BLUFFTON, OH (WLIO) - Bluffton senior Luke "Bean" Ginther is the kind of athlete every coach loves to have.

He's been a consistent force for the boys basketball program in the last four years.

"He's just willing to always put himself in a position to make the right play. He puts his body on the line all the time. He's just fearless and he's just been a pleasure to watch and to work with over the last few years," said Boblitt.

And for the last few years, Bean Ginther has been a focal point in the Bluffton boys basketball team. The Pirate senior credits his own success to his older brother Wade Ginther.

"I'm so blessed to have an older brother that is such a good leader and that I can look up and really understand how he played and how he had an impact on the game, which then could carry over to me, and I looked at how I could have an impact on the game," said Ginther.

"He's just always lifted guys up around him and been a tremendous leader, both on the floor and by example off the floor. There aren't enough expletives to give to Bean in terms of his growth, development, and what he's meant to us over the last several years," said Boblitt.

Off the court, Bean is dedicated to his academics. The senior has a 3.74 GPA.

"He's very thorough, he wants to understand what he's doing. I've had the privilege of teaching him for two years of math. He makes sure that he is giving his best at all times, which has always been evident. Bean's always there to be locked in and focused on what we need to do," said Bluffton math teacher Rachel Skilliter.

And after high school, Bean will attend Ohio State Lima to major in early childhood development.

"I just love to grow my relationship with children and not just teach them the information that they need, but also if I'm someone that they might look up to or am in their lives for some reason, why can I not take some of my time out of my day or even pursue a career like I want to now to impact these kids, which is what I want to do," said Ginther.

When it comes to the responsibilities of being a student-athlete, Bean Ginther is always striving to be the best version of himself. He says the support from his community has shown him that sports can be about much more than just the game.

"It's bigger than basketball. I can be an impact on these students, be an impact on even maybe some of the adults in the crowd. Just having that mindset going into it, like I said, I'm so grateful and this community has been so involved and they've been just so great for me in my growth," Ginther said.

Congratulations to Bean Ginther — our newest McDonald's Scholar Athlete of the Week of the Week.

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