‘It’s about legacy’: Like Ashton Jeanty, this Boise State athlete puts career over money

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — After sitting on the bench as a freshman for the entire year, it would have been easy for Chris Lockett to move on to greener pastures.

After all, he was the 2023 Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year and rated a four-star prospect by ESPN. He had offers from Kansas and Ohio State, among others, but opted to sign with Boise State in November 2022.

While redshirting, he was stuck watching from the bench as Boise State crashed out of the NCAA Tournament at the first hurdle for the third year in a row, this time in a 60-53 loss to Colorado in the First Four.

“I wish I were out there with Max (Rice) and O’Mar (Stanley) and them last year because we would’ve got it done,” Lockett told reporters. “We would have had an NCAA tourney win, I believe in my heart.”

Boise State redshirt freshman guard Chris Lockett had a team and career-high 16 points against San Diego State on Saturday afternoon. Camryn Edens Boise State Athletics With four years of eligibility remaining and zero college appearances under his belt, the sharks started circling the redshirt freshman guard.

Lockett admitted that sitting out the entire year was “very hard,” and other schools were whispering in his ear about the transfer portal and leaving Boise State.

Of course, monetary incentives through Name, Image and Likeness benefits were also on the table. But that’s not what interested Lockett.

“It’s not about the money for me, it’s about legacy,” Lockett said. “If you care about money, it can lead you to the wrong things, and I just try to not get caught up in that.”

It was a mindset and message similar to the football team’s Ashton Jeanty, although there were large differences. The junior running back, who just finished his season as the Heisman Trophy runner-up, had top-10 programs wagging big-money NIL deals under his nose ahead of his junior year.

He instead decided to stay at Boise State and went on to guide the Broncos to their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance.

“Money is great, money is cool. But a legacy, an impact, that lasts forever,” Jeanty told former Boise State football head coach Chris Petersen in a Fox Sports interview in October.

Lockett wasn’t a hot commodity like Jeanty, but he did have suitors. Now, his decision to stick around is starting to come to fruition.

The Broncos have started the season 12-4 overall and 4-1 in Mountain West play after Tuesday night’s 81-59 victory over UNLV, but Boise State head coach Leon Rice is still trying to find his right lineups.

Lockett has been the beneficiary of Rice’s tweaks. A slow start to the season saw him average fewer than 9 minutes and 1.6 points per game through eight contests, but he’s averaged 21.3 minutes and six points per game since.

On Saturday afternoon, he scored a team- and career-high 16 points in Boise State’s 76-68 loss to San Diego State. The minutes weren’t coming for Lockett early in the season because Rice said he wanted to see more defending and rebounding.

So Lockett went to work — he said he sees himself as a gap defender, able to make plays on the perimeter with his long arms and big hands. He’s also improved his rebounding, including a career-high seven in a 67-58 win over Wyoming on New Year’s Eve.

“When you have a kid like that, that will do whatever it takes … that’s why he’s going to continue to grow,” Rice said. “We’re just going to keep giving him ways to grow. And where he is now, he’ll look back someday and be embarrassed by where he is now compared to what he’s going to be. And I don’t mean that in a negative way, but that’s how we all should be.”

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