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2008- Ocotber 30th- Greg Tucker |
By: Senior Writer Dave Spahn
October 30th, 2008
 If there is one thing in the world that Greg Tucker regrets, it is his lack of effort in the classroom at Whitney Young. Greg never thought that a basketball player could really mess up his grades to the point that he wouldn't see the floor, feeling almost “invincible”. As long as he performed well on the court, Greg had always been satisfied. Once report cards rolled around freshmen year and sophomore year, he finally realized what had occurred. Since his grades were so poor he knew he needed a fresh start, so he transferred to Lincoln Park to “start over." Not only is he improving academically, but as demonstrated by his strong play in the Full Package Exposure League brought to you by Illinoishsbasketball.com, his game is also improving leaps and bounds.
Although Greg misses Whitney Young a lot, he is comfortable at Lincoln Park. “Whitney Young will always be my home, but I like Lincoln Park a lot as for as how the basketball program is run,” stated Greg. “It reminds me of Whitney Young, how there is a lot of focus on things outside of basketball that help us become better people. I learned my lesson with grades; that won’t happen here. I am dedicated to my grades because I want to be eligible at all times.”
 Greg ran with an NLP team this past AAU season that consisted of other stars such as Illinois bound Brandon Paul, Ohio State commit Lenzelle Smith, Markus Yarborough, Frank Griffin, and Fairfield Commit Colin Nickerson. They competed in some of the best tournaments across the country including the Kingwood Classic (Texas), King James (Ohio), and the Hoosier Shootout (Indiana). His season was short lived, though, and departed from NLP before the season finished.
“I felt that I could do more on the court than on the bench,” Greg declared. “It just wasn’t the right fit for me; I wanted a team where I could play for most of the game, and NLP didn’t offer that to me since I played up with the 17U team. I liked the guys on my team, but it just wasn’t a good situation for me.”
Greg has not been one to dwell on rankings or recruiting. While I was covering the Pangos All-Midwest Camp on October 18-19, Greg’s brother, Shermar Tucker competed in the league as an 8th grader playing, and starring I might add, with all freshmen and sophomores. Greg came to watch his brother, and being a good friend of mine, I talked with Greg for most of the camp. I informed Greg that Evan Daniels from Scout.com was in attendance. I was walking with Greg en route to introduce him to Evan when Greg bluntly stated “What is Scout.com?” In shock, I almost fell on the ground laughing. As funny as it seemed, Greg stood there in complete seriousness. It then dawned on me that Greg doesn’t worry about what the “experts” say, he just goes out and competes day in and day out. Colleges such as Illinois State, Northern Iowa, Iowa State, and Murray State all love his competitive nature, and therefore have shown heavy interest.
“I haven’t received any offers yet, but lots of schools are showing interest,” explained Greg. “Thanks to Ken Carwell, USC is coming to my school to check me out. I hope to get a few offers either during the season or during AAU season.”
Greg does not expect anything to come easy at Lincoln Park. Learning a new offense, finding chemistry with the players, adapting to a new environment, and accepting new coaching styles is never an easy task, but Greg is up for the challenge. Lincoln Park features a few other top players such as seniors Courtney Bell and Corey Proctor, juniors Mike Gabriel, Aric Dickerson and Demarko Nash, and sophomore Rashad Wahab.
“We have all of the great components for a great season,” said Greg. “People will be pleasantly surprised when they see this year’s team. Coach Livatino expects excellence, and that is what we are going to give him. His coaching style always keeps you on your toes, and that’s what I like about him.”
Keep checking in with Illinoishsbasketball.com for the breaking news on Greg Tucker and his transition to Lincoln Park…
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