ST. LOUIS — Let it be known that 56-year-old Luther Burden has not lost his touch at all.
"Luther Burden to that time, and maybe to this time today, was the best medium-range jump shooter I ever coached," said Rich Grawer, the former head basketball coach at St. Louis University.
One night at St. Louis University, Burden scored 36. Over one season, he averaged 20. And for his career, only eight players in SLU history had a higher scoring average.
Burden was so good that he almost made the roster of the Indiana Pacers, but they asked him to go the continental basketball association — a minor league — to work on his ball-handling.
“I went down there, but really I was tired. If I didn't make it in the NBA, I didn't want to deal with that,” he said.
Shortly after that, with no basketball and no money, Luther turned to selling drugs.
And on May 20, 1987, Burden was arrested for selling two ounces of cocaine to an undercover cop. Burden received a four-year sentence.
He knew he had let everybody down.
“I wouldn't say I was disappointed,” Grawer said. “I was sad for him because at St. Louis U, he was such a good person.”
Luther Burden served his time at Marion County Prison. He spent 12 months there.
And although his freedom away, the one thing they didn't take away was the thing he did best, play basketball.
“Before I got there, they knew I was coming. And the only thing they were concerned about was me playing ball for them, for the prison.”
Luther is now out of prison and a father of five. One of his children has followed in his athletic footsteps.
Just a freshman at Cardinal Ritter, “Little” Luther Burden is tearing it up on the basketball court and the football field.
“He's been given a gift that a lot of people, just waking up every day, just can't have,” said Cardinal Ritter Head Basketball Coach Ryan Johnson.
As a 14-year-old freshman on Cardinal Ritter's football team, he caught 15 touchdowns for nearly 1,200 yards and was selected a freshman All-American
“Thirty-plus offers for football, 30-plus offers for basketball,” Head Football Coach Brandon Gregory said of college interest for his star freshman. “From a skills standpoint, I think he can go play professional basketball, I think he can play professional football
The two Luthers are very close and have been since Little Luther was a kid.
“He means everything to me, he’s been there for me through everything,” Little Luther said. “He keeps me motivated and always tells me to focus.”
There is nothing the father won't do for his son. Luther works the third shift at Walmart from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. And when he's finished he heads to Barnes Jewish hospital where he works another five hours as a caregiver.
The doors that were shut for him he wants open for his boy.
“He talks to me so that I won't make the same mistakes as him,” Little Luther said.
“I am proud of him, I see him as an extension of me,” Luther said of his son.
Luther said he is undefeated on the court against his son, but he knows he shouldn't play his son again if he wants to keep the record perfect.
Even though the father scored- over 1,300 points in college, his son had never seen even a frame of video of his father, until we showed him some.
While his son was impressed, Little Luther is the one doing the impressing now.
“When you see him on the basketball floor you think what?” we asked.
“He's awesome, he's better than me,” Luther said.