Harrison grad, Marquette's Jonah Lucas enjoys ride of first college basketball season

COLUMBUS, Ohio − At this point last year, Jonah Lucas was in a state of uncertainty.

His high school basketball career had just ended when Kokomo knocked Lucas' Harrison Raiders out of the Class 4A sectional.

Lucas didn't know what was next, other than he wanted to play college basketball.

Somehow. Somewhere.

On Thursday morning, Lucas was sitting in a locker room at Nationwide Arena as reporters flooded in. Last week, he was hoisting the Big East Tournament championship trophy in Madison Square Garden.

Though Lucas' freshman basketball season ended Sunday night when Marquette lost to Michigan State 69-60, the 2022 Harrison graduate isn't taking a day for granted in his life as a Golden Eagles walk-on.

"It is special to me honestly," Lucas said. "You obviously don't get the recognition that you do with all the guys on the court, but you do a lot of the behind the scenes work. You help out their development. We say our team success is kind of connected to our success."

Lucas knew what he was in for.

Playing time would be sparse, but he did his homework before accepting a roster spot at Marquette.

Lucas reached out to another walk-on, a former high school rival.

Purdue junior Carson Barrett first recalls seeing Lucas at an Indiana Ice AAU tryout. He saw a lot of the same qualities in Lucas that he saw in himself. His father, a former Lafayette area basketball standout who'd go on to play college hoops before later becoming a coach of his children's teams. He saw a competitor.

They'd go on to have high school battles when Central Catholic and Harrison met annually.

"Before he made his decision, he called me and we had a 30-minute phone call," Barrett said. "He asked me about the difference between two schools and what I thought about my Purdue experience. I told him whatever he chose to do he's going to love it and he's going to make the most out of it. He's having a pretty cool opportunity at Marquette, Big East champions."

Lucas heard what he needed to from Barrett.

He told Marquette's coaching staff a year ago he'd be on his way to Milwaukee to play college basketball.

And Lucas ended up at a program that values its walk-ons in the same regard as the scholarship players.

"Our walk-ons are incredibly important, especially as a freshman," Marquette coach Shaka Smart said. "It's not easy to come in as a freshman and make the transition to college basketball.

"Our guys every day are selfless. They pour into their teammates. They know they're not going to play in the game unless it's a lopsided game. And they prepare for practice even more so than the scholarship guys because they've got to know the other team's stuff. And they do a great job executing what we asked them to do from a scout-team standpoint."

That doesn't mean it was easy.

Initially, Lucas questioned whether he was cut out for major conference college basketball.

"It was kind of a slap in the face. I had a couple workouts with O-Max (Marquette junior star Olivier-Maxence Prosper) at the beginning of the year," Lucas said. "It was one-on-one transition and he was just killing me. I got to a point where I was down on myself.

"I didn't even know if I was doing enough. I didn't know if I was going to last a whole year. But I stuck to it. My teammates helped me out getting me out of that hole. They encouraged me and showed me the ropes and demonstrated acknowledgement that I was struggling through it."

He ended up on a team that went 29-7 and won the Big East regular season and conference tournament.

Lucas played in eight games.

On Jan. 28, he scored his first collegiate basket in a win over DePaul.

"My dad was there. It didn't feel real at the time. After the game, I sat down and checked my phone and my mom is texting me," Lucas recalled. "She was saying I never count myself out. I bet on myself and kept going.

"I really appreciate looking back at the replays and my teammates celebrating me as much as anyone else. The bond I've created with them, to be happy for me in that moment."

A year ago, Lucas didn't know the next step in his basketball career.

Now he can't imagine being anywhere else other than Marquette.

"I don't really know how I got to this point," Lucas said. "I have some connections with the Marquette program and it led me to conversations with coaches. They believed in me and allowed me to be a star in my role. I bought into that. I am honored to be here. I feel indebted to them."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Marquette's Jonah Lucas enjoys ride of first college basketball season