MILWAUKEE — Being apart of the 2022 NBA championship team isn't the only thing Golden State Warrior players Jordan Poole and Kevon Looney have in common. They're both also proud Milwaukee Public School (MPS) alumni.
Poole, 22, attended his first three years of high school at Rufus King High School before transferring to La Lumiere School, a college prep boarding school in Indiana. Poole was the number one ranked prep basketball player in Wisconsin before he departed off to his new school in 2016.
He wanted to experience an independent campus lifestyle before going to college, join other high-ranking high school basketball players, play in games broadcasted by ESPN and prepare himself to play basketball at the University of Michigan; which he had committed to play for in November later that year. Poole was ranked the No. 23 shooting guard in the nation by Scout.com and the No. 100 player overall in the 2017 class.
Poole played for two years at the University of Michigan. The Michigan Wolverines made it to the finals during the 2018 Division I Men's Basketball season but ended up falling short to the Villanova Wildcats from Villanova University.
Poole declared for the NBA draft after his sophomore year in 2019. He was chosen by the Golden State Warriors in the first round as the 28th pick. Many sports officials have noted Poole's improvement as a scorer and his all-around game.
Looney, 26, played all four years of his high school career at Alexander Hamilton High School. Like his older brother Kevin, he was an avid Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant fan and would watch tapes of Bryant copying his moves.
Looney was noted to be the best player on his high school team and was the tallest. By his senior year, he was averaging 27.9 points, 12.7 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 8.0 blocks per game playing mostly as the point guard. Hamilton went undefeated in conference play to win its first league title in four years, earning Looney a second City Conference player of the year award.
Looney gained national recognition when he became the second player in Milwaukee Public Schools history to be named a McDonald's All-American. Looney was also named Wisconsin Mr. Basketball by the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association. He was listed as a five-star prospect by Rivals.com, ESPN.com and Scout.com, which ranked him nationally as the No. 10, No.12, and No. 15 player, respectively.
Looney announced in 2013 that he decided to attend the University of California, Los Angeles for college. The announcement was kept a secret, not even Looney's parents knew where he decided to attend. Looney liked California and described UCLA as, "the most beautiful campus he had ever seen," to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2013. The UCLA Bruins did not guarantee Looney a feature role as a freshman but told him he would be allowed to play both inside and outside to show his versatility.
A hip injury plagued Looney during his only year at UCLA, but he never missed practice or any games. He averaged 9.2 rebounds per game, finishing with 15 double-doubles.
Looney opted out of his college eligibility and declared for the 2015 NBA Draft where he was selected by the Golden State Warriors as the 30th pick in the first round. His draft stock dropped due to his ailing hip injury and he had to spend some time in the G-league as he recovered, but eventually became a major support piece with the Golden State Warriors during their 2017 and 2018 champion years.
Congratulations to the two Milwaukee Public Schools alumni!
