The Jerry Lucas statue was unveiled on Friday outside the Schottenstein Center. During his time at Ohio State, Lucas was a member of the men’s basketball team that won the national championship in 1960.
Lucas was a three-time All-American and was named National Player of the Year in 1961 and 1962. After graduating from Ohio State, Lucas went on to play in the NBA for 12 seasons, earning All-Star honors seven times, as well as winning an NBA title with the New York Knicks in 1973. Following his statue being unveiled on Friday, Lucas dotted the i during Script Ohio at halftime of Sunday’s basketball game against Notre Dame.
Lucas is the second Buckeye great to be honored with a statue in as many years. Prior to the Ohio State football season opener in 2024, the Archie Griffin statue was unveiled at the Ohio Stadium Rotunda. Much like Lucas, Griffin is thought of as the greatest player to ever wear the scarlet and gray in his sport. The two have also made a tremendous impact on the school beyond the hardwood and football field. If there were ever two Buckeyes deserving to be immortalized with statues, it is Lucas and Griffin.
Today, we want to know which Ohio State athlete should be the next to be honored with a statue. With so many tremendous athletes who have competed in varsity sports for the Buckeyes, there is no shortage of options. Your answer doesn’t have to be limited to football or men’s basketball. Maybe you think there’s a wrestler who deserves recognition for an outstanding career, or a women’s hockey player who changed the trajectory of the program. While picking an athlete for this exercise is tough, choosing just one is even tougher.
Today’s question: Which Ohio State athlete deserves a statue next?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: James Laurinaitis
The current Ohio State linebackers coach has an impressive list of accolades from his playing time as a Buckeye. The Minnesota native made an immediate impact, playing in 12 games as a true freshman in 2005. After learning from A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter as a freshman, Laurinaitis was ready for a starring role at linebacker in 2006, winning the Nagurski Award as the best defensive player in the country after recording 115 tackles and five interceptions.
As a junior, Laurinaitis won the Butkus Award, as well as the first of his two Lambert Award honors. When his four-year career at Ohio State was all said and done, Laurinaitis recorded 364 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, and nine interceptions. Not only was Laurinaitis named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2007 and 2008, but he was also First Team All-Big Ten and an All-American for three straight seasons starting in 2006. The linebacker would go on to be selected in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams, where he would play for seven seasons.
Along with his accomplishments on the field, Laurinaitis is a guy who loves central Ohio and Ohio State. It would have been easy for him to either stay in St. Louis or head back to Minnesota when his NFL playing career was over. Instead, Laurinaitis and his family came back to Columbus, where he worked in media with 97.1 The Fan and the Big Ten Network before beginning his coaching career.
Even though Laurinaitis will tell you he still has a lot to learn when it comes to coaching, it’s not crazy to think he could be the head coach of the Buckeyes someday. Laurinaitis is killing it as the linebackers coach, so the next logical step in his coaching career is a move to defensive coordinator. Maybe we see a situation like we have on offense, where former Buckeye Brian Hartline is now the offensive coordinator. The emotions would be incredible if Laurinaitis had his statue unveiled before his first game as Buckeye head coach!
Matt’s answer: Katie Smith
Like Laurinaitis, Katie Smith went from being one of the greats in Ohio State history to an incredible career in the pros before coming back to coaching. However, unlike the linebacker, Smith spent years coaching at the highest level of women’s basketball before finding her way back to Columbus.
During her Buckeye playing career, Smith was a three-time All-American, the Big Ten Player of the Year, and took OSU to the national championship game in 1993. When her collegiate career was up, she had broken the Big Ten basketball scoring record for either men or women and was the Big Ten’s all-time women’s scorer. Her jersey was retired by the Buckeyes just five years after her graduation, when she became the first member of the women’s basketball program to be inducted into the OSU Athletics Hall of Fame.
However, that is not the hall she has been inducted into. She is a member of both the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Basketball Hall of Fame, having won two WNBA titles and two ABL titles during her professional playing career. She won the 2001 WNBA scoring title, the 2008 WNBA Finals MVP, was a seven-time WNBA All-Star, and a two-time All-WNBA selection.
But, again, that’s not all. Smith won Olympic gold medals in 2000, 2004, and 2008, as well as world championships in 1998 and 2002. In 2008, she was named the USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year.
When she retired from the WNBA in 2013, 17 years after graduating from Ohio State, she transitioned pretty quickly into coaching, joining the staff of the New York Liberty. After four years as an assistant, she became the franchise’s head coach for two years in 2018, and eventually served five years as the associate head coach for the Minnesota Lynx, winning the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup in 2024.
However, Smith is now back in Columbus for the second season, playing a key role on Kevin McGuff’s staff, and would be a logical choice to take over if/when he leaves. If the criteria for a statue on campus are elite excellence in your sport, then Smith is a no-brainer. If it is a continued commitment to giving back to the university, then Smith is a no-brainer. If it is providing an example for what an Ohio State student-athlete should be, then Smith is a no-brainer. In addition to her on-court accolades, she graduated with a degree in zoology and was a four-time OSU Scholar Athlete, three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, and the recipient of a distinguished NCAA postgraduate scholarship.
Katie Smith is what every Ohio State athlete should aspire to be, so let’s get her in some bronze at some point.
