Ohio State Will Retire No. 11 – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2000
COLUMBUS, O. – Jerry Lucas will be the first Ohio State basketball player to have his number officially retired. The former three-time All-American and two-time National Player of the Year will have his No. 11 retired during halftime ceremonies of the Feb. 23 Northwestern-Ohio State men’s basketball game. A banner with his name and number will be unveiled at halftime and will be permanently displayed above the floor in the Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center.%^$
%^$The graceful 6-8 Lucas starred for the Buckeyes during the 1960, ’61 and ’62 seasons, leading Ohio State to the 1960 National Championship as a sophomore and to second-place finishes each of the next two seasons. The Middletown, Ohio native is Ohio State’s only three-time All-American. He also is the school’s only two-time National Player of the Year. Additionally, Lucas was the MVP of both the 1960 and the 1961 NCAA Championships, and was a three-time winner of the Chicago Tribune’s Silver Basketball as the Big Ten Player of the Year.%^$
%^$”This is a great thrill for me and I am truly deeply honored,” Lucas said upon being notified by Ohio State’s Director of Athletics Andy Geiger. “My years at Ohio State were very special ones. Any success that I had was the direct result of playing for a man like Fred Taylor and of having a wonderful group of very talented and special teammates around me. We believed in ourselves and we believed in each other. That is why we enjoyed the success we did as a team.”%^$
%^$”Jerry Lucas is undeniably one of the great players in the history of college basketball,” Geiger said. “To be the first player at Ohio State to have his number retired speaks volumes about his ability and the impact he had upon the game. We are delighted to be able to honor him in this manner. I can think of no one who is more deserving.”%^$
%^$With Lucas as the starting center, the Buckeyes posted a combined record of 78-6 and won three Big Ten titles, losing just two conference games in that span. In 1960, the sophomore-laden Buckeyes capped off a 25-3 campaign by defeating the University of California, 75-55, in the NCAA championship game. In 1961, Lucas & Co. set a school record for victories with a 27-1 record, including a 14-0 Big Ten mark. The 1962 team finished the year with a 26-2 mark and a third straight trip to the NCAA Finals, making the Lucas-era the most successful in school history.%^$
%^$Forty years after his graduation, Lucas is still Ohio State’s all-time leading rebounder with a total of 1,411 caroms in 82 games – an average of 17.2 per contest. Lucas also still holds school records for most rebounds in a season (499), single-season rebound average (17.8), career field goal percentage (.624) and single-season field goal percentage (.637). He also is third in OSU career scoring annals with 1,990 points, a total that could have been much higher had the unselfish Lucas, whose offensive repertoire featured a lethal jump shot from the top of the key and an equally deadly baseline hook, chosen to be more offensive minded.%^$
%^$Lucas will be accompanied to the game by his wife (Cheri), his mother and father (Jean and Mark Lucas) and his brother and his wife (Roy and Beverly Lucas). It will be his parents’ first trip back to Columbus for a game since their son starred for the Buckeyes.%^$
%^$Lucas joins two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin as the only two Ohio State athletes to have their numbers officially retired. Griffin’s No. 45 was retired last season.
