Cool Hand Luke, the ultimate underdog: ‘We like shocking people’
Jared Lucas prepares to throw entry pass under defensive pressure from Colorado’s Eli Parquet (24) and Dallas Walton (13). (Photos courtesy of Pac-12 Media Hub)
If anyone on Oregon State’s basketball roster can identify with the underdog, it’s Jared Lucas.
After scoring points at a prodigious rate — almost beyond comprehension — in four years at Los Altos High in Hacienda Heights, Calif., the sharpshooting guard was largely overlooked by Pac-12 schools.
When the media forecast OSU to finish 12th in the Pac-12 before the season, Lucas developed a chip on his shoulder the size of the Rock of Gibraltar.
“Cool Hand Luke” was as big a reason as any why the Beavers came from nowhere to claim the Pac-12 Tournament championship last week and earn the conference’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The 6-2 sophomore (he is listed at 6-3, folks, but I’m 6-2 and I want a back-to-back stand-off at our next meeting) drilled a bevy of big shots as Oregon State swept through UCLA, Oregon and Colorado en route to its first-ever Pac-12 Tournament crown.
Leave it to Lucas to notice a special significance in the seed given the Beavers as they face No. 5 seed Tennessee in Friday’s first round.
“We were picked 12th in the Pac-12, and now we’re a 12 seed in the (NCAA) tournament,” Lucas says from the Beavers’ hotel in Indianapolis. “That’s our magic number. We like being overlooked.”
Which is exactly what Lucas was after a record-breaking prep career playing for his father, Jeff Lucas, in Southern California. As a senior, the younger Lucas averaged 39.6 points, 11.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists for a Los Altos High team that went 24-6 overall and 10-0 in league play, losing in the second round of the playoffs. Jarod finished his career with 3,356 points (a 29.4-point average), becoming the top scorer in CIF/Southern Section history and third in the annals of the entire state — passing names such as Casey Jacobsen, DeMar DeRozan, LiAngelo Ball, Tracy Murray and Jrue Holiday on the list.
If that wasn’t enough, Lucas also played for the Compton Magic, who won the national AAU championship.
Lucas held scholarship offers from 10 Division I programs, including Nevada, Santa Clara and Fresno State. He had always been a Pac-12 fan, though, and dreamed of playing for UCLA or Southern Cal.
Perhaps it was his size or lack of quickness. Maybe there was trepidation about Jarod playing for his father. Whatever the reason, no Pac-12 coach beckoned except Oregon State’s Wayne Tinkle.
The on-court scene in Las Vegas after Oregon State’s championship game triumph. (Photos courtesy of Pac-12 Media Hub)
“I couldn’t be happier where I landed,” Lucas said Sunday night from the Beavers’ hotel in Indianapolis. “I had only one Pac-12 offer. Coach Tinkle was the only coach who believed in me. Here I am in the NCAA Tournament. I’m not sure it’s hit me yet, but I know it will. It’s one of the best experiences of my life.”
Lucas averaged 4.6 points and shot .389 from 3-point range and .870 from the foul line as a freshman last season. He’ll forever be a part of Beaver lore for his last basket of the season — a corner 3 at the buzzer to beat Utah 71-69 in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. The next day, the season went dark due to COVID-19.
Lucas spent much of last summer in Corvallis preparing for his sophomore campaign. He practically lived in the OSU basketball practice facility, working not just on his shot but on other parts of his game.
“He put in extra time defensively in the offseason, working on quickness and lateral movement,” his father says. “He dropped a little weight. He watched a lot of video, too. He’s a student of the game. He picks up things. His work ethic and determination to succeed are hard to match. He loves the game and really wants to succeed.”
Lucas began the current season in a reserve role, but Tinkle gave him his first start after a 98-64 thumping by Arizona on January 14. Lucas scored a team-high 18 points and hit 4 of 6 from 3-point range in an 80-79 win over Arizona State two days later.
Beginning with the ASU game, the Beavers have won 12 of their last 19 games, thanks in no small part to Lucas, who gives them a second scoring option and opens opportunities for backcourt mate Ethan Thompson. Lucas is second to Thompson on the team in scoring (12.9 points), leads in 3-point percentage (.394) and is on pace to set a school single-season record in free-throw percentage (.897). He tops the Pac-12 in made 3’s with 67 and was a member of the All-Pac-12 Tournament team for his performance in Las Vegas.
“Being a starter has given me a little more confidence,” he says. “It helped me realize the coaches really do believe in me. It’s been a fun season, both from a team standpoint and individually. A lot of people didn’t think I could play in the Pac-12. I got this opportunity and ran with it.”
Some players run from the ball with the game on the line. Lucas runs to it.
With 4:41 left in last Saturday’s Pac-12 Championship game and the Beavers clinging to a 61-57 lead over Colorado, Warith Alatishe missed the front end of a one-and-one. But he came up with the rebound and got it to Lucas, who nailed a 3 to make it 64-57.
Lucas knows the Beavers are No. 1 even before they finish off Pac-12 Championship victory over Buffaloes. (Photos courtesy of Pac-12 Media Hub)
“They miss the free throw, we can’t get the rebound, and Lucas hits a 3,” Buffaloes coach Tad Boyle lamented afterward. “It’s amazing how the basketball gods make you pay for it. It goes from four to a seven-point game. That was the play of the game.”
It was big, but I beg to differ.
I thought an even bigger play came when the Beavers advanced into frontcourt, ahead 66-63 inside the final 30 seconds. Lucas got the ball and wasn’t going to give it up unless he had to, knowing he was the best free-throw shooter on the floor. He dribbled through traffic near midcourt for about 10 seconds before being fouled. Then he calmly hit a pair at the line with 16 seconds left for a 68-63 lead that proved insurmountable.
“I heard Colorado coaches saying, ‘Don’t foul Lucas,’ ” he says. “I wanted those free throws. I’m not one to step away from a challenge.”
Before the season, Lucas wrote down a list of goals he wanted to accomplish, both individual and team.
“I’ve reached 90 percent of them,” he says. “One was to lead the Pac-12 in 3-pointers made. Another was to be the best free throw shooter. Another was first-team all-conference. Didn’t make that, but I felt like I should have. I wanted my team to win the Pac-12 Tournament and to get on the all-tournament team. I made that as well. I wanted to score at least 25 points in a game. I did that. And for the team to finish in the upper half of the Pac-12. It’s crazy how many I was able to check off my list.”
One that he didn’t get was the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player Award.
“I was a little disappointed,” Lucas says, “but that gave me something to prove in the Pac-12 Tournament. I told myself, ‘I have to prove to every single coach who didn’t vote for me that I should have won.’ ”
Lucas’ father calls him a “poor man’s Payton Pritchard.” Like the former Oregon All-American now in his rookie season with the Boston Celtics, the senior Lucas says, “Jarod is a born leader.”
Jarod is familiar with Pritchard. Jarod’s personal trainer in SoCal, Olin Simplis, has helped train Pritchard in the past. Jarod played open gym with Payton several times in Oregon last summer.
“He was Pac-12 Player of the Year,” Lucas says. “I’ve always admired his game. I know I’m not there yet.
My dad mentioned to me I should try to model my game after his. He is more of a true point guard with scoring capabilities. My scoring is there and I’ve shown flashes of ability to be a playmaker. Payton is definitely well ahead of me, but it gives me another thing to shoot for.”
Lucas knows how to take care of the ball. Despite handling the ball his fair share, he has only 23 turnovers in 846 minutes in this season. Thompson has 76 giveaways in 966 minutes. Pritchard had 85 in 1,135 minutes as a UO senior last year.
Lucas has grown to appreciate his relationship with Tinkle.
“Last year was a little hard, with the ups and downs of being a freshman, but I knew he had a lot of trust in me,” Lucas says. “He has put the ball in my hands a lot this season. I love playing for him.
“I know it’s voted on before the (Pac-12) Tournament, but Coach Tinkle should have been the Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Nothing against Coach (Andy) Enfield (of Southern Cal). He did a good job with his team. But the media made a mistake there.”
The ultimate underdog reigns supreme. (Photos courtesy of Pac-12 Media Hub)
When we spoke, Lucas knew little about Tennessee.
“They’re an SEC team so I know they’ll be good,” he says. “One of their players used to be at Oregon (guard Victor Bailey). I played with him in a few open gyms two summers ago. He’s strong, athletic, can shoot and score.”
Lucas teams with such players as Alatishe, Gianni Hunt and Rodrigue Andela to form a strong nucleus for Oregon State’s future.
“We’re excited,” Lucas says. “I can speak for a lot of the young guys. This group loves playing with each other. We’ll have so many returnees who have played big roles this season. We’re going to have a lot of expectations. I hope we’re not picked for last again.”
I laughed when Lucas said that. I told him I didn’t think that would happen.
For now, though, the Beavers are focusing on Tennessee.
Lucas whoops it up after the final buzzer. (Photos courtesy of Pac-12 Media Hub)
“Nobody believes in us but us,” he says. “We only have ourselves. But we’re capable of winning games like this. We like shocking people.”
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