Lucas ready to end the process
With two visits down and two more to go, Jai Lucas is beginning to grow weary of the recruiting process. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound point guard from Bellaire High School in Houston, Texas, still plans to visit Maryland this weekend, but the Oklahoma visit the following week is up in the air.
"I'm wearing down," said Lucas, the No. 42 ranked prospect in the Rivals150. "I made the mistake of scheduling all my visits right in a row.
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"I'm still going to Maryland. I want to checkout the situation there, but I don't know about Oklahoma. I love Coach Capel, but I'm not sure if I'll make that trip."
A cancelled trip certainly would not bode well for Oklahoma, but Lucas would not tip his hand as to whom he might be favoring after having already visited Kentucky and most recently Oklahoma State.
"I'm really not favoring anyone right now, and I'm not just saying that," he said. "I'm waiting until my visits are over, and then I'll sort through things."
Lucas enjoyed his Oklahoma State visit, but he did take not of the thin Cowboys' roster.
"They need some extra pieces," he said. "They have around six players who can really play, but after that, there isn't much."
So what is more important for Lucas, playing with a loaded roster or having guaranteed playing time?
"Playing with good players is definitely important," he said. "You want to play with guys that give you a chance to compete for a national championship. But coaching style and style of play and how you'll fit in. You definitely don't want to get buried down at the end of the bench."
It has been well documented that Lucas has a strong relationship with Patrick Patterson and James Anderson. Anderson was with Lucas on the Oklahoma State visit, and Patterson visited Kentucky with Lucas.
Both Anderson and Patterson loved playing with a playmaker like Lucas, but Lucas balked at the theory that he was rounding up the fellows to go to school together.
"I have no idea where all of us are going to end up," he said. "We all text each other and keep tabs on what we are thinking. But no one is pushing anyone to go anywhere. The one thing I do know is that we are getting tired of the process and we're all going to sign early.
"James might visit Kentucky, but he doesn't know right now. A Kentucky visit is not a guarantee."