Blue Wings Rising Q&A: Landen Lucas, Part 1
Landen Lucas patrolled the paint in Allen Fieldhouse for multiple KU Elite Eight teams, but he’s also a fascinating guy off the court—spending time in Japan as both a kid and adult, finding a second home at the poker table, and diving into podcasting.
For those that checked out the RCT Q&A over at Rock Chalk Talk, I wanted to bring this format over to Blue Wings Rising to get a closer look at some of the Kansas athletes that we have spent so much time cheering on from afar. And Landen was a great first guest for this latest installation.
We dove into what makes a great rebounder, playing overseas, Japanese food, playing poker, and his new KU podcast. This conversation has been broken into two parts. Be on the lookout for part two later in the week.
Editor’s note: The interview took place on Sunday, February 6, the day after Kansas’ win over Baylor. Some questions and responses were condensed for space.
Kyle Davis: Kansas will play again before this runs, so I don’t think we need to break the Baylor game down too much. But I’m curious, the fieldhouse in a game like that. I’m curious if you can remember a game like that, can you tell right away when you just have it and it's your day and it just clicks, kind of what it seemed like happened from the jump yesterday?
Landen Lucas: Yeah and especially in the fieldhouse because, and I've said this before, when you're in the fieldhouse, the team that you're playing almost feels different sometimes once that you know the energy of the fieldhouse comes in and everything. You know, it almost feels like a different opponent than you would play like on the road or at a neutral site, and you know I could tell they got that confidence.
And it was obviously night and day from the Kentucky game and they rolled with it and the defense was fantastic. They just continued to put the foot on the pedal and it was fun to watch.
KD: For sure. And I wanted to ask you about Ochai specifically. You played with a National Player of the Year in Frank Mason. I know they play different positions, they’re different players, but do you see any intangibles watching Ochai Agbaji that maybe reminds you of that Frank year?
LL: I would say, you know, the confidence that he gives off to the rest of the team. You can see that a lot of guys know they're going to battle with somebody who, he's usually going to show up for the team more times than not. And that was the same feeling that we have with Frank was, you know, we would go into different games and know that OK, Frank's gonna show up for this one. And I see a lot of the same stuff with that.
It seems like he's really good at leading by example with a lot of things in practices and stuff and that's all the stuff that's necessary from a leader of the team. Those small things in film and practice, on the road, on road trips Those are all important to stay focused, to make sure that the team is doing the right things, and I could see him being — from everything I've heard and from speaking to him —that type of guy that Frank was as well.
KD: Also on that 2016-17 team was freshman Mitch Lightfoot, who is obviously still there today. Are you ever jealous of Mitch’s six years on campus with the exemptions?
LL: I'm a little jealous. So, the thing that I’m most jealous about is the fact that he’s getting a piece of this NIL money. I wish that was around back when I was playing. But no, you know I enjoyed my time a lot and I wish I could have played there more but it was the perfect amount of time. And I think at some point, Mitch is going to be excited for a new chapter and stuff. Obviously he is going to miss, you know, KU and want to come back and see games and be a part of it in any way possible, but you know it is fun to take on new challenges and I'm sure he's probably ready for that at some point.
KD: Since you brought it up, I do want to ask you about NIL. If the NIL was around when you were playing, is there, like a restaurant or go-to place in Lawrence that you would want a partnership with?
LL: I don't know, I didn't really eat out a ton. Other than the few places that they had set for us to eat at. I got Chipotle a ton. I would probably try to get something with Chipotle down.
But yeah, I'm not sure. I think the coaches always tease me about—I have this Glue Guys podcast now—and I was, you know, at two-time all glue guy so doing something with a glue company would have been probably the ideal start for an NIL deal. But yeah, I'm not sure. I definitely would have wanted an opportunity to pick up and making a little bit of money because that's a good avenue and I'm happy that the players now are getting a chance to profit off of those things. Because it only makes sense, with how everything is run that you should have that opportunity if something comes along to make money off your name like.
KD: It’s a long time coming, for sure. I also want to ask you about David McCormack, because a few weeks ago I wrote about his offensive rebounding ability. And when I dove in, I found that he would be just the fourth KU player in the last 13 years at Kansas to average at least 2 offensive boards per game and at least a 15% OR rate. And you were one of those. Can you talk about the differences in approach in what makes a great offensive rebounder and how you have to approach the offensive glass differently?
LL: Yeah, I mean that's a good question. I love offensive rebounding. Defensive rebounding was fun too, but offensive rebounding was, you know, obviously, a whole nother level of fun. The key for me at least, and I can only speak for myself, was conditioning and trying to think a step ahead when the ball was about to go up.
For example, if we had a play that was being run for Devonte’ or Svi to come off the screen and shoot or something like that, I knew that that was probably going up. And if it was coming from one side of the hoop, it was probably going to bounce off the other side, so if he was shooting in the corner, I would position myself on the other side of the hoop and at least, my goal was to get 50-50 with my defender.
And I personally, toward the end of my career and my senior year, I started watching some NFL defensive ends’ moves because they were really good with like subtle hand movements and things to get into position. And I think I was watching a little bit of Aaron Donald and some other guys that came up just to try to use some things to at least get 50-50. And if that was the case, and I was 50-50 in the right position, you're going to have a good chance of getting the rebound. And then for me, if I couldn't grab it, I would try to tip it and either get it myself on the tip or tip it to a teammate.
But it's really just hunger. It's pride. You see David have that. You saw the kid from Kentucky (Oscar Tshiebwe), you know, he has that drive to go get those rebounds and it's a mixture of the want and will to go get them and then the understanding of just where the ball is coming off. I used to just sit there and watch, you know, which way the ball was going off in practice or something and get a feel for it, when I was younger and then it just became natural as I got older.
KD: I’d like to ask you about another area I think you can shed some light on for fans that maybe don’t understand. You played in Europe after college. I think a lot of fans have seen Jayhawks go over to Europe and have success and followed along but I don’t know if they really understand how different European and global basketball really is. Can you give a peek into that life? Is there a story you tell buddies about that time?
LL: I'm trying to think of a story. I mean you say it, not many people know about it. Even as a player I didn't know much about it. I mean, I had heard some, but like, you grow up, your mindset—if you're into basketball— is the NBA. And you think that it's the NBA and then there's some other ways you could make money.
But it's not until you get overseas where you realize there's some damn good players overseas. You know, it's really good and I've played against NBA players. Many of them I played, played with NBA teams in different situations. I know the level of competition, and it would shock you how many good players there are overseas.
So I would start with that. And then the second part, you know, that I learned real quick is that it's definitely a business. You know they don't play around over there. You go from—especially going from a school like Kansas, where we get treated very well, we get the top of the line everything. You get overseas and there's sometimes going to be situations where you may not have the top trainers or facilities or this or that, but you're expected to compete at a high level against some of the top teams in the world outside of the NBA.
So, it is tough and I don't think it's for everyone. I think that you have to really, really love the game of basketball in order to go over there and enjoy it. For me, it was more fun just being able to travel, make some money, and see some new places.
But you know, I was always disappointed that it wasn't the highest level of the NBA. But then, once you get over there, you realize that like there's some high-level players, high-level teams that are in Europe, and all around the world and that's something I wouldn't have ever guessed until I got over there and saw it.
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