June 22, 2004
Texas A&M Head Football Coach Dennis Franchione announced the signing of Jay Lucas, a 6-0, 225-pound running back from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Lucas will count toward the 2004 signing class.
"Jay is an outstanding athlete whose progress we tracked over a long period of time," Coach Fran said. "He's a strong kid, a power runner. We feel fortunate that a late signing like this, which is unusual for a player of his caliber, worked out well for both parties."
Lucas played at Redemptorist High School in Baton Rouge where he played for several state championship teams. As a junior, Lucas carried 34 times for 257 yards and four touchdowns in the Class 3A state championship to finish off a perfect 15-0 record for the 2002 squad. The 34 carries and 257 yards were state records in the championship game and he earned MVP honors. As basketball season rolled around, Lucas was a key player for the state championship basketball team. He was named the Male Athlete of the Year by the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate.
Redemptorist moved up to Class 4A for the 2003-04 school year and the football team went 14-1 and won the state championship in the New Orleans Superdome. Lucas ran for 207 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns in the state title game and repeated as the MVP of the state championship game.
"Jay played three years for me on the varsity and he is a tremendous athlete, but more importantly he is a good kid with high character," Redemptorist Head Football Coach Sid Edwards said. "We're very proud and excited for Jay and I know he will do well at Texas A&M. A lot of credit goes to Coach (Lee) Fobbs for being such a good person and being professional in recruiting Jay."
Lucas finished his career with 4,666 yards rushing, nine yards short of the school record. He scored 59 touchdowns and was named the top offensive back in the state of Louisiana by the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
His junior season, Lucas ran for 1,982 yards and scored 30 rushing touchdowns. In five playoff games, he ran for 1,022 yards for an average of 204.4 per playoff game.
As a senior, Lucas tallied 1,651 yards and 24 touchdowns.
According to Coach Edwards, he was recruited by Texas, Florida, Nebraska, Florida State, Mississippi State, Southern and LSU.