Mel Lucas: The First Link between Troy and South
This Saturday was supposed to be the fifth “Battle for the Belt” so here at The Trojan Wall we’re doing Five Stories in Five Days. Our third installment looks at the man who left Troy… to build South Alabama.
Vince Dooley. Pat Dye. Rick Pitino. Leo Durocher. Over the years, there have been many examples of coaches with ties to rival organizations, and the same holds true for the Battle for the Belt.
Steve Campbell is the most obvious example, but he follows in the footsteps of someone with much more sway over the South Alabama program.
Melvin Lucas, also known as “Mel,” is the father of South Alabama Athletics. The road that led him to Mobile began in Troy.
Lucas went to Troy State College in the early 1950s. He was part of the football team, playing for Jim Grantham and never winning more than four games in a single season.
Lucas left Troy State and headed up to Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University) to get a doctorate. The year after that he left he came right back to Troy—to be the Red Wave’s baseball coach.
Lucas led Troy State to a 17-7 record in his first year, 1961, as well as the first of three conference titles. The records before 1970 are shaky, but the 2007 Troy baseball media guide says the Red Wave went 15-5 in 1964, winning the title again in 1963 and 1964.
Overall, the Red Wave went 62-30 in his four years, which specifically ended after the 1964 season. That’s when Dr. Frederick Whiddon offered him the chance to be a pioneer.
Lucas jumped at the chance, moving to Mobile at most three months later and becoming the first Athletic Director at the brand-new University of South Alabama. He’d also be the first baseball coach, taking a year to recruit.
South Alabama’s 50th anniversary book recalls a moment when Lucas and Whiddon were in Montgomery meeting with state legislators. Someone walked up with Auburn and Alabama tickets, and the legislators turned away. The recruiting year evaporated.
Lucas didn’t waste time. In two years, the Jaguars went from three wins to 13. Lucas’s record is 50-44, with an 18-9 mark in his last season as the Jags’ manager.
The athletic department grew, adding other sports, so Lucas needed someone to take over on the diamond. Given the Montgomery interaction, Whiddon basically gave him a blank check.
That’s when he snatched up the Brat.
Lucas lured Major League player-manager Eddie Stanky to the college. Stanky had been living in Mobile, but he had also been entertaining another offer from Florida State just days before.
Stanky passed on the Seminoles, presumably because of the commute.
Both the 50th anniversary book and a contemporary Sports Illustrated article corroborate Lucas’ extremely quotable words to Whiddon when Stanky signed with the Jags.
The postwar All-Star would take the Jags to six NCAA Regionals in 14 years. Lucas and the Jags became a charter member of the Sun Belt in 1978, and Lucas retired two years later.
Lucas was one of the first people enshrined in South Alabama’s Hall of Fame in 1989, 25 years after he left Troy State to build South.
Be sure to check out our other #SouthHateWeek stories!
Before the Belt: the Rivalry Across the Years
Battle for the Belt 101
The Battle for the Belt Uniform History
Troy Football in Mobile
Reuniting Champions