John Lucas Named Denver Nuggets Assistant Coach
6/21/1999 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
September 22, 1998
DENVER - Former University of Maryland All-America point guard John Lucas was named an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets. Lucas joins the staff of newly hired head coach Mike D'Antoni who was named the Nuggets head coach by team general manager Dan Issel.
Lucas is the former head coach of the Philadelphia 76sers and San Antonio Spurs. Lucas led the Spurs to the NBA playoffs during both the 1993 and 1994 seasons. In 1993, the Spurs advanced to the Western Conference semifinals. In 1994 the Spurs finished the season with a 55-27 record and qualified for the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Lucas was a two-time All-America and three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection. He is the only Maryland player to earn first-team All-ACC honors three times during his career. Lucas is the school's No. 3 all-time scorer with 2,015 points.
Maryland was very highly ranked during his career. The Terps finished ranked No. 8 (1973), No. 4 (1974), and No. 5 (1975) in the final Associated Press polls while Lucas was playing the point guard position in College Park. He was also a collegiate star in tennis and was a two-time ACC singles and doubles champion.
Lucas was the No. 1 overall selection in the 1976 NBA College draft by the Houston Rockets. He played 14 seasons in the NBA with the Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Washington Bullets, San Antonio Spurs, Milwaukee Bucks and Seattle Supersonics.
