Jerry Lucas, former Ohio State players have high expectations when new coach is hired
Pick a level of the sport, and Jerry Lucas has seen the mountaintop. A star on Ohio State’s 1960 national championship basketball team, Lucas’ trophy case predates his collegiate career and extends well beyond.
Two Ohio prep championships at Middletown. An Olympic gold medal in 1960. An NBA championship with the New York Knicks in 1973. Lucas, now 83, is the first to pull off that parlay, a feat matched by only Magic Johnson and Quinn Buckner.
Lucas’ No. 11 jersey hangs in the rafters at Value City Arena, two spots away from one for coach Fred Taylor, the man who led the Buckeyes to their only national title. Sunday, Lucas had a fine view of both as he settled in to watch Ohio State take down Michigan 84-61. The win moved interim coach Jake Diebler to 4-1 since taking over for Chris Holtmann and marked the first game for incoming athletic director Ross Bjork, who is in the early stages of hiring a permanent replacement.
As part of his vetting process, Bjork said he will speak with former players to try to understand what they value in a coach in order to build a full profile of an ideal candidate.
Lucas has a pretty clear idea what the next Ohio State coach should look like.
“The coach has to know the game, has to know strategy and has to know how to handle people,” he said. “He has to understand their personalities. He has to handle almost everybody differently because everybody’s different. Some people need more attention than other people need attention.”
The ability to check all of those boxes is what helped allow Taylor to lead the Buckeyes to the sport’s zenith, Lucas said. Being able to relate to players and build impactful relationships is a skill as important as ever in this era of college basketball, and it’s something two-time captain CJ Walker pointed to in his version of an ideal candidate.
“Having that relationship, being relevant to the new era of college basketball, being able to relate to that, how everybody wants to play,” said Walker, a captain on Holtmann’s 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. “Having that camaraderie, being able to relate as well, that’s something that Ohio State needs to get because of the diversity at Ohio State. That’s something that will play a big part.”
Ron Stokes has been part of the Ohio State radio broadcast crew for 27 seasons. A team captain in 1983-84 and 1984-85, he’s called games coached by Randy Ayers, Jim O’Brien, Thad Matta, Holtmann and Diebler.
“If a coach comes here, they’ll have every opportunity to win,” he said. “It’s a great job, and I’m not saying it’s Duke or Kentucky or anything like that, but it’s a great job. Because of that, you should demand excellence. When I say excellence, someone’s going to come in here and genuinely love being here. Some connection to Ohio State in some way, and excitement, the willingness to embrace the business community because of NIL. Embrace the former players, because that’s important to me.”
In some regard, what the new coach will need to do to be successful at Ohio State isn’t dramatically different than what they would need to do elsewhere. But that ability to work in accord with all kinds of different people, from players to NIL collectives to the university higher-ups, is a skill former players continually cited as being paramount in a new coach.
Clark Kellogg, team captain for the 1981-82 season and one of the program’s all-time greats, agreed with his fellow Buckeyes on that point.
“The ability to lead in a complex environment and being able to handle managing up through and down within the institution, particularly with the president and athletic director, both new in their roles at Ohio State, (is important),” Kellogg said. “That kind of alignment is going to be pretty significant as a leader.”
Plus, he pointed out, there’s the football shadow to consider.
“That’s a unique dynamic for any basketball coach that will work here,” Kellogg said. “I think being able to be OK and comfortable with that is one of the things you look at. I don’t know if I necessarily have a desired type of individual other than being able to satisfy those areas of leadership and complexity handling the communication aspect of Buckeye Nation, and the shadow of football, being able to carve out your own space.”
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There are plenty of other aspects to consider. Stokes said that while it’s not a deciding factor, he’d like to see the head coach help develop future coaches so that Ohio State can have more alumni to choose from in coming coaching searches. Kellogg said that while prior head coaching experience is preferred, something Bjork said, the former Buckeye doesn’t feel it’s an absolute necessity.
Whomever the Buckeyes hire, Lucas spoke for all of them when he said the expectations for the program are high.
“To win the Big Ten,” he said when asked for his expectations for the new coach. “Hopefully win the national championship. Hasn’t happened in a while, but I’m sure that’s the goal of every coach, to win their league, to go to the highest level that they can and win. I think they’re far off from winning a national championship, yes.
“Whoever is the next coach, hopefully things go well and we start to build back to that caliber of play.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What do Jerry Lucas, former Ohio State players hope for in new coach?
