Jerry Ray Lucas is an American former basketball player. He was a nationally awarded high school player, national college star at Ohio State University, and 1960 gold medal Olympian and international player before later starring as a professional player in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
As a collegian, Lucas led the Ohio State Buckeyes to three straight NCAA finals (1960–1962), winning the national championship in 1960, and finishing as runner-up in 1961 and 1962. He is the only three-time Big Ten Basketball Player of the Year and was named the NCAA Player of the Year in 1961 and 1962 by the United States Basketball Writers Association (now Oscar Robertson Award), the Associated Press, and the Sporting News. He was also named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1961.
As a professional, Lucas was named All-NBA First Team three times, All-NBA Second Team twice, an NBA All-Star seven times (including six years in a row), was the 1964 NBA Rookie of the Year, and was named Most Valuable Player of the 1965 NBA All-Star Game among other honors and awards.