Brothers in Basketball New Albany comes together in time of grief By Sarah Grace Smith
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The New Albany Parks and Recreation Foundation creates basketball courts at Bevelhymer Park to memorialize Michael Lucey, who died in August 2020.
Lucey’s recreational team, the Soupreme Team 32
of the game. Harris remembers what one coach observed about him. “(Lucey) wasn’t the most athletic kid on the court, but he understood the game better than anybody,” she says. Lucey became known as “the big man” for his impressive height. In fifth grade, he stood at a whopping six feet tall. Combined with his high basketball IQ, this attribute became highly desirable among the rec teams. www.healthynewalbanymagazine.com
Photos courtesy of New Albany Parks and Recreation Foundation
t only took the New Albany Parks and Recreation Foundation a few short months to complete its first project – which made a big impact. The foundation, created in October 2020, serves the New Albany Parks District by privately raising funds to develop programs and projects. Its first project was creating basketball courts at Bevelhymer Park to memorialize Michael Lucey. Lucey was 17 years old when he tragically died last August. While brainstorming ways to honor his memory, Lucey’s mother, Lindsay Harris, and fathers of Lucey’s friends quickly landed on basketball courts. “He loved basketball,” says Harris. “It was a big part of his whole social network.” Harris began taking Lucey to play basketball when he was 18 months old, and it quickly became a lifelong love. In second grade, Lucey joined one of the recreation center’s teams under a program headed by Brian Smith, the recreation superintendent. Many of Lucey’s coaches took note of his advanced understanding
