Big Luke

The kid out of Middletown, Ohio seemed too good to be true. In high school, he scored 2,460 points in three years to smash Wilt Chamberlain's record by 208 points. By his senior year, some 150 colleges from Princeton to Hawaii were after him ("They woke me up in the morning; they got me out of class"), but he chose Ohio State. Last year, in two scrimmage games against the varsity, the phenomenal freshman unhinged his elders by nicking home 92 points. Giddy with anticipation, Coach Fred Taylor began drilling Ohio State in an offense that could be draped around the shoulders of his future star when he moved up to the varsity. Last week the Big Ten finally got its first look at the most impressive basketball prospect since "The Stilt" himself: Sophomore Jerry ("Big Luke"), Lucas, 19, a solemn, smoothly muscled (6 ft. 7 1/2 in., 228 Ibs.) youngster with a feather-soft hook shot in either hand.

Opening the season against Wake Forest, Lucas shook off his first-half jitters ("Man, I was scared") to sink 16 points, monopolize the backboards with 28 rebounds. Final score: Ohio State 77, Wake Forest 69. Still, the team and Lucas looked so rocky that Coach Taylor could not sleep the following night, finally dozed off on the living-room floor, where he had thrown himself down to brood.

Coach Taylor need not have lost any sleep. Next night against Memphis State, Lucas was a spring-legged hotshot. In one span of 77 sec., he scored 8 points (2 tap-ins, 4 foul shots), finished with 34 points in his team's 94-55 victory. Two nights later against Pittsburgh, Big Luke was the key of Ohio State's tight man-to-man defense. On offense, he roved the pivot, scoring 24 points (with a fantastic shooting average of 73% from the floor), directing teammates in his deep, sober voice ("Come on in, John, come in"). Final score: Ohio State 94, Pitt 49.

The one man in Columbus who took Lucas' spectacular first week in stride was Lucas himself, who is attending Ohio State on an academic scholarship with no extras thrown in for athletics. "First come my studies," he says, "and then basketball." Lucas maintains an A-minus average (botany, American history, English), can see so far beyond the basketball court that he has no plans to play with the pros. "I think it's a hard life with all that traveling and living in hotels," says Big Luke, as serious as a sophomore can be. "I want to settle down and get a job and stick with it."

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