Pick a level of the sport, and Jerry Lucas has seen the mountaintop. A star on Ohio State’s 1960 national championship team, Lucas’ trophy case predates his collegiate career and extends well beyond.
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 on senior day. 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 told The Dispatch that he will speak with former players to try and understand what they value in a coach in order to build a full profile of an ideal candidate.
“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….
