Jerry Lucas - High School

High School

In 1956 and 1957, Lucas led Middletown High School to undefeated seasons and back-to-back Ohio state high school championships. Lucas, at first, rarely needed the ball to help his team. He simply focused on offensive rebounds for scoring. By putting back so many misses, Lucas padded scoring and shooting accuracy marks while letting upper-classmen shoot and pass. Meanwhile, this amazing rebounding also often held opponents to one shot at the other end.

As competition increased, Lucas became more important to the team's base offense. He learned to help his own game and the team by developing an advanced pivot passing game. Meanwhile, his hook shot became nearly automatic and his shooting eye was strong well past 20', then unusual for a center. His star was born in the 1956 state quarterfinals. Lucas, still weeks from his 16th birthday, burned Cleveland East Technical for 53 points before a crowd of 5,000. He added 44 in the state final for a two game total of 97, still an Ohio high school record.

During his junior and senior seasons, Lucas and Middletown soared to remarkable levels in fame and attention. In a time with no television or internet, Lucas was written about by the New York Times as early as 1957. Game crowds of 10,000 were not uncommon for him in an era where the NBA typically drew 3500. At this time, the first national prep All-American teams were being named, and Lucas was soon considered among the best high schoolers in the country.

An academic ace as well, whose mnemonic skills made him an A+ student, Lucas cut quite the image of the handsome young star student-athlete. Middletown ran their winning streak to an American record - 76 straight during his senior year. By this point, Middletown home games were jammed well past capacity, with hundreds more listening in their cars in the school parking lot. Coaches and scouts now traveled long distances to see Lucas. No Ohio high schooler would approach his level of fame until LeBron James nearly 40 years later.

By 1958 Lucas had drawn crowds of 10,000 to the Cleveland Arena and St. John's Arena in Columbus. The rivalry Middletown-Hamilton high school games then were moved to Cincinnati Gardens also, due to high interest. When Cincinnati Royals owner Les Harrison heard that Lucas had thrilled a crowd of 12,000 with a 49-point 34-rebound performance, he made the 18 year old a territorial draft pick for the NBA team.

Statistically, Lucas averaged more than a point per minute for the 32-minute games. With numbers then not well-kept, his rebounding figures are unknown, but were likely about 15-17 per game. We do know he did hit a then very high 60% of his field goal attempts and over 80% of his free throws. Increasingly a passer, he may have also averaged 5–6 assists per game, but again this statistic was not then kept.

Wearing #13 as a senior, Lucas made news by surpassing Wilt Chamberlain's high school scoring mark. College scouts now came around in remarkable numbers. Before Lew Alcindor in the mid-1960s, the only high schooler to earn more scholarship offers than Lucas was Chamberlain.

One of the many to recruit Lucas was Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp. As legend has it, the 17-year-old told the coach to go home after one of his rare visits to a player in person during Rupp's fourth championship season in 1958. The truth is, interest in Lucas had reached such an amazing and intrusive degree, with over 150 scholarship offers, that the young man made it known he would deny anyone who directly approached him.

Lucas' Middletown team suffered its only loss in three years at the 1958 Ohio state finals. Losing by one point to an undefeated opponent shocked Middletown to such a degree that the school never honored its departing senior star with a ceremony, until 50 years later when the oversight was discovered. Lucas was rated Ohio's top high school player all three varsity years 1956–1958. Lucas was the first player to be named three time First Team All-Ohio by the Associated Press and on February 17, 2009 Jerry's number 13 was retired at Wade E. Miller gymnasium.