Jerry Lucas will become the latest Ohio State basketball great to ring the Victory Bell before Saturday night’s football game at Ohio Stadium.
Just as Clark Kellogg and Michael Redd did for Ohio State’s first two night games of the season against Ohio and Minnesota, Lucas will ring the Victory Bell before the Buckeyes kick off against UCLA at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Shoe.
The bell ringer vs. UCLA will be one of the best basketball players to ever play the game, Jerry Lucas
— Ohio State Buckeyes (@OhioStAthletics) November 11, 2025
Lucas, the ultimate champion, was the first person to become a champion at every level (High School, College, NBA, and an Olympic Gold Medal). #GoBucks | #DevelopedHere pic.twitter.com/coO21JmT0P
Lucas joins a list of Victory Bell ringers that’s also included two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin and former Ohio State football coaches John Cooper and Urban Meyer in the first season of the new tradition of an Ohio State dignitary ringing the Victory Bell before each home football game.
The Victory Bell ringing adds to what will be a weekend full of recognitions for Lucas, the greatest player in Ohio State basketball history. On Friday, a statue of Lucas will be unveiled outside the Schottenstein Center, making him the first Ohio State basketball player to receive a statue on campus. On Sunday, Lucas will become the first basketball player to dot the i in the Script Ohio at halftime of Ohio State’s men’s basketball game against Notre Dame, a new tradition that is being unveiled for Ohio State basketball this season as part of OSU’s Tradition Evolved initiative.
Lucas was a three-time All-American at Ohio State, leading the Buckeyes to three consecutive national championship game appearances and the program’s only national title in 1960. He went on to play 12 seasons in the NBA, where he was a seven-time All-Star who averaged 17 points and 15.6 rebounds per game for his career.
The first player ever to win a high school state championship, an NCAA championship, an NBA championship and an Olympic gold medal, Lucas is enshrined in both the Basketball Hall of Fame and Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and was a member of the NBA’s 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams recognizing the greatest players in the league’s history.
