We are keeping our fingers crossed in the hope that we can return to a “normal” version of college basketball this fall: fans in the stands, announcers without masks, etc. Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen but we will try to restore some order with season previews featuring the best players/coaches in the country. We continue our coverage with Oregon State JR SG Jarod Lucas. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jarod about making the Elite 8 last March and his expectations for this season.
You scored 3356 PTS at Los Altos High School, which remains 1 of the highest totals in California history: what is the secret to being a great scorer? The secret to being a great scorer is being a student of the game and staying in the gym. I set a goal 5-6 days/week to make 300 shots in 1 day. I am also a believer in seeing the basketball go through the net and imagining myself making the big plays: the visual part is important as well.
Your father Jeff played basketball at Hawaii and was your high school coach: what was the best part of having your dad as your coach? The best part of having my dad as a coach were the many wins we had together. However, my favorite part was hitting a half-court game-winner during my junior year: my dad forgot that he was my coach for a second and ran after me so we could celebrate the moment together. My dad has been a coach at my high school for over 25 years and I had always dreamed of playing for him: those 4 years are times that we both will never forget.
What made you choose Oregon State? I decided to attend OSU and play for Coach Wayne Tinkle because he coached his son (Tres) and Coach Stephen Thompson coached his own sons as well (Stephen Jr. and Ethan). With my dad coaching me I felt like there were similarities that no other school had. Being a West Coast kid, it was always my dream to play in the Pac-12.
What makes Coach Tinkle such a great coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? Coach Tinkle is a great coach because he teaches us life lessons both on and off the court. On the court he is able to get us fired up, but he is also able to give us a pat on the back to show that he is there for his players.
You played in all 31 games as a freshman: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I just set a goal to get better every day. I knew that it was going to be a process and I was going to have to earn my minutes, but Coach trusted me and let me play through my mistakes as a freshman.
Last February you scored a career-high 26 PTS/7-11 FG/10-11 FT in a win over Stanford: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? It was a good night for the team: we were clicking and my teammates were finding me in the right spots, especially Gianni Hunt/Ethan Thompson. I have always liked playing at Stanford because of the way their backboards hang from the ceiling.
You lost your regular season finale in March to your archrival Oregon, then won 3 games in 3 days to win the conference tourney, then made it to the Elite 8 before a 6-PT loss to Houston: what are your memories of that amazing postseason run? There are many memories from that run. However, the best memory was seeing the process that we went through to get to that point. We were a team that struggled early but put all of the pieces together at the right time. Being an LA kid it was also fun to knock off UCLA/USC this past season. Seeing the confetti fall after our Pac-12 championship was a great feeling, as well as the love and support from Beaver Nation all season long!
You finished top-25 in the nation with 89.6 FT%/77 3PM: what is the key to being a great shooter? The key is to be consistent in the gym. I set a goal to get 300 makes a day: I just stay consistent with that and often watch film to figure out ways to improve.
Your brother Jordan is a member of the USA Volleyball Junior National Team: who is the best athlete in the family? I would have to say my brother! We are all competitive but he has some incredible bounce that I wish I had.
What are your goals for this season, and what are your expectations for this season? The goal for this season is to be in the top-25 all year long. The next goal is to win the Pac-12 regular season title/conference tournament. The final goal we have set is to reach the Final Four this season. We were a couple of minutes away from reaching that goal last season (the Beavers were tied with Houston at 55-apiece with under 4 minutes to play) so we are going to build on our Elite 8 run.