All it took was finding the right fit for Abram Ludd.
Ludd, who played basketball for Sumter High School, got a scholarship offer to North Greenville College upon graduating in 2003. After one season at North Greenville, however, Ludd knew something needed to change.
“The school (North Greenville) was OK,” Ludd said. “I just felt that the school wasn’t a fit for me. I felt I wanted to come closer to home.”
Closer to home was Coker College in Hartsville, to which Ludd transferred following the ’03-04 season. Ludd has made tremendous strides since joining the Cobras.
Coker head coach Dan Schmotzer couldn’t be happier to have finally landed Ludd.
“We recruited Abe out of high school, but we didn’t land him,” said Schmotzer said, whose team opened the season with a 2-5 record prior to Thursday’s game against Barton College. “For whatever reason, things didn’t work out at North Greenville and I got a phone call about him after that year.
“If they made more kids like Abe things would be a lot easier,” he added. “You never have to worry about Abe as far as his duties in the classroom and on the basketball court. He works hard and has been very productive. He is only a junior and I am very proud to coach him.”
Ludd admitted he really only looked at North Greenville out of high school, but feels the right decision has now been made.
“I really didn’t feel like I fit (at North Greenville),” Ludd said. “I fit in pretty good here. I like the system and everybody gets along.”
Ludd is second on the team in scoring this season with an average of 10.7 points a game and is first in rebounds with a 7.7 average. That is a marked improvement over his first year at Coker. Ludd averaged just three points and three rebounds his sophomore season in 26 games and 15 starts.
Ludd attributes the jump in numbers to increased confidence. He also mentioned that the work he put in during the offseason didn’t hurt either.
“It was really just a matter of confidence in getting stronger and (gaining) confidence in myself,” Ludd said. “Working out over the summer helped me get stronger.”
Ludd opened the season with 17 points in a 79-66 loss to Francis Marion and followed it up by grabbing nine boards in a 69-53 loss to Fayetteville State. Ludd’s best game to date, however, came against Morris College.
Ludd recorded one of his three double-doubles on the season against Morris, scoring 17 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in a 56-53 win. He said that playing that well against his hometown team made it even sweeter.
“There was some extra motivation,” he said. “I knew some of the guys on the team and I wanted to have a good game against them.”
Ludd believes the Cobras have gotten off to a slow start because of some issues with some veteran players. Now that those players are getting back, he feels the team can get on track.
“We got off to a kind of slow start,” he said. “We had a lot of injuries, some ineligible veteran players. We had inexperienced players in key positions. Right now, we have pretty much everyone back.
“We hope to make a run at the (Carolinas-Virginia Athletic) conference championship.”
While off to a good start, that isn’t going to be enough to appease Ludd.
“I guess I got off to a good start,” he said. “I just try to take it one game at a time. I want to improve every game and get better through the season.”
Patrick Enzor
Item Sports Writer
(803)774-1228(w)
penzor@theitem.com