Luke Axtell doesn’t wear a suit, tie and Gucci shoes as he paces the bench and barks instructions to his Hill Country Christian School basketball players.

That wouldn’t fit Axtell’s style.

“Khakis, boots and coaches shirts with the emblem of the school,” Axtell said of his casual game attire.

Axtell, a 6-foot-10 former Kansas University basketball player and country music singer-songwriter, has led the small-school Knights in his hometown of Austin, Texas, to a 13-7 record in his first coaching gig of what could be a long career.

Axtell, who because of injuries and illness never reached his potential as a player at the University of Texas and KU, has resurfaced in his home state after his bid at a pro basketball career was cut short because of persistent back problems.

Now Axtell believes he may have found his true calling at the age of 26.

“I have great kids, so it makes it easy. I lucked out. I don’t have to deal with any attitudes,” said Axtell, who coaches the boys team in a part-time position with the school as he completes work on his college degree.

“In coaching,” Axtell said, “you don’t have to deal with what players do, which is being totally exhausted. Physically, it’s less taxing. You don’t have to deal with injuries, which for me is big.”

Axtell suffered a broken hand and incurred a back injury, which ultimately ended his career with several games to play during his senior year at KU (2000-01).

Former Kansas University men's basketball player Luke Axtell, shown Dec. 11, 1999, during a game against Pittsburg State, is enjoying his new job as coach at Hill Country Christian in Austin, Texas.

“My goal is to give the kids the best experience I can. We are not playing for money. I want them to enjoy themselves and have this prepare them for life,” Axtell said.

Christian values

Axtell says he’s fortunate to be coaching at a school that encourages him to instill Christian values.

“I’ll try to show them the best way I can, being an authority figure, to be as Christian-like as I can be,” Axtell said. “I can show them I truly love them and it’s not whether they win the next game or not. It’s not all about basketball.”

Axtell doesn’t want his players to go through what he did in college. His woes started when his former coach at Texas released his grades to a radio station. He transferred shortly after to KU.

“There are several things wrong with the system I saw,” Axtell said. “I just happened to go through some things other kids don’t have to go through. It seems I was exposed to some stuff not everybody is exposed to.”

At this time, Axtell can’t envision himself as a college coach.

“At a big-time college there are things sacrificed,” he said. “Players are less important sometimes than what goes in the won/loss column. I would never want to sacrifice players.”

Axtell has no specific complaints about his days at KU.

“The fans were the best,” he said. “Everybody treated me the best possible way you could be treated.”

Yet he’s using much of what he’s learned not from ex-Jayhawk mentor Roy Williams, but from Jim Robinson of Maumee (Ohio) High.

Axtell played one year of high school ball under Robinson and went to visit his former coach in suburban Toledo last summer.

Eager, hard-working

“I believe he’ll do well as a coach. He’s eager interested, and hard working,” said Robinson, now in his 36th season in coaching. “I believe that basketball is good for Luke and Luke is good for basketball. He’ll relate to players because of some things he’s been through and teach character.”

Axtell, who went through much at KU including an undisclosed medical condition that he won’t discuss, said “coaching is really different. You find yourself getting really competitive on the sidelines.”

That competitive spirit is something Hill Country Christian School athletic director Pete Craycroft admires.

“We’re winning with a team that doesn’t have a player over 6-feet tall. Our biggest guy is sitting on the bench in a polo shirt,” Craycroft said, adding he likes Axtell’s game-day strategy.

“The first game we had a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter. We ran 3 1/2 minutes off the clock and I almost cried. It was a thing of beauty. It’s great to see our guys scoring off backdoor cuts.”

Some of the parents know of Axtell’s career and even his musical talents, which includes writing songs for his sister, recording artist Brooke.

But the players?

“Our kids are just young enough, they don’t really know who he is,” Craycroft said. “He’s dealing with the stuff a regular coach deals with. If a parent thinks a kid isn’t playing enough, they don’t care the coach is Luke Axtell. It’s an occupational hazard.”

Degree needed

Craycroft hopes Axtell will stick around to build a program and teach English. For that to happen, however, he needs to complete a college degree.

“Finishing at Texas would keep him local and he’d be able to continue here,” Craycroft said.

That would be fine with Axtell.

“It’s been a blessing,” Luke said, “to work with such great kids.”

And win some games in the process.