Edward Howard "Eddie" Lucas (born July 14, 1975) is an American retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player and current production manager for Highland Construction in Fayetteville NC Lucas was taken with the last pick of the 1999 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. He was not offered a spot on the team, and spent three seasons playing for professional teams in Argentina, France, Russia, Israel, and Poland.

Early life and college

In his senior year at

Redlands High School Redlands High School is a high school located in Redlands, California, alongside Redlands East Valley High School and Citrus Valley High School. It is the oldest Californian public high school still functioning on its original site. History T ...

Redlands, California Redlands ( ) is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 73,168, up from 68,747 at the 2010 census. The city is located approximately west of Palm Springs and east of Lo ...

, he was named the team's Most Valuable Player and averaged 20.2 points and was named to the 1A All State team. Lucas started his college career at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

where he earned All League Patriot Honors in his sophomore year. After transferring to Virginia Tech, Lucas lead the Hokies in scoring at 15.1 points per game in his senior season. At Virginia Tech, Lucas majored in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

.Crumbley, Liz.
Adversity no barrier to Lucas
. ''The Charles E. Via Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Newsletter''. Summer 1999. pp. 1, 8, 9.

Basketball career

In the 1999 NBA draft, Lucas was the 58th and final overall pick, selected by the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

. However, Lucas never played in the NBA. In addition, the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

team Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs drafted Lucas in the fifth round of the 1999 USBL Draft. The

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

cut Lucas before the 1999–2000

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

season. In January 2000, Lucas signed with the Argentine team

Libertad de Sunchales Club Deportivo Libertad (usually called simply Libertad or Libertad de Sunchales) is a sports club from Argentina, with homebase in the Sunchales city of Santa Fe Province. The club is better known for both its association football and basketba ...

and signed with the French team Hermine de Nantes Atlantique the following month. With Nantes, Lucas averaged 18.7 points and 3.9 rebounds per game on 51% shooting. Later in 2000, Lucas joined Russian team

BC Spartak Saint Petersburg BC Spartak Saint Petersburg is a Russian professional basketball team that is based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. During the 2016–17 season, the club was named BC Kondrashin Belov (BCKB), after its former player Alexander Belov and its former head ...

, then the Israeli

Bnei Herzliya Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in the Sharon district in Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. It ...

(later Bnei HaSharon) in January 2001 and would leave the team in 2002.Eddie Lucas
. Eurobasket (Lithuanian). Accessed April 13, 2012.

Post-basketball career

After retiring from basketball, Lucas and former American football player Chris James founded Interactive Drills, an athletic training company. Lucas also earned a master's degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a specialty in Construction Management from Virginia Tech. Since 2011, Lucas has lived in

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville () is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-America C ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Eddie 1975 births Living people American construction businesspeople American exercise instructors American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Poland American expatriate basketball people in Russia American men's basketball players Basketball players from Connecticut BC Spartak Saint Petersburg players Bnei HaSharon players Guards (basketball) Libertad de Sunchales basketball players Navy Midshipmen men's basketball players People from Groton, Connecticut Sportspeople from Redlands, California Basketball players from San Bernardino County, California Sportspeople from Fayetteville, North Carolina Unia Tarnów basketball players Utah Jazz draft picks Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball players Military personnel from California