True to his word, Lucas picked up the discus in the spring of 1958 and he ended up setting a record with a throw of 162 feet, 6 inches.

Lucas once told a reporter during his college recruitment that he was going to go out for track and field his senior year of high school and once that was over, he was going to pick a college. In high school, he held the Ohio Class AA records for most points in the state championship game (44) and the most points in any tournament game (53). Lucas didn't lose a high school basketball game until the last game of his high school career. In March 1958, The Journal Herald in Dayton, Ohio, reported, '.a tournament is a 'new season' and even the fabulous Middletown Middies found that out in their loss Friday in Columbus as Jerry Lucas played in a losing cause for the first time in his life' after Middletown lost 63-62 to Columbus North High School. 'Much to the displeasure of Chillicothe's cage fans,' wrote Ron Barnes of the Chillicothe Gazette, 'advance billings on Middletown's fabulous Jerry Lucas and his partners in crime proved to be 100% correct,' later adding, 'Lucas' performance for the crowd of 7605 was only an expectation.' It wasn't that Lucas wasn't impressive it's that his reputation preceded him and he lived up to it in every way. When Lucas and his Middletown squad knocked off Chillicothe High School in the Southwestern Class AA Regional tournament in 1958, the Chillicothe Gazette wrote about the game with a sense of inevitability. He had led Middletown (Ohio) High School to an undefeated, state-championship season as a junior.Įdgar Allen of the Nashville Banner wrote, 'Regardless of where he goes, Lucas looms as the finest prospect to come along in recent years, comparable to Cincinnati's Oscar Robertson and Kansas' Wilt Chamberlain.' The Orlando Evening Star noted that the 6-9 forward scored 2,435 points in 76 high school games - a remarkable average of 32 points per game as a high-schooler. Lucas was named a Parade Magazine First Team All-American his senior year. What kind of prospect was Jerry Lucas in high school? As a sophomore, he led the Buckeyes to the 1960 national title with a 75-55 win over California in the championship game. Jerry Lucas won one national championship in college. Listen: March Madness 365 podcast | Latest video How many national championships did Jerry Lucas win in college? Store: Shop latest college basketball gear The Buckeyes went 40-2 in Big Ten play during that stretch. In three years with Jerry Lucas playing varsity, Ohio State went 25-3, 27-1 and 26-2, for a combined record of 78-6. Jerry Lucas' college basketball stats, vitalsĬareer averages: 24.3 points per game, 17.2 rebounds per game, 62.4% field goal shooting SEASON Here's everything you need to know about Jerry Lucas' college career with Ohio State. He led the country in field-goal percentage in three consecutive seasons and twice led the nation in rebounding, while cementing himself as one of the greatest double-double machines in the history of the sport. Jerry Lucas wasn't only one of the most accomplished men's basketball players of the 1960s, he's one of the most decorated players of all-time, leading Ohio State to the 1960 national championship and two other national runner-up finishes.

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