Jerry Lucas

Jerry Ray Lucas (March 30, 1940-) is considered one of the greatest high school basketball players in history regularly drawing crowds of 10,000 or more fans to watch his Middletown Ohio basketball team extend their historic win streak. A superior student-athlete, Jerry was scouted and recruited by more than 150 colleges and universities ultimately choosing the Ohio State Buckeyes. At Ohio State, Lucas led the Buckeyes to the Final Four in 1960 and 1961, winning the tournament’s NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player Award in both seasons and capturing the NCAA Championship in 1960. He was a three-time NCAA All-American First Team selection and named the AP Player of the Year in 1961 and 1962. Jerry was chosen to play for the United States Olympic Basketball Team in the 1960 Rome Summer Olympiad where the stars studded Americans, including Hall of Famers and co-captains Oscar Robertson and Jerry West as well as Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy, swept the tournament en route to the gold medal. Lucas made a shocking deal with George Steinbrenner, then owner of the ABA’s Cleveland Pipers, which eventually fell through and he sat out the 1962-63 season.

Finally taken as a territorial pick in the 1962 NBA Draft, Jerry became a Cincinnati Royal where he again teamed up with Oscar Robertson and NBA All-Star standouts Wayne Embrey and Jack Twyman. He easily won the 1964 NBA Rookie of the Year Award as he helped the Royals to a 55-win season. Lucas was named the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1964, seven NBA All-Star Games and was the 1965 NBA All-Star Game MVP. He was selected to three All-NBA First Teams and two All-NBA Second Teams. He played seven seasons with the Royals (1963-1969) before moving to the San Francisco Warriors (1969-1971) for two seasons and finally settling in with the New York Knicks (1971-1974) for the remainder of his career. The high-powered and superstar laden Knicks marched to the 1972 and 1973 NBA Finals, winning the Latter over the Los Angeles Lakers. Lucas became the first player in history to win a championship in high school, college, the Olympics and in the professional ranks. Jerry retired after the 1973-74 seasons with 14,053 points, 12,942 total rebounds and 2,732 assists. Jerry Lucas was inducted in to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980. In 1996, Lucas was named to the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History list. Ever the intellectual showman, Lucas wowed crowds with his recall abilities and tricks for helping people improve their memories. In retirement, he became a teacher and memory expert, authoring two best selling books on the subject.