Jerry Ray Lucas was a basketball player from the 1950s to the 1970s, and is now a memory education expert. In 1996, the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in National Basketball Association history. He was named to Sports Illustrated's five-man College All-Century Team in 1999.

Lucas was born in Middletown, Ohio, a community of 50,000+ halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati which in the 1940s and 1950s boasted one of the most respected high school basketball programs in the United States. Lucas was already a playground legend by age 15, as he was already at almost his full-grown height of 6 ft 9 in . He had developed shooting accuracy as far out as 25 feet, and had trained his leaping ability and timing to become an amazing rebounder. Lucas was gifted with great hands, which he could use to dazzle onlookers with an array of magic card tricks, as well as with 20-10 eyesight.