C Jerry Lucas (National Champ, CBB HOF, NBA HOF)

[Buckskin86]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjg17l4LDww]YouTube - 1971 Rise Shaving Cream and Manpower Deodorant Commercials[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

Lucas top rookie
Lucas joined the Royals a year after his storied career at Ohio State, having originally signed with George Steinbrenner's Cleveland Pipers in the American Basketball League, which collapsed in 1962.

He was named Rookie of the Year in 1963-64, combining with Robertson, the league's Most Valuable Player, to produce 49.1 points, 27.3 rebounds and 13.6 assists per game.

But Lucas was injured in the semifinal playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers and was not the same player against the Celtics in the playoffs.

Robertson would eventually win an NBA championship with the Bucks in 1971 on the same team with Boozer. Lucas would win a title in 1973 with the New York Knicks.

Regardless of what they accomplished later in there careers, the players on the 1960 Olympic team will always be remembered.

"Being with the guys I played with and having the friendships over the years has been tremendous for me," Robertson said.

"It was a magic moment that no one even knew that much about then, until they decided to bring up the Dream Team. Then they looked back and saw how good of a team we did have."

A dream team before the Dream Team | cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com

Jerry Lucas, 6-8 forward-center, Ohio State. Olympics average: 17.0 points. Played 11 years in the NBA, including six with the Cincinnati Royals. Named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1964. Played in seven all-star games and won MVP honors for the 1965 game. Averaged 17.0 points and 15.6 rebounds during his NBA career. Won an NBA title in 1973 with the New York Knicks. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980.

Where the 1960 Olympics team went | cincinnati.com | Cincinnati.Com

 

[jwinslow]

Press release

Ohio State’s Jerry Lucas Named ‘Big Ten Icon’ No. 8

Buckeye sensation to be profiled at 9 PM ET on Sunday on Big Ten Network​

​

CHICAGO – Ohio State’s Jerry Lucas has been named Big Ten Icon No. 8. The countdown of Big Ten Icons, presented by Discover, continues at 9 PM ET on Sunday, with a profile of the Middletown, Ohio, native who was a three-time All-American, three-time Big Ten Most Valuable Player, two-time National Player of the Year and two-time Final Four MVP for the Buckeyes.

The episode contains exclusive interviews with Lucas and other members of Ohio State’s 1958-59 dream recruiting class, including John Havlicek and Mel Nowell.
In an essay for www.BigTenIcons.com, former Chicago Tribune sports editor Dan McGrath wrote, “Before there was Bill Bradley, before there was Larry Bird, there was Jerry Lucas.” To read the full essay on Lucas, visit his Big Ten Icons locker at www.BigTenIcons.com.

Lucas began turning heads at Middletown High School, where he won two state championships. First-year Ohio State coach Fred Taylor won the recruiting battle for the two-time state player of the year, who had received more than 150 college scholarship offers.
In his first year on the varsity squad, Lucas led Ohio State to its first national title, defeating defending champion California in the 1960 NCAA Tournament. His performance caught the eye of Golden Bears’ coach Pete Newell, who added Lucas to the 1960 Olympic team that steamrolled to the gold medal in Rome.

Lucas finished his collegiate career averaging 24.3 points and 17.2 rebounds while leading the Buckeyes to an astounding 78-6 mark and three Big Ten titles. For his efforts, he was named Sports Illustrated’s 1962 Sportsman of the Year and selected to the all-century college hoops team in 1999. Lucas called his college years “the most memorable experience” of his life.

In 1973, Lucas won an NBA championship with the New York Knicks, becoming the first person to win a title at the high school, collegiate, Olympic and NBA levels.

 

[Buckskin86]

1962

Lucas became the first three-time winner of the Big Ten Chicago Tribune Most Valuable Player of the Year after leading the Buckeyes to three consecutive Big Ten titles.
1960-62

Lucas, a three-time All-American, led the nation in field goal percentage three times and in rebounding twice, guiding Ohio State to three straight NCAA championship games and a 78-6 record during his three seasons.
1962

Against John Wooden and UCLA, Lucas became the first player to score 30 points and grab 30 rebounds in an NCAA tournament game.
1961

After leading Ohio State to its second straight NCAA final, Lucas became the first college basketball player to win Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year, beating out Roger Maris in the same year he broke Babe Ruth's home run record.
1960

As a sophomore, Lucas earned Most Outstanding Player honors of the NCAA tournament en route to lifting Ohio State to the national title.
December 1, 1959

Lucas torched Wake Forest for 16 points and 28 rebounds in his first collegiate game.

Lucas was first of only three to win title at every single level
BY DAN MCGRATH

In an era of no Internet, very limited television and no recruiting services to turn teenage athletes into national celebrities, how does a kid from small-town Middle America become the most famous high school basketball player in the nation?

By being as talented and as well-rounded as Jerry Lucas.

Before there was Bill Bradley, before there was Larry Bird, there was Jerry Lucas.

Bradley was known for his talent, work ethic and smarts during an All-America career at Princeton. Bird came in a larger package at Indiana State. Those same attributes distinguished Lucas, and they came in a solid 6-foot-8 frame that produced mythical-sounding achievements at Middletown, Ohio, High School: two state championships, two state player of the year awards and a 76-game winning streak, for starters.

College recruiters made their way to Middletown in the late ?50s to see if what they were reading and hearing could be true. Among them was Fred Taylor, who had recently taken over at Ohio State. The young coach summed up his first impression of Lucas in one all-encompassing, appropriate word: ?Whoa!?

Better yet, Lucas? classroom grades were superior to his basketball stats and he found himself with more than 150 scholarship offers. Much to the delight of his legions of instate fans, he decided to stay home and attend Ohio State, joining Mel Nowell (Columbus) and a pretty fair player named John Havlicek (Martins Ferry) in a dream recruiting class that transformed the Buckeyes into a national powerhouse.

There was nothing gradual about the process. NCAA rules then in place barred freshmen from varsity competition, but as sophomores, all Lucas and Co. did was win the 1960 national championship, beating defending champ California in the NCAA tournament title game in San Francisco. Pete Newell, the Golden Bears? coach, was so taken with Lucas? all-around game that he added him to the 1960 Olympic team that would roll up nine straight wins en route to a gold medal in Rome. The youngest U.S. player at 20 years of age, Lucas averaged 17 points for a squad widely considered to be America?s best before relaxed rules on amateurism allowed NBA Dream Teamers to play Olympic ball.

?Jerry Lucas is the greatest player I?ve ever coached,? Newell said, which is a remarkable compliment considering Lucas? Olympic teammates included Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

cont....

http://www.bigtenicons.com/openlocker.cfm?id=8&name=JERRY-LUCAS

 

[Buckskin86]

Jerry Lucas: Small town boy, Big Ten Icon
By James Oldham
[email protected]
Published: Sunday, January 23, 2011

Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics

Sunset Park, located on Bellemonte Street in Middletown, Ohio, was once the Rucker Park of the Midwest ? when summertime rolled around, professional and collegiate basketball players alike would swarm the courts, hoping to play a game of pickup basketball against the best players in the area.

One summer, former University of Dayton senior and captain Johnny Horan was matched up against a man named Jerry Lucas. Lucas absolutely destroyed him, embarrassing him on both ends of the court.

Horan, who had never heard of Lucas, went around asking the other players which college Lucas attended. He was impressed with what he saw, and he wanted to find out where Lucas went to school so that he might follow the young man's career.

"He was told that Lucas was a sophomore, so he asked, ?What college does he go to?' and he was told, ?Well, he's a sophomore in high school. He's a 10th-grader,'" said Lee Caryer, Buckeye basketball historian and author of "The Golden Age of Ohio State Basketball."

Throughout his life, Lucas has been a step ahead of the competition. In grade school, Lucas said, his coursework bored him.

"When I got to school, I realized I wasn't being taught how to learn," Lucas said. "In school they use repetition. Everybody has forever, and I realized that this is no fun. There has to be an easier way."

Lucas began to experiment with different learning methods, creating a series of mental games that would help to make the material tangible and easier to learn.

"I was always an excellent student ? I was a 4.0 student at Ohio State, and my learning systems made it easy for me to learn," Lucas said. "By the time I got through high school and into college, learning was very simple and easy for me."

At 6-foot-8, Lucas wasn't always the biggest man on the court. He wasn't the most athletic or the fastest. He was, however, a tireless worker.

"Nobody ever worked harder than I did at basketball, or for longer hours," Lucas said.

Cont...

http://www.thelantern.com/sports/jerry-lucas-small-town-boy-big-ten-icon-1.1913075

 

[Buckskin86]

Catching up with ... JERRY LUCAS
By Kevin Kelly ? [email protected] ? January 27, 2011

Jerry Lucas became one of the best basketball players ever by putting his body and mind to work.

As a kid, he devoted as many as 15 hours a day to the game. But making every practice shot wasn't always his goal.

"I imagined there was a clock on top of the rim," Lucas said. "I might shoot 25 shots trying to graze 3 o'clock on the inside of the rim. And if I didn't, in my mind I missed. There would be days when I would miss on purpose. I'd miss on the outside of 3 o'clock to make it bounce to the right, the inside of 3 o'clock to make it bounce to the left, right in the middle of

3 o'clock to make it bounce straight away."

Knowing how the ball caromed off the rim improved his rebounding.

"I always knew where the ball was going and why," he said. "I didn't have to spend a lot of time blocking out. I just went and got it."

The cerebral approach served Lucas well as he developed into a gifted player who led Middletown High School to state titles in 1956 and '57, helped Ohio State win the 1960 NCAA championship and claimed an NBA title in 1973 as a member of the New York Knicks.

Now, 70, and living in Templeton, Calif., the Hall of Famer travels the country teaching how to apply the "automatic learning" method that earned him the nickname Dr. Memory.

Cont...

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110127/SPT/101280349/1062/Catching-up-with-JERRY-LUCAS

 

[Buckskin86]

Published: 2/25/2011
Spreading Christianity Lucas' game
Former OSU, NBA star in Waterville
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR

On the basketball court, Jerry Lucas achieved virtually every goal imaginable.

The 6-foot, 8-inch Mr. Lucas led the Middletown, Ohio, Middies to 76 straight wins and a state high school championship. He played center for the legendary Ohio State teams that went 78-6 during his college career, winning the NCAA title in 1960.

He played on the gold medal 1960 U.S. Olympic squad.

He also graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

In 11 seasons in the NBA, Mr. Lucas averaged 17 points and 15.6 rebounds a game. He was elected to the NBA Hall of Fame in 1980 and was named one of the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History" in 1996.

Yet, he said, he always felt that "something was missing."

"My family were not Christians. We never attended church or Sunday school. I had no spiritual training whatsoever when I went to Ohio State," Mr. Lucas said in an interview this week. "I had considerable success as an athlete and student, but something seemed out of place in my life."

As his professional career was winding down, he began pondering his next step.

"I knew my life was going to change drastically," he said.

In 1974, he approached a friend in New York for advice, "and that day he led me to Christ," he said. "There's more to life than a body, there's a soul and a spiritual person too."

Mr. Lucas, 70, always had an amazing memory, dazzling talk show hosts and audiences by memorizing virtually anything.

After becoming a committed Christian, he began using his mental abilities for spiritual purposes.

"I began to apply myself diligently just as I have in almost everything in my life," he said.

Cont..

http://www.toledoblade.com/DavidYonke/2011/02/26/Spreading-Christianity-Lucas-game.html

 

[Buckskin86]

Jerry Lucas: Ohio State has ?good shot at winning? title
By James Oldham
[email protected]
Published: Sunday, March 13, 2011

INDIANAPOLIS ? The Ohio State men's basketball team appears to be collecting championships. There's only one left, and it's the most elusive of them all.

It's so elusive, only one OSU men's basketball team has won the NCAA Championship before: the 1960 team, led by coach Fred Taylor and the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, Jerry Lucas.

This year's version enters the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. It will go on to face the winner of a play-in game between Texas-San Antonio and Alabama State on Friday in Cleveland.

Lucas said he believes this team has a shot at being the second OSU team to win an NCAA Championship.

"I think they have a good shot at winning," Lucas told The Lantern. "They're strong inside; they have good shooters; they handle the ball well and have a good perimeter game. They're strong in every facet of the game."

Lucas warned that the road to the finals isn't an easy one.

"They'll be ready, but what is it, six games they're going to have to win? It's going to be tough. If they're not shooting well and some other team gets hot it could cause them problems," Lucas said. "But they have all the weapons they need."

http://www.thelantern.com/sports/jerry-lucas-ohio-state-has-good-shot-at-winning-title-1.2106063

 

[Buckskin86]

Title memories still fresh for OSU great Jerry Lucas
Mar. 23, 2011
Written by
JON SPENCER
CentralOhio.com

Jerry Lucas gestures as he speaks to a crowd Tuesday during a seminar in Mansfield.
Daniel Melograna, CentralOhio.com

Ohio State basketball legend Jerry Lucas, or "Doctor Memory" to his new legion of followers, was relaxing Tuesday before giving one of his memory retention seminars.

He didn't see the pop quiz coming. Testing the memory of the memory expert was not on the agenda, but he played along.

Do you remember what your Ohio State team shot from the field in the first half of the 1960 national championship game against California?

"Seventeen-of-19."

Bzzzt. Wrong. But close.

Actually, the Buckeyes were 16-of-19, including 15 of their first 16.

Cal coach Pete Newell called his Golden Bears together during the break and somberly said, "Men, we have to get more defensive rebounds."

The Cal players looked at each other for a moment before 6-foot-10 Darrell Imhoff -- Lucas' countepart -- spoke up.

"Coach," Imhoff said, "there have only been three, and I've got all of them."

Lucas laughed at the retelling of that story Tuesday before his seminar at the Mansfield Richland Area Chamber of Commerce "March Madness" Business Expo.

"Imhoff only got one rebound," Lucas said. "I got the other two. I know because I tipped them in.

"For all intents and purposes, we missed one shot ... so we were pretty hot."

The Buckeyes went on to whip the Bears 75-55 for the first national championship in the basketball program's history. No. 2 could be less than two weeks away if Ohio State continues to torch the nets the way it did in beating George Mason 98-66 to reach the Sweet 16.

Cont..

http://www.newarkadvocate.com/artic...-fresh-OSU-great-Jerry-Lucas?odyssey=nav|head

 

[Buckskin86]

OSU?s Lucas was among the best in college 50 years ago
Mar 25th, 2011
by Gary Brown

?Jerry Lucas of Ohio State?s top-ranked and unbeaten Buckeyes, is college basketball?s player of the year.?

That?s how a wire service article in published in The Repository began early in March of 1961.

?His selection, announced today by The Associated Press, provided a double honor within a few hours for the 6-foot-8 whiz of the hardwood who is expected to lead the Buckeyes to their second straight National Collegiate championship later this month.

Jerry+LucasOK, he didn?t. That title went to another Ohio team, Cincinnati, although it?s easy to see what sportswriters were eager to crown Ohio State as champions before a tournament even started. Also on that 1961 OSU team were John Havlicek and Larry Siegfried, both third-team All Americans that year, along with Mel Nowell, who earned honorable mention.

But, as Ohio State University?s basketball team ? viewed by many as the best in the country this year ? makes a run toward that same prize, why let a previous failure taint our memory of one of the game?s best-ever players on one of the school?s best-ever teams. Indeed, as the Buckeye prepare for tonight?s game against another legendary program, Kentucky, let?s look back on Lucas, and college basketball?s other stars of five decades ago.

?Earlier Lucas had been named to the 1961 collegiate All-American team by The Associated Press along wtih Tom Stith of St. Bonaventure, Terry Dischinger of Purdue, Roger Kaiser of Georgia Tech and Chet Walker of Bradley,? said the story, published on March 2, 1961. ?Lucas dominated the voting by 395 sportswriters and broadcasters from every section of the United States. He missed by only 13 points of getting the maximum 1,975 points based on five points for each first team vote.?

Lucas received 392 first team votes, earning 1,960 points, and two points for one second team vote, ?Only two voters failed to mention him on their ballot,? AP reported.

Anywhere on the ballot? What were they thinking?

The wire service quoted television broadcaster Mal Albert of Pittsburgh when praising the player.

?Lucas has got to be rated with the all-time greats. He can do everything and is a great team player to boot.?

Sportswriter Dick O?Connor of the Palo Alto, Calif., Times said Lucas was at the very least the man of his own time.

?Is there any question that Lucas is not the best player this season??

http://blogs.cantonrep.com/flashbacks/osus-lucas-was-among-the-best-in-college-50-years-ago/

8. JERRY LUCAS, MIDDLETOWN, 1958: He is the No. 1 high school basketball in area history, according to The Enquirer's 2006 rankings. The three-time first-team all-state player led the Middies to state titles as a sophomore and junior, as well as a state-record 79-game winning streak. But he also held the Middletown record in the shot put for nearly two decades and was a standout tennis player.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbc...10304&Category=SPT0301&ArtNo=103050801&Ref=PH

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLR1US6eIyg"]YouTube - BCSN inteview with Jerry Lucas.[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

Jerry Lucas, the legendary Ohio State and NBA basketball player who leads memory workshops at churches nationwide, said he has long admired Tressel, and the scandal doesn?t change that.

?I still have the highest regard for him. I know him as a person, as a fan, and as a friend. This doesn?t lower my opinion of who he is or of his character,? Mr. Lucas said.

?Sports today are vastly different than they were when I played,? said Mr. Lucas, 71. ?There?s a lot more attention paid to it. Everything is bigger, more spectacular. It?s a big, big business today. Coaches can be in a position where they can make bad decisions. We all make mistakes. He made a mistake which obviously was punishing to him and the university and to a lot of people.?

Like Mr. Isaiah, he hopes people will learn from Tressel?s mistakes.

?The point is: Do the right thing,? Mr. Lucas said. ?Initially what he did was try to protect his kids. But he made a mistake saying he had no prior knowledge of it. We don?t know why. He had his own reasoning. The lesson is that every time, not only a football coach but politicians, business persons, anybody in any profession, the lesson we learn is you just have to be aware and alert all the time. Avoid those things that can bring a downfall.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Religion...rouble-offers-religious-lessons-in-faith.html

 

[WolverineMike]

Lucas will be speaking at my church in a few weeks.

 

[Buckskin86]

Q: What is former Buckeyes basketball great Jerry Lucas doing these days? - Tim McCormick, Reynoldsburg

A: Lucas, 71, lives in Templeton, Calif., and continues to write and speak as an expert on memory retention and its value as an educational tool. He has written more than 60 books on the subject and recently began a website, doctormemory.com, to market his learning system. - Bob Baptist

http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...7/17/experts-7-17-art-gtsde264-1.html?sid=101

 

[Buckskin86]

Jerry Lucas Achieved Greatness With His Brawn, Brains
By CLAY LATIMER, FOR INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Lucas in 1958 at Middletown (Ohio) High, where he won two state titles before helping Ohio State, Team USA and the New York Knicks to crowns. AP View Enlarged Image

It was a sticky summer night in the mid-1950s, and some college kids were in a heated pickup basketball game in Middletown, Ohio.

As they raced on the concrete court, a graceful 6-foot-8 center named Jerry Lucas began to dominate with his superior shooting touch and rebounding instincts.

Afterward, John Horan, a University of Dayton All-American center who was in the pickup game, asked a local resident about him.

"What year's he in?"

"He's only a sophomore"

"What college is he at?"

"He's in high school."

Even at age 15, Lucas shone.

Lucas' Keys

Hauled down 12,942 rebounds for an average of 15.6 per game, the fourth-best career mark in NBA history at the time behind Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Bob Pettit.
"It was absolutely my proudest achievement," on becoming the first basketball player to win a title on every level: high school, college, NBA, Olympics.

Blessed with the body and game of a man, he was an Ohio prodigy nearly 50 years before Akron sensation LeBron James.

As a sophomore at Middletown High School, Lucas scored 53 and 44 points in consecutive games at a state tournament.

His team won 76 straight games and earned two state championships, and Lucas was named Ohio Player of the Year in 1957 and 1958.

At Ohio State University, he led the Buckeyes to a national title and two other championship-game appearances in three varsity seasons.

In 1960, he was the outstanding player on the U.S. Olympic squad that won a gold medal in Rome.

In 11 National Basketball Association seasons with the Cincinnati Royals, San Francisco Warriors and New York Knicks, he averaged 17 points and 15.6 rebounds, twice averaging 20-20 in a season.

Selected one of the top 50 players in NBA history, Lucas was the first basketball player to win championships at the high school, college, pro and Olympic levels.

"He may be the best-rebounding shooter, and best-shooting rebounder, ever to play the game," a Sports Illustrated analyst wrote.

Then there was another Lucas weapon: his mind. He had an incredible capacity for retaining information. He spotted that talent when he was 9. Combating boredom of a car trip, he alphabetized letters in words on a highway billboard ? an early sign of a photographic memory that he used as a weapon on the court.

"I had a phenomenal knowledge of every player and every offense. I cataloged it away," he told IBD.

cont...

http://news.investors.com/Article/5...a-hall-of-famer-jerry-lucas-unforgettable.htm

 

[ScriptOhio]

Hey, Archie Griffin was great, Jessie Owens was great, Jack Nicklaus was great; however, Jerry Lucas was (in my opinion) the greatest "scholar athlete" to have ever played at Ohio State.

:osu: