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 ...
in
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
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 ...
.
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