Mother McAuley Taps Clanton to Coach Girls Basketball Team

Mother McAuley tapped into a fertile coaching family to come up with its news girls basketball coach.

Ashley Luke-Clanton was named the Mighty Macs' newest coach on Wednesday. She replaces Karen Ade.

Luke-Clanton's father, B.J. Luke, played strong safety at Georgia and currently works as the head football coach and athletic director at Danville High School. Her brother, R.J. Luke, played tight end at Penn State and spent a year as a fullback with the Seattle Seahawks. He is now the head football coach at Springfield High School.

"Ashley is a high-energy coach who brings tremendous basketball knowledge and experience to her position," Mother McAuley athletic director Laurie Jakubczak said in a news release. "We were confident that under her leadership our basketball program will exceed expectations."

Luke-Clanton played high school basketball at Waubonsie Valley in Aurora. She was a three-time All-America selection for the Warriors. She went on to earn the starting point guard job at Penn State and played on the Nittany Lions' team that reached the NCAA Final Four.

She later transferred to DePaul and earned all-conference academic honors while with the Blue Demons in 2002-04. She spent one year playing professional ball overseas, then returned home to begin her coaching career as an assistant in the women's program at Loyola University.

She coached girls basketall at Danville last season.

"McAuley's strong academic and athletic programs are well-known," Luke-Clanton said. "And it's an honor to join the school's tradtion of producing outstanding teams."

Luke-Clanton's husband Denny earned first-team All-Atlantic 10 honors as a soccer player at the University of Dayton. He was a defender for the Chicago Fire from 2004-05.