Nutts enter final season in the coach-player role

Southeast Missouri State senior point guard Lucas Nutt admits it hasn't always been easy playing for his father.

And Dickey Nutt, Southeast's fifth-year men's basketball coach, acknowledges that he has no doubt been more difficult on his youngest son than what was probably fair.

But, as Lucas Nutt prepares to begin his fifth and final season playing for his dad -- one filled with high expectations as the Redhawks rank among the Ohio Valley Conference favorites -- he said he wouldn't have had it any other way.

His father feels the same way.

"It's definitely hard. It's not an easy thing," said a smiling Lucas Nutt. "I knew it would be [hard]. It's a lot of pressure. When things aren't going good, people wonder if you're playing because you're the coach's son.

Lucas Nutt drives against Jared White during a scrimmage by Southeast Missouri State Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012 at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

"But it's what I chose to do, and I'm really glad I did. It's been all positive."

Said Dickey Nutt: "I've been so proud of Lucas. The coach's son is an easy target when things aren't going well. It's not easy being a coach's son, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

"The thing I had to overcome, and my wife told me this, is 'Don't penalize him because he's your son.' I've paid attention to that. Sometimes I don't give him enough credit."

Lucas is the only Southeast player still competing for the Redhawks from when his father took over the floundering program five years ago.

"I've been here for a while," said Lucas, a 6-foot-1, 180-pounder.

Added his dad with a laugh: "He's the old man of the group."

Lucas said he considers himself fortunate to still have eligibility remaining, which wouldn't have been the case had he not suffered an injury during his freshman season in 2009-10.

What at the time seemed like a bad break for Lucas -- literally, as he broke his foot -- turned out to be what he calls a "blessing in disguise."

The injury occurred during practice after Lucas had played in nine games, just under the limit that would still allow him to receive a medical redshirt. So he retained his full four years of eligibility.

"It was a blessing. I tell myself all the time," Lucas said. "I lucked out. I get to play with a really talented team this year. I wouldn't have been able to without the foot injury."

Steady at the helm

Lucas said he doesn't believe he's had any "great years" for the Redhawks, but he has certainly been a steady floor general who has made his mark on the program's record book.

He is the only Southeast player to start all 33 games last season and he enters this year with a streak of 54 consecutive starts at the point.

"I think for the most part I've done well," he said. "I feel like I can facilitate an offense."

Lucas compiled 178 assists last year to rank second in the OVC and third on Southeast's single-season list. He committed just 71 turnovers to rank second in the OVC and 21st nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio.

That came after a sophomore season in 2011-12 that saw him lead the OVC in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Lucas, who also started most of the time as a redshirt freshman in 2010-11, has moved up to third on Southeast's career assists list with 419. He is well within range of the record 541 assists compiled by Dwayne Rutherford (1986-90).

In addition, Lucas is fifth in career free-throw shooting at Southeast (83.3 percent) and his 75 career starts are fifth all-time for the Redhawks, well within range of the record 101 starts by Derek Winans (2001-05).

"He's my heart and soul, my leader on this team," his father said. "I've really enjoyed watching him grow as a young man."

Dickey says his son has the respect of his teammates, which was evident by Lucas recently being voted a team captain along with junior forward Nino Johnson.

"It's a lot of pressure on him because he's the coach's son, but he definitely handles it well," Johnson said. "You barely see him sweat. He never has his head down. We kind of jump on his back. He finds us well [with passes], easily too."

Added two-time second-team all-OVC senior forward Tyler Stone, the league's preseason player of the year: "He's a solid point guard. He runs it [the offense] well. We're expecting big things from him."

Dickey said Lucas getting the nod as a captain from his peers made him especially proud.

"When your peers vote you as team captain, and it was unanimous, that tells you something about how he's handled himself," Dickey said. "A lot of times coach's kids are hated. ... That just tells you a little bit about what type of person Lucas is and what kind of teammate he is."

A family affair

While Lucas said he always wanted to play for his father, it almost didn't come about.

Lucas was a high school standout in Jonesboro, Ark., where Dickey was the basketball coach at Arkansas State.

But Dickey was let go by the university during Lucas' prep career, which might have put Lucas in a bind -- until Dickey was hired at Southeast in the spring during Lucas' senior year.

"I grew up always wanting to play for him, but my senior year I didn't know what I was going to do. He didn't have a job," Lucas said. "Then when my dad got the job [at Southeast], he kind of got me fired up to play for him."

Not only has Lucas played for his father his entire college basketball career, he also got to play with his older brother Logan for a season.

Logan, who stayed on at Southeast last year as a student assistant coach following his playing career, is now in his first season as an assistant at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo.

"It was a lot of fun," Lucas said about playing with Logan. "We're a real close family."

The third of Dickey and Cathy Nutt's children, daughter Lexis -- the youngest of the three siblings -- attends Southeast.

"We've been very lucky, Cathy and me. We've been blessed with three great children who all came through Southeast Missouri State. We've been very proud of that," Dickey said. "It's been good. We have a very, very close family. We're together every day. We're proud as parents that they'd rather hang around us than go somewhere else."

Future plans

Lucas, a general studies major scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2014, said he likely will continue the family tradition and become a coach. Dickey's three brothers also have been successful college coaches in various sports.

"I think I want do, but I don't know if I want to be a head coach. There's so much pressure. I've seen it firsthand," Lucas said with a laugh. "I'd like to be an assistant even though there's also a lot of pressure with that."

In the meantime, Lucas has his sights set on helping the 2013-14 Redhawks meet their high expectations, both from within the program and outside of it.

Toward that end he said he would like to become a better defensive player. His father and teammates believe he'll probably have to take on more of a shooting role this year after the three players who accounted for the bulk of last season's 3-pointers were seniors.

"I told him he's going to have to shoot more," Dickey said.

Lucas has proven to be a more than capable long-range shooter for the Redhawks.

He made a career-high 47 3-pointers while hitting at a 40.5-percent clip and averaging a career-high 10 points per game in 2010-11. Last year he shot 38.8 percent from beyond the arc, making 19 and averaging 5.6 points.

"We told Lucas we need him to shoot more this year," Stone said.

Lucas said he's fine with doing whatever it takes to help the Redhawks realize their potential, which he believes is vast.

The Redhawks have improved the program's record during each of Dickey's four seasons as coach. Last year they went 17-16 for their first winning mark since the 2004-05 team went 15-14.

Southeast recorded the program's most victories since the 2000-01 squad won 18 games and claimed a win in the OVC tournament for the third consecutive year -- a first for the program.

"We've got all the pieces. We just need to put it all together," said Lucas, who is proud that he has helped his dad revive a program that was in the dumps when he took over. "This is easily the most talented team I've been on here, easily the most athletic.

"If we could have some success, the kind of success we're looking for, it will be really fun."