Behind the U: Jai Lucas

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Tidbits from on3

Which brings us to the Rick Barry connection. Barry’s playing career ended in 1980 when Jai wasn’t even born yet. So what does arguably the best player in Miami Hurricanes basketball history have in common with Lucas’ family?

“I was the compensation to the Warriors for Rick (when he went to the Houston Rockets in 1978),” John II says with a laugh. “It was me or Moses Malone, so I knew to start packing my bags.”
 
When Jai was in high school he was playing and made the McDonald’s game, so he didn’t work (a job),” dad says. “I told him back then, I said `This is your job, this is our family business. Either you work at McDonald’s or you play in the McDonald’s game.

 
Some things in life are priceless.

Jimmy Larranaga was one of my first teachers of basketball when he was at Davidson College (in Larranaga’s first job as an assistant in the early 1970s),” John II said. “I was at Maryland and (Larranaga) used to work with me every day on my game at basketball camps. I was a counselor, and he was running it.”
 
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