City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Lucas Orchard knew his plan for 2024 a few weeks ago.

Holding up his announcement was deciding where he would play hoops next season.

The next steps in Orchard’s basketball career finally came into focus last week and the Devon Prep senior guard revealed them a few days later to CoBL at the Donofrio Classic.

Orchard will take a post-grad year at the Perkiomen School in 2023-24 before playing Division I hoops at Monmouth beginning in 2024-25.

“I’ve been working hard trying to play Division I, and now that it’s possible, me and my family are hype about it,” Orchard said.

Orchard, a 6-foot-4 guard, was a varsity player all four years for the Tide under coach Jason Fisher. He was the sixth or seventh man in the rotation as a freshman, started as a sophomore and saw his role elevated as a junior in 2021-22, when he was a second team All-Philadelphia Catholic League selection and helped Devon to a Class 3A state championship.

The Tide and Orchard couldn’t quite match that success this season as they finished 11th in the Catholic league and ended their season in the PIAA quarters, but he put together a strong senior campaign, averaging 13.0 ppg, 3.3 apg, 5.3 rpg and 1.8 spg.

Orchard said Monmouth has recruited him since his junior year, when the Hawks’ coaches attended Devon Prep’s game against Father Judge. He took multiple visits over the summer and received an offer from head coach King Rice early last August with the caveat that they wanted him a 2024 player. Orchard attended a practice before the team’s opener last fall.

Monmouth assistant Rick Callahan was a familiar face in the stands at Devon Prep games throughout the season and Rice and other members of his staff checked in as well.

Orchard said his decision came down to Monmouth, D-II Seton Hill and D-III Randolph-Macon, where AAU teammate Charlie Thornton recently committed. Devon Prep teammate Jacen Holloway is taking a similar path as Orchard, committing to play at Army after a postgrad year at the U.S. Army Prep School.

“Ultimately, it’s always been my dream to play Division I and I’m just trying to do whatever it takes to get that done,” Orchard said. “Monmouth’s been following me for a long time, they’ve been with me through the ups and downs so I’m just trying to let them know that I’m happy they believe in me.”

Perkiomen School won its first Pennsylvania Independent Schools state championship this winter and Orchard and his father were in attendance for the title game at Hagan Arena. Orchard hopes to bulk up and improve his game next winter to prepare for Monmouth, while also helping coach Tom Baudinet and the Panthers continue to win.

“Perkiomen School, obviously they won the state independent title and talking to the coaches there, I like them a lot,” Orchard said. “I heard he’s a very good coach. He gets players ready for college, and that’s ultimately the goal is to be as ready as possible for when I’m at Monmouth.  That extra year couldn’t hurt.”

Orchard’s game is tough to describe. At 6-4 he has good size at the guard spot and has produced in one of the country’s top high school basketball leagues.

He’s got a funky looking jumper that he converts at a decent clip, shooting close to 37 percent from deep as a junior and making 31 percent of his threes as a senior. He lacks some of the elite athleticism possessed by many D-I guards but figures out a way to leave his impact on games in a multitude of ways.

“It’s a little unorthodox, that’s what they say,” said Orchard while describing his game. “But they have a good history with people like me. They have them do postgrads the extra year to get them stronger and like guys who are ultimately doing what it takes to win. Diving on the floor, boxing out, getting rebounds, making the right passes, drive and kick, not always looking to score the ball and that’s what I’m willing to do to get the job done.”

Orchard’s mother, Bridget, is the head softball coach at Villanova, where she was a standout player. The family moved from New York to the Conestoga area after she left Fordham and took over at her alma mater when Lucas was in middle school.

Fisher coached Orchard and travel ball before high school and heard doubts about his ability to play in the Catholic League prior to his arrival at Devon Prep, which Orchard disproved over the last four years.

After a postgrad year at Perk, he’s ready to do the same thing at the Division I level.