, rarely loses his defense assignment, and plays the game at his own pace, understanding how and when to push the rhythm of the game to help his team.
Though his rise was slow, his high school friend Jackson became a household name after Melbourne took him third pick in the 2019 AFL Draft after watching him bully the foal-level opposition.
Two years later, Jackson was a Premiership player after helping the Demons break a drought-breaking flag in his hometown and was named the AFL Rising Star for 2021 to kick off an incredible second season. Round.
Blessed with an abundance of athleticism and explosiveness that allows him to win his tick and run away from chasing packs, Jackson has already been touted as the AFL’s next million-dollar man just two and a half years into the game—His career.
Camera icon Luke Jackson celebrates a goal. Credit: Chris Hyde/via AFL Photos
Although they’ve only been in the Australian sports consciousness for a few years, the first signs are that these two are here to stay.
For Jackson, he needs to add consistency to his game – after a rush in 2021, he’ll be somewhat back to earth by 2022.
His elite skills are limited to moments, but if he can regularly turn those fragments into four-quarter performances, he could be the best ruckman for the next ten years.
Travers needs to work on his three-point shot, but his play and attention to detail on defense are sure to impress in Cleveland.
Even if the Cavaliers coaches decide to take Travers slowly, the bones of his game are strong enough to support an NBA career if he can improve his marksmanship.
The future looks bright for these former classmates. While their status as household names is not guaranteed, everything revolves around the pair of childhood friends becoming WA’s most dynamic sports duo.
