By Alexis Morgan, Originally appeared on GoPSUsports.com
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Swish…. a basketball passing through a net echoes throughout an empty gym. A lone player practices quietly, shooting shot after shot without a break: no coaches, no teammates, no distractions. It’s just Maggie Lucas, a basketball, and an innate drive to help the Lady Lions win every time they step onto the court.
To say freshman Maggie Lucas loves the game of basketball would be an understatement. She picked up a basketball at the age of four and has since blossomed into the star player we see today. The McDonald’s High School All-American is no stranger to receiving awards. As a senior in high school, Lucas led Germantown Academy to its second state title. She ended her career with 2,197 points. All her hard work and dedication paid off when she was offered a scholarship to Penn State.
Recruited by Coach Washington was a dream come true for Lucas, who wanted to play college ball for a team like Penn State that had a program with the ability to win a Big Ten title and a National Championship.
“It’s the potential that a program like this has,” Lucas said. “We have such great players in the program right now: Nikki (Greene), Alex (Bentley), Zha Zha (Gray). I think you hear these names, see the numbers they have been putting up and how well we’ve been meshing, why wouldn’t you come to a program like this?”
“We have a great coach, a great leader,” she said. “All those things really drove me to this place, I wouldn’t have chosen anywhere else.”
Washington and Lucas kept in communication before Lucas came to Happy Valley.
“We talked on the phone all the time,” Lucas said. “She always gave me advice about how to improve my game. She always talked to me about how to be a better person, as well as a better player. I have a chance to learn from a great leader, a great role model.”
Before the season started Coach Washington explained how Lucas’ first semester was important to prepare for basketball at the collegiate level.
“Maggie has made a huge impact in the short time she’s been on campus,” Washington said. “Number one is her work ethic.”
Lucas lives and breathes basketball from the moment she wakes up. After classes she heads straight to the gym two-and-a-half hours before practice to shoot around and work on ball handling.
A magnificent shooter, Lucas shoots 400 baskets a day before practice. She is usually by herself in the gym staying focused on the game ahead. The 3-point phenom ends every practice with a half-court shot.
“My work ethic is something that does set me apart from a lot of players,” Lucas said. “If you talk to the best players, they’re always the one’s who work hard. I’m just trying to follow their example. When you do the work, you usually get rewarded.”
Growing up with two older brothers helped Lucas to become a better basketball player.
“It’d be me and my dad verses my two older brothers,” Lucas said. “It was always just so competitive. We’d come in with bloody knees, all scraped up. My mom would say, ‘This is the last time! You guys can’t play together anymore,’ but we’d always just keep playing.”
Lucas appreciates the support of her brothers and her parents. She said her parents have helped her mature into the person and player she is today.
“They’ll do anything for me. I try and follow their lead and learn from the examples they’ve set my whole life,” she said.
There is one other special person who inspires Lucas daily.
In high school, the Germantown Academy played at a tournament in Florida. The tournament manager’s daughter, Andrea, and Lucas made an immediate connection. Lucas explained Andrea’s physical disability, saying she has had many heart surgeries at just 10 years old.
“I stay in touch with her a lot. Andrea inspires me because she’s so young and has dealt with so many obstacles. There’s not many people who can really inspire you and push you to work harder,” Lucas said emotionally.
“When I look at someone like her, she hasn’t had everything go her way,” she said. “You have to work hard for people who don’t have the chance like I have.”
Lucas is grateful to talk with Andrea any chance she can.
“She called me the night after the Iowa game, I didn’t have the best shooting night that game,” she said. “I was so excited about the win and it just topped off my night that she called me and we got to talk for a little while.”
A humble person off the court translates to an amazing player on the court.
The 2010 Philadelphia Inquirer Southeastern Player of the Year was just named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for a record breaking sixth time in her first season at Penn State. Although she does not start, the 5-foot-9 guard is averaging a team high 16.7 points per game.
As the Lady Lions grabbed the top spot in the Big Ten with a win over Illinois Sunday, Lucas had a career record-breaking day. The McDonald’s three-point contest winner surpassed the freshman three-point record scoring six times from beyond the arc.
The Lady Lions continue to be No. 1 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage as Lucas has totaled 69 three-pointers. Scoring 22 points against Illinois, Lucas also passed the 300 point plateau in her college career.
“Maggie’s confidence and her ability to make shots are very high,” Coach Washington said. “[Baskets she makes] give our team the kind of confidence we need to finish.”
Illinois head coach, Jolette Law, told the team during preparation for the game to make sure they knew where Lucas was at all times.
“Maggie Lucas is one of the best players in the country,” Law said.
Lucas’ quick release and sharp-shooting has garnered the attention of many head coaches.
After the Lady Lion victory over Minnesota, head coach Pam Borton said, “I think she is one of the best shooters I’ve seen in a long time, especially as a freshman.”
“I just love her mentality. Obviously, she can shoot the basketball, with no fear or hesitation,” Borton said.
Not only are coaches impressed by Lucas’ ability, but her teammates are as well.
“Maggie always gives us a spark off the bench,” teammate Alex Bentley said.
Captain Julia Trogele has been a role model that embodies the spirit of Lady Lion Basketball allowing Lucas to develop and mature as a player.
“She’s like my little sister,” Trogele said. “She’s grown up a lot and is able to listen to advice in a positive way and apply it accordingly. I love playing with someone as talented and disciplined [as her].”
Only halfway into the season, Lucas’ hard work ethic is shown through her success wearing the Lady Lion uniform. Her commitment to the program and dedication to the game may be the key the Lady Lions need to win a Big Ten Title and maybe, just maybe, a National Championship.
