Then Lucas rang the pre-game bell Saturday before OSU’s football team defeated UCLA, and dotted the “i” when the fall athletic band performed “Script Ohio” at Value City Arena during halftime of the men’s basketball team’s game against Notre Dame.
Lucas became the fourth Buckeye athletic legend to have a life-size statue on campus. He joined football coach Woody Hayes, two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin and track star Jesse Owens.
That honor was “absolutely remarkable” that generated a “once-in-a-lifetime emotion,” Lucas told his news outlet during a phone call.
The 85-year-old has been dealing with heart issues and said he was thankful he was honored while alive. He also was glad his wife, Cheri, children, grandchildren and longtime friends attended the one-hour ceremony outside the arena.
Lucas was the first player to win a state prep championship, a collegiate national championship, an NBA title and an Olympic gold medal.
At MHS, he led the Middies to back-to-back state titles in 1956-57 and a 76-game winning streak.
He scored 2,460 points during his three-year career with the Middies and he played when high school freshmen were ineligible to play varsity and before the three-point line. He averaged 32 points per game and rarely played an entire game because of blowouts.
He started playing basketball while a fourth-grader at Sherman Elementary School in Middletown. He spent his summers honing his craft at Sunset Park on a basketball court now named in his honor.
Emcee Bill Hosket, who starred at Dayton Belmont High School and OSU, said Lucas was “a household name” before national sports shows.
“As (coach) Fred Taylor used to say, ‘If you could hear thunder and see lightning, you knew who Jerry Lucas was.’ There’s a lot of truth to that,” Hosket said.
Lucas was a three-time All-American and two-time National Player of the Year at Ohio State.
He finished his career as Ohio State’s all-time leading scorer with 1,990 points across three seasons, third most in school history. Freshmen were illegible to play varsity during his tenure with the Buckeyes.
More than six decades after Lucas left college, he’s still the school’s all-time leading rebounder. He recorded 1,411 rebounds in his career, an average of 17.2 rebounds per game. His 78 double-doubles are also a program record.
During his three seasons at OSU, the Buckeyes went 78-6 and won the program’s only national championship in 1960 and finished as the national runner-up in 1961 and 1962.
His No. 13 jersey is retired at MHS and his No. 11 jersey is retired at OSU.
Hosket called Lucas the greatest basketball player in Ohio State and Big 10 history.
Then 12 years old, Hosket remembers seeing Lucas play for the first time in an Ohio-Indiana High School all-star game. During a jump ball at the free throw line, Lucas tipped the ball into the basket.
Hosket wonders if that ever was done before or since. After seeing that athletic feat, Hoskins thought: “This guy is pretty good.”
During his speech, Lucas, wearing a scarlet jacket with a Block “O” on the left breast, showed that he’s more than a basketball player. He addressed two other pursuits: the study of the Bible and rewriting academic curriculum in this country.
After Lucas won a 1972-73 NBA championship with the New York Knicks, he retired. That’s when a friend asked if he had read the Bible.
“Not one word,” he answered.
He then spent 48 hours a week, eight hours a day for six days, reading and studying the Bible.
His desire to help improve child literacy and education through pictures remains a lifelong passion.
“I’m glad God gave me the strength to be here today, and I’m not finished,” he said. “There’s more to do, and I’m going to get it done.”
Then he repeated he’d never forget having his statue unveiled.
“And I have a pretty good memory,” he quipped.
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