John Lucas has made a career of being a basketball tutor at the high school, college and pro levels.

He has also become a key player in helping college coaches find talented high school players in the Houston area and in the southwest part of the United States.

So it’s no surprise that Lucas is hosting the Summer Invitational Camp this weekend at the University of Houston, where over 60 high school players from Texas and across the country came to get noticed by college coaches. He’s trying to help players that weren’t selected to participate in the elite camps hosted by shoe companies Nike, Adidas and Reebok.

“This camp is for those that didn’t make the big shoe camps,” Lucas said. “We have junior college coaches come in and try to get their skill levels up, then the college coaches come (Sunday) to look at them.”

Not just college coaches are here. Former Rockets head coach and current Chicago Bulls assistant coach Del Harris was the guest speaker for the campers.

Some of the Houston area talent that was there included Westbury Christian forward Kevin Perry, Dulles guard Dre Harrison, Hightower forward Garlon Green and Cypress Springs forward Erik Williams, who has already verbally committed to play at Marquette.

Last year's event consisted of 60 campers, including 29 seniors (22 of those have inked Division I scholarships), was attended by 43 college coaches including Florida's Billy Donovan.

“Out of the 60 that came last year, 36 of them were able to get a college scholarship,” Lucas said. “I’m not saying the camp itself did that, but a part of that was helping them get exposure.”

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