Lucas Didn\'t Let The Option End His Options
December 13, 2002 - NBA G League (G League)
Fayetteville Patriots News Release
Fayetteville Patriots forward Bryan Lucas had ambitions of playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers and not the Philadelphia 76ers. If he had to take the minor league route, he would have taken it through the World League of American Football and not the National Basketball Development League.
But when the option literally voided his football plans, Lucas opted for a game where he could still get off a pass. His new option was basketball. I knew basketball wasn't my strong suit,'' Lucas said. "But if it was going to pay my way through school I thought I might as well give it a try. I've learned everything works out for a reason."
Lucas attended Manteca High School in Manteca, Calif., which is about an hour east of the San Francisco Bay. He played football, basketball and baseball for the Buffaloes. But in the 68,000 populated city of Manteca, he became known as an outstanding drop-back passer. He set about every passing record, earned all-conference honors, led the Buffaloes to a 12-7-1 record in two seasons and received recruiting letters by the pound to play football.
Not many basketball recruiting letters were sent to his mailbox. Lucas decided to attend Asuza Pacific, an NAIA Christian school off the coast of California. Lucas started 12 games over two years with the Cougars and finished as the school's third all-time leading passer and still holds the record for most pass attempts without an interception. He also played basketball at APU. Lucas started as a freshman, played on a Sweet 16 team, a Golden State Athletic Conference championship team and a Final Four team, while shooting 56 percent over the two years he spent at APU. But it was all in fun and to stay in shape.
Football was his sport and despite his success at APU, all it took was one NFL scout to motivate Lucas to explore better football opportunities. A Pittsburgh Steelers scout contacted Lucas during his sophomore season in 1997, which signaled the end of his Cougars career.
"I wanted to compete against better competition,'' Lucas said. "I wanted to make a possible run at the NFL and I thought transferring to a Division I NCAA school would help that.''
He was almost a North Carolina resident before he came to Fayetteville this season. Lucas was all set to transfer to Wake Forest and had decided to send his paperwork. He changed his mind. He had also considered Duke and North Texas. North Texas finally won out because his family had recently moved to Texas, it was 35 minutes North of Dallas in Denton, Texas, the Mean Green passed more than they ran the ball and it seemed he had a chance to start right away.
Then came the option.
After Lucas signed, Darrell Dickey was hired as the head coach of the Mean Green. Dickey liked to run the ball â a lot. Dickey installed an option-style offense, which needed a Michael Vick-like quarterback instead of Peyton Manning-like quarterback. Lucas was more in the mold of Manning.
Lucas felt trapped at North Texas. He did not want to transfer because transfers who transfer to another Division I school must sit out a year. If he moved down to a Division I-AA, Division II or Division III school it would mean transferring again and moving away from family.
What made the year even worse was that the Mean Green posted a 3-9 record and Dickey wanted to move Lucas to tight end. Lucas decided to pursue another option.
There was always basketball. But this time it was more than a way to stay in shape. This time it was a to stay on scholarship without the help of football and it was also a means of staying happy. Lucas sought out North Texas men's basketball coach Vic Trilli.
"This kid with a big body and wide shoulders comes walking into my office and asks me can he try out for basketball,'' said Trilli, who now works for Garden City Junior College in Kansas. "When that kind of good fortune falls in your lap, you've got to start thinking you're doing something right in life." Lucas joined the Mean Green's basketball team after Christmas of 1999. The biggest problem he had was getting into what Trilli called basketball shape.
"In football you stop and go, stop and go,'' Trilli said. "In basketball you run for longer periods of time. That is where Bryan struggled."
Lucas averaged 2.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 48 percent. By his senior year he was full-fledged basketball player with scholarship money and ambitions to play basketball professionally. As a senior, Lucas scored 12.0 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and shot 55 percent. The competition wasn't too shabby, either. The Mean Green played the likes of N.C. State, Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Alabama and Texas.
Lucas found the competition he came to North Texas seeking. The competition wore shorts and not pads, however.
"I think Bryan really had his hopes on playing quarterback somewhere in some professional league,'' Trilli said. "Some circumstances changed that, but Bryan wasn't a crybaby about it. Bryan's not going to do that. He went out there and gave me every thing he had and as a coach you appreciate that."
Patriots coach Jeff Capel has similar feelings about Lucas' attitude. After a game in which Lucas came off the bench to score 11 points and 10 rebounds, Capel said: "When Bryan gets an opportunity to play he makes the most of it. That's what it's about. It's about sitting on that bench and sometimes not playing and wanting to play, but keeping your mouth shut. And when your opportunity comes, going in there and making the most of it."
Lucas' success as a senior led him to play internationally in Ireland after graduation. He then played in the United States Basketball League last summer before his agent told him it might be wise for him to sign with the NBDL.
He hasn't heard from the Pittsburgh Steelers scout in a while. But he sees scouts from the Miami Heat, the L.A. Clippers and San Antonio Spurs on a regular basis.
But once you're a football player, you're always a football player. "After my career I want to coach football,'' Lucas said. "I can play basketball, but there is no way I can explain to other people how to play. Now football, I can tell some people how to play football."
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