In 2017, Sasha Velour stood on stage alongside fellow queen Peppermint and was crowned the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9. Draped in an intricate white gothic horror gown, Velour declared, “Let’s change shit up. Let’s get inspired by all this beauty, all this beauty, and change the motherfucking world.” Nearly 10 years later, RuPaul aficionado and Division I NCAA volleyball player Jordan Lucas is changing shit up.

Calling in from Orlando, Florida, Lucas is a night away from competing in the USA Volleyball Adult Open National Championship with Haus of Lei. He’s eager and bright-eyed, charismatic and gracious. It’s fair to say that the last month has been a whirlwind for Lucas. Between graduating and earning his degree in Psychology, finishing off a powerful season as CSUN’s outside hitter, and buzzing from his overnight social media stardom, Lucas has kept himself quite busy.

Whether you’re a volleyball fan or an avid TikTok user, you’ve probably seen Lucas in one of his more viral videos—slow-motion, scoring one of his six kills against the University of Hawai’i as Destiny’s Child’s “Lose My Breath” rings in the background. Although it’s evident in the adeptness of Lucas’s plays, his claim to fame is attributed to the way he celebrates. Argentine professional footballer Lionel Messi celebrates his wins by pointing both index fingers to the sky in tribute to his late grandmother. New York Giants wide receiver Homer Jones pioneered the “touchdown spike,” a celebratory move used by most players today. When Jordan Lucas scores, the court transforms into a runway, as he whips his hair, death drops to the floor, blows a kiss to the crowd, and cheekily points his finger at the opposing team. 

Born into an athletic bloodline, sports were almost mandatory in Lucas’s family. His older brother, Jarod, played college basketball for the Nevada Wolf Pack and Oregon State Beavers, while his father played for the University of Hawai’i. Lucas shares, “My brother was a very prominent basketball figure within Southern California. He was very dominant… I think that’s what they envisioned for me.” 

Familial pressures can develop unhealthy relationships between young athletes and their sport, and Lucas was no exception after quitting basketball in 8th grade. “Sports are supposed to bring you enjoyment,” he continues, “I wasn’t really finding fulfillment from it.” That is, until volleyball.

His beginning is a quintessential teen movie, having been discovered by the volleyball coach at Los Altos High School while hitting a ball around the gym his freshman year. Whether this moment was kismet remains inconsequential. Lucas’s athletic trajectory was forever changed. During the early years of his career, Lucas led Upland High School to a CIF state championship in 2022 and was later named the Inland Empire Varsity Boys Volleyball Player of the Year. These triumphs led him to Grand Canyon University, where he claimed the NCAA Elite 90 award for maintaining the apex of competition with the highest academic standard. 

From the outsider’s perspective, it appears that Lucas has always been dedicated to the sport. In reality, the journey has been a lot more trepidatious. 

“Am I sure I want to do this? Lucas recalls, remembering the difficulties he had with returning to the sport after a break. “I wanna experience life. I hadn’t experienced life!” 

The story goes: after six impactful years, Lucas decides to step down from volleyball. This, of course, is short-lived. Lucas receives a call just two weeks later from the Philippine National Team. After two and a half months of training with the Senior Men’s National Team, he spends the next several months traveling, coaching volleyball, and enjoying his youth. Lucas admits, “It was really fun, just getting to experience life without volleyball.” Soon after, he’s recruited to Cal State Northridge for his junior year. In our dialogue, the importance of work-life balance is understood, and it is recognized that sometimes, re-igniting a spark demands a step back. 

Fast forward to today. Jordan Lucas’ intoxicating style goes viral a month before his collegiate senior season ends, but what’s refreshing about his content is the sincerity in his wild and flamboyant celebrations. In a profit-oriented, virtual world obsessed with overconsuming artificial and nonsensical media, Lucas is actually doing something real. His “what, like it’s hard?” disposition while brushing the imaginary wig out of his face is of his own accord, regardless of validation. He’s a performer without being performative. 

He explains, “I was just playing volleyball…I was just doing what I’ve been doing. And now people are really seeing it.” His remarks are a testament to the honesty of how he lives life, and in turn, his example for others. I ask how he’s enjoying himself in the digital sector. He smiles and shares, “It’s really cool to see, not just the volleyball community but other aspects of different kinds of entities, [to] show and see their support.” As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, Lucas has emerged as a prominent figure for queer athletes, and as he notes, “athletes who aren’t in tune with who they are.” In sports, many gay athletes feel the pressure to conform to masculine social standards as a means to assimilate and, therefore, feel compelled to suppress their sexuality. Lucas defies this standard, accentuating that “you can be queer and dominant in athletics.” 

But what does authenticity look like through Lucas’s eyes?

With careful thought, he shares, “Authenticity to me is perseverance through the hate, the love, everything that the world kind of throws at you, and [you’re] still yourself.” He pauses for a moment and adds, “You understand fully who you are.” Jordan Lucas is self-assured without question, unafraid to bring his magnetic nature and exuberant energy on and off the court. He divulges his grad school pursuits of becoming a teacher and the trip to Japan he’s planned with a friend. Lucas shares the honor he feels in becoming an advocate for the LGBTQ+ and volleyball community, remaining a driving factor in accepting his final year of eligibility, although “where” is yet to be decided. This balance and introspection takes time, and with Lucas’s utmost valuable piece of advice, he stresses the importance of having patience in self-discovery: “Allow yourself time to figure out who you are because at one point in life, you’ll come to terms with it, and once you come to terms with it, just lean into it as much as you can, and then, the world is yours.”

Photographed by Jonathan Hedrick

Styled by Marisa Ellison at Opus Beauty

Written by Eliot Correll

Groomer: Mr. Sarah at Forward Artists

Flaunt Film: Oren Buchler

Production Assistant: Ameen Kher

Location: AKA West Hollywood