‘Embrace it’: Finally healthy, Lucas Dickau making name for himself as point guard, senior leader at Mt. Spokane

The name Dickau is synonymous with Spokane basketball.
Dan Dickau was a first-team All-American and West Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2002 at Gonzaga, enjoyed an eight-year professional career including stints with seven NBA teams. Since retirement, he’s been a respected college basketball analyst and youth coach in the area.
But there’s another Dickau making a name for himself on basketball courts across the Greater Spokane League. After two years of difficult and frustrating injuries, it is coming better late than never.
Lucas Dickau, who made varsity as a sophomore at Mt. Spokane before leg injuries robbed him of most of the next two seasons, is finally healthy and making an impact as the point guard for a Wildcats team looking to make a run in the district tournament and qualify for state for the sixth year in a row.
It’s been a long road back, with some successes and even more disappointment along the way.
“I’ve taken a lot of big steps this year,” Dickau said after practice on Wednesday at the school. “What I’m trying to do this year is bring the guys together in a good team environment. We’ve started the year pretty strong, but we really need to pick up the energy and focus.”
Dickau sustained a Grade 4 high-ankle sprain which made him miss a significant portion of his sophomore season. He worked hard to get back for his junior year – one final season with a large senior class that he had played with since grade school – only to sustain a compaction fracture and torn ligament in the same leg. He missed several months, but worked hard to get back for the team’s run at state.
“I missed those final two seasons with those guys,” Dickau said. “And it was rough to not have a great final season with them. But it’s kind of my team now. I get to be a leader and I’m excited to be back and compete.”
“It’s a real disappointment for any kid,” Mt. Spokane coach David Wagenblast said. “And then for it to happen again in his junior year, it’s really hard to overcome not only physically, but mentally, too. For him to stick with it and to trust all the work that he put in, in the offseason, I’m just so happy for him to finally have the chance to be with us as the leader and as a guy we can totally trust to be our point guard – and he’s having a great season because of it.”
“Last year he was really poised to help that team – he played well early in the season,” Dan Dickau said. “Then he has those couple of injuries. It’s something that happens in sports. But I was really proud of the way he worked so hard with his rehab just to get back and play at the state tournament last year.”
Dickau was finally cleared for contact at state, although he still hadn’t practiced with the team and wasn’t completely confident in his health. Wagenblast had to talk Dickau into dressing during the tournament, thinking it could be a big lift for the player and the team.
“We were like, ‘Just suit up, because it’s state. Just go out there, warm up,’ ” Wagenblast said.
Late in their 24-point quarterfinal win over Mountlake Terrace, Wagenblast put Dickau in. As fate would have it, less than 10 seconds later Dickau got the ball for an open corner 3-pointer – and he swished it. The entire bench erupted like the Wildcats had won the national championship.
“It was a big moment for me, for sure,” Dickau said. “It just showed the brotherhood we had last year. I spent almost all the season on the bench cheering for those guys, and it meant a lot to see them returning that energy to me. It made my season.”
“At the very end we had an opportunity to put him in the game,” Wagenblast said. “And he’s like, ‘No coach, don’t call a play for me to shoot it.’ But then the ball finds him. … For him to have that moment, our guys were so, so happy for him.”
“My wife and I in the stands, we didn’t know if he was going to play or not,” Dan Dickau said. “He did everything he could to get into a position where maybe he could play. Then he checks in and the most un-Lucas things happens – first thing he takes a shot. It was awesome.”
Carrying the last name of a famous father is something children have wrestled with for generations – especially if they pursue the same vocation. For the Dickau family, the journey has always been about Lucas – the second oldest of seven siblings – making his own path.
“Even growing up playing SYSA ball, I felt a lot of pressure because of the expectations,” Lucas said. “Everybody’s looking at you. There was some outside pressure. But now I feel like the pressure is from myself. Nobody’s pushing me more than me. Nothing outside really affects me.
“I don’t shy away from it. I know it’s there. I know what people think. But I don’t mind it – I embrace it.”
“I can’t imagine what that’s like,” Wagenblast said. “My dad didn’t play in the NBA. I can’t imagine the amount of things he’s had to go through with that. But his road has totally been his own. I’ve always appreciated that between him and his dad. … It’s so hard to play though any expectations. I can’t imagine being the kid where people go, ‘Oh, I loved your dad,’ in the first thing they say to you.”
Dan said there has been no family pressure on Lucas to play basketball.
“He’s progressed through, ‘Do I like it?’ to ‘Do I love it?’ to ‘I really want to work at it,’ ” Dan said. “No credit should be given to me. His time, dedication and effort has allowed him to play at a pretty high level now. As far as having any type of pressure, my wife and I just want him to go out there and play with passion, play with joy and compete.”
“We don’t play the same – I’m more of a defensive, gritty, get-the-job-done type of guy,” Lucas said. “I feel like I’ve made a name for myself on top of being known for being his kid.”
The Wildcats graduated nine letter winners from last year’s team that finished third at state. They have just three seniors on this year’s squad, with two junior transfers and the rest of the team made up from junior varsity last year. With five games left in the regular season, the Wildcats are 10-6 overall, 3-1 in the GSL.
“It’s a whole new environment for them,” Lucas Dickau said. “I’m doing my best to try to show them the way. How to treat every situation and how to get ready for each game.”
Dickau, a quiet, reserved kid by nature, has grown into a leader – in words and actions.
“I learned a lot on the bench while injured,” he said. “And I had a chance to grow my leadership skills supporting people and being there when they needed it. That was the best thing that came out of last year.”
Lucas didn’t play AAU following his junior season, focusing instead on health, strength and conditioning for his senior year.
“He’s really come a long way as a leader,” Wagenblast said. “We’ve been really blessed here to have point guards who have been great leaders. And he is now that for us. He understands when his teammates are struggling that he needs to make a play. He’s always found a way to do that for us this year. … He’s great at getting his teammates involved but realizes when we might be struggling to score and he steps up.”
“He’s always been about the team,” Dan Dickau said. “ ‘What does the team need me to do?’ He’s gradually gotten more aggressive looking for his shot. I try not to be an overbearing parent, but as a great passer and a great point guard, you’ve got to be able to mix in both your own scoring and your own shooting while continuously getting everyone else involved. I think he’s really done that over the past couple of weeks and he’s coming into his own.”
Dan coached Lucas as a youth and in AAU, but he won’t coach him from the stands as a high school player.
“I had a great high school coach,” he said. “And we understand the importance of the high school program and having a high school coach that you listen to and respect. That’s something my wife and I have let play its course.
“When (Lucas) says, ‘Hey dad, can we go shoot?’ I do absolutely everything I can to get us to the gym that night. But every player has their own course of their career and it’s been fun for me to watch him really improve lately because he’s finally been healthy.”