ASU Football: Chase Lucas returns for fifth season

It isn’t hard to see that Chase Lucas is a man molded by ambition.

Last March, Lucas said he viewed himself as the leader of Arizona State’s defense.

Later in the year, he expressed his goal to be a first-round pick in the NFL Draft. Then, he defended Jayden Daniels from the Kedon Slovis comparisons.

He worked to become more vocal on the field, punctuating his senior season with a 70-7 stomping of Arizona to keep the Territorial Cup in-house for the entirety of his career.

Lucas has accomplished an incredible amount over his time as a Sun Devil. He loves the program that trusted him with a lockdown role as a freshman. He is beloved by its fans and his hometown support in Chandler just minutes away from Sun Devil Stadium.

He wasn’t satisfied. Lucas announced on Twitter Sunday that he will return to ASU as a fifth-year starter.

Lucas finished 2020 with 15 tackles, five pass breakups, and a forced fumble over four games. A COVID-19 breakout on the team shortened ASU’s original seven-game, conference-only season. Lucas decided he still had business left unfinished.

Since 2017, Lucas has accumulated 189 tackles, 22 pass breakups, six interceptions, two sacks, and two forced fumbles.

Those numbers make him one of the Pac-12’s most seasoned defensive backs. Lucas has used that experience to mentor some of the younger players that arrived on campus this fall, such as Jordan Clark and T Lee.

However, that doesn’t mean Lucas will be the only veteran left in the secondary. Cornerback Jack Jones announced his decision to use his extra year of eligibility to repeat his senior season on Twitter in December.

Senior safety Evan Fields, who forced three fumbles and racked up 38 tackles as a defensive menace in the Tillman position, is also planning on staying.

The Sun Devil secondary will remain intact for 2021. The new year is already looking bright for ASU and its supporters.