The "Cobra Spotlight" is a weekly highlight of a student-athlete at Coker College. Each week we take a different athlete from a different sport and display some facets to get more familiar with them. This week we take a look at Jesse Day and Luke Grupe, members of the men's volleyball team.
Name: Jesse Day
Sport: Men’s volleyball
Position: Libero
Hometown: Winter Park, Fla.
Year: Freshman
Major: Business administration with a concentration in sport management
Why did you choose Coker? I chose Coker, because as a well-respected school for academics, it will allow me to graduate with a degree in my area of interest. Coker will also allow me to leave a mark in a new developing men’s volleyball program.
What is your best memory at Coker (athletic related)? Getting to play the University of Princeton at Princeton.
What is your best memory at Coker (non-athletic related)? Seeing the environment of the game when we the men’s basketball team played LMU.
Which athletic team would you play on at Coker other than your own? I would like to play either lacrosse or basketball.
Favorite class: BA 222
Favorite professor: Dr. Chappell or Dr. Jewell
Plans after graduation: To travel overseas while deciding where to live and start a business.
Favorite movie: Forrest Gump or The Fast and the Furious franchise
Favorite type of music: Club-style music, like in festivals
Favorite food: Japanese hibachi
Favorite sports team: The Dallas Cowboys and the Dallas Mavericks
Favorite color: Purple and Green
Favorite TV show: The Blacklist, The Sons of Anarchy, and SportsCenter
Most prized possession: My luscious locks of hair.
What is something people may not know about you? I have 14 tattoos; accumulating to 28 hours of time spent in a chair getting them.
Do you have a nickname? If so, how did you get it? Either ‘J-Day’, because of my high school basketball days, along with it going with my name. ‘Bandana’, because I wear one when I play volleyball; or “B-Rad” from the movie Malibu’s Most Wanted’s leading character Jamie Kennedy.
One word that describes you: Colorful (Because of the ink in my tattoos)
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Name: Luke Charles Grupe
Sport: Men’s volleyball
Position: Middle blocker
Hometown: Lexington, Ky.
Year: Junior
Major: Business administration with a concentration in sport management
Why did you choose Coker? I choose Coker because I wanted to play college volleyball.
What is your best memory at Coker (athletic related)? Traveling up north and playing Princeton, NJIT, and Sacred Heart.
What is your best memory at Coker (non-athletic related)? Chilling at the Boathouse and playing sand volleyball.
Which athletic team would you play on at Coker other than your own? I would guess basketball, just because I love basketball and I am 6’6”.
Favorite class: History 211
Favorite professor: Dr. Jewell
Plans after graduation: Open a volleyball center in Lexington, Ky. and start a men’s volleyball club there.
Favorite movie: The Avengers (almost any superhero movie) and Space Jam.
Favorite type of music: Any music with an upbeat feel. I don’t like slow depressing songs.
Favorite food: Chips and HOT Salsa (Must be Hot). Also, hot buffalo wings.
Favorite sports team: University of Kentucky basketball, Denver Broncos and Chicago Blackhawks.
Favorite color: Green
Favorite TV show: Stargate SG-1, Scrubs, Arrow, and Eureka
Most prized possession: My ankle braces.
What is something people may not know about you? I only started playing volleyball when I got to Coker, although, I have been around volleyball my whole life.
Do you have a nickname? If so, how did you get it? ‘Stork’, I got it when playing beach volleyball my sophomore year. This nickname was given to me because of my long wingspan and my skinny legs. Also, there was once a great beach volleyball player who had the last name of stork.
One word that describes you: Indecisive, because I couldn’t choose a word.