Holiday Auction Closing December 3
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/4/2016
Jerry Lucas’ Hall of Fame career took him to three organizations, the Cincinnati Royals, San Francisco Warriors and New York Knicks, where he was a seven-time all-star, a three-time All-NBA first team, the 1964 NBA Rookie of the Year, a member of the 1973 New York Knicks championship team and a member of the NBA’s 50th Anniversary All-Time Team.
Born in Middletown, Ohio, which is between Dayton and Cincinnati, the town referred itself as “The Basketball Capital of Ohio” for having a highly successful high school basketball program. Before Lucas played for the “Middies” at Middletown High, the program had won five Ohio state basketball championships from 1945-55 and support for the team was high. Lucas was blessed with 6’7” height at the young age of 15 and also had terrific eyesight with “20-10”vision. These physical attributes, along with honing his skills against seasoned college players at the age of 15, turned him into arguably the best high school player in Ohio state history. His teams at Middletown High School combined for a 76-1 record, with the only loss coming to the undefeated Columbus North team in his senior year 63-62 in the 1958 playoffs.
Goldin Auctions is proud to present the Middletown High School jersey worn by Lucas during his junior and senior seasons of 1957 and 1958. Manufactured by MacGregor, this size 42 durene jersey is white with purple accents. Due to age, this now off-white jersey has Lucas’ number “13” sewn on in purple tackle twill, with two horizontal thin purple stripes above and below the number. The back of the jersey has the same number and striping pattern and the open arms and collar are outlined in purple piping. The navy blue MacGregor with white and red print tag and the white wash tag with blue print are sewn on the bottom front left tail. The jersey displays heavy use and is in good condition. There is fraying on the MacGregor tag, but it is still intact. There are small stains present and some loose threads on the sewn on numbers. This jersey comes with a full LOA from Mears, who have graded this historic jersey a perfect A-10 and a Letter of Provenance from Lucas' lifelong friend and high school classmate Don "Woodie" Withrow, who obtained this jersey following the 1958 season.