Cliff Tucker (January 12, 1989 – May 28, 2018) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He competed with

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

at the collegiate level. He was killed in a traffic accident on May 28, 2018.

High school career

Tucker attended

Chapin High School Chapin High School is a public high school in Chapin, South Carolina. Nearly 1,400 students attend Chapin High School, as of the 2017–2018 school year. Chapin High School is one of four high schools in Lexington & Richland County School ...

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

and starred on the basketball court and football field. He averaged 21.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game as a senior and received 939 yards and had 19 touchdown catches in football. Tucker received interest from his hometown school UTEP, Texas, Oregon, Maryland and Washington State. The star player would eventually sign and attend

. He was an All-City MVP in 2007 and was a two-time All-Region and All-State selection.

College career

When Tucker was recruited to Maryland he was told he could play both basketball and football. He played four seasons for the Terrapins from 2007 to 2011 and participated in 131 games. As a junior, he hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to defeat

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

in overtime, shooting from over 25 feet on a pass from Eric Hayes. The shot came after star player

Greivis Vásquez Greivis Josué Vásquez Rodríguez (born January 16, 1987) is a former Venezuelan professional basketball player, who spent six seasons in the NBA. He is currently a coach, most recently working as the associate head coach for the Erie BayHawks ...

hit a three-pointer that was waved off when a referee heard a coach call a timeout. Thanks to the victory, the Terrapins remained in contention for the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

title, which they shared with

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

. As a junior, he averaged 5.7 points per game off the bench and helped Maryland to its second straight NCAA Tournament berth. Tucker averaged 9.6 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a senior in 2010–2011. Tucker joined the Maryland football team for spring practice in 2011. He transferred to

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

, where he joined the football team for a season.

Professional career

After his college career, Tucker joined the

Springfield Armor Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queensl ...

of the NBA D-League in 2012 and averaged 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 13 contests. Tucker played overseas basketball for several years and split time in Hungary, Germany and the Dominican Republic in 2015. He competed for

Nürnberg Falcons BC Nürnberg Falcons BC, formerly called Nürnberger BC (abbreviated as NBC) is a basketball club based in Nuremberg, Germany. The team currently in the ProA, the German professional second division. In 2010–11 the team promoted from the ProB to t ...

of the German ProA and played 14 games averaging 5.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. He also played in Venezuela and Columbia. In the 2016–17 season, Tucker played 32 games for Lobos UAD Mazatlán of the Mexican CIBACOPA and averaged 20.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. In his final professional season in 2017–18, he averaged 2.3 points per game on the Argentinian club

Asociación Deportiva Atenas Asociación Deportiva Atenas, known simply as Atenas or Atenas de Córdoba, is a sports club based in Córdoba, Argentina. It was founded in 1938, and is mostly known for its achievements in basketball. The club is the winningest team of Argentin ...

and appeared in four games.

Death

On May 28, 2018, while travelling from San Antonio to El Paso, Tucker was killed in a car accident on

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

about three miles west of

Balmorhea, Texas Balmorhea ( ) is a city in Reeves County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 479 in the U.S. Census of 2010. History Balmorhea was platted in 1906. Its founders were Ernest D. Balcom, H. R. Morrow, and John and Joe Rhea; the town's n ...

. The tread on the right rear tire of the Ford Transit van he was riding in separated, which caused the vehicle to lose control and roll. Tucker was not wearing a seat belt and was one of three passengers killed immediately. The weather conditions were clear and the road was dry. Only the driver, Joseph Kennerly III, and another passenger, Marcus R. Lovelace, were wearing seatbelts. His wife, Genesis Soto, and daughter, Andrea Soto, were also injured. "Cliff was a great teammate willing to do whatever it took to make us champions," said former Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams.

References

External links

RealGM profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Cliff 1989 births 2018 deaths 21st-century African-American sportspeople American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Colombia American expatriate basketball people in the Dominican Republic American expatriate basketball people in Germany American expatriate basketball people in Hungary American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Atenas basketball players Basketball players from El Paso, Texas Huracanes de Tampico players Maryland Terrapins men's basketball players Shooting guards Soproni KC players Springfield Armor players UTEP Miners football players Venados de Mazatlán (basketball) players Road incident deaths in Texas Indios de San Francisco de Macorís players