Alando Tucker

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alando Forest Tucker (born February 11, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, taken with the 29th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. Tucker played four seasons at The University of Wisconsin-Madison and wore the number 42. Primarily a small forward, he is listed at 6-6, 205 lbs.

[edit] High school career

Alando attended Lockport Township High School in Lockport, Illinois.

Tucker averaged 21.6 points and seven rebounds per game as a junior. He was one of only two juniors to be named to the Herald News AA all-area team.

As a senior he earned all-state honors averaging 22.2 points while hauling in 7.7 rebounds and dishing 5.7 assists per game. Alando scored 35 points against Joliet, the number one ranked team in the state.

After seeing drugs and gang violence throughout his childhood, Alando and his older brother Antonio made a pact to stay clean. They pledged to stay drug, tobacco, and alcohol free and stay away from tattoos. To this day (2007), neither brother has tasted a drop of alcohol and no needle, with drugs or ink, has come close to their skin.

[edit] Collegiate career

Tucker started off his college basketball career in 2002-03 starting 27 of 32 games as a freshman. He averaged 12.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

In 2003-'04, Tucker played in just four games because of a right foot injury. He applied for and received a medical redshirt after the season.

During the 2004-05 season, Tucker started 30 out of 31 games. He led the Badgers in scoring with 15.2 points. He also averaged 6.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

The 2005-06 season saw Tucker average 19.0 points to go along with 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

At the end of the 2006-07 regular season, Tucker was averaging 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists.

On February 10, 2007, Tucker reached the 2,000 point mark in his collegiate career in a game against Iowa. He was the second Wisconsin Badger to ever accomplish this. The first was Michael Finley. Tucker is also only the 24th Big Ten athlete to accomplish the feat.

On March 10, 2007, Tucker broke the all-time Wisconsin scoring record (2,147 points) previously held by Michael Finley.

Tucker also broke Michael Finley's vertical jump record at UW.

His collegiate career ended on March 18, 2007, when the Badgers lost to the UNLV Runnin' Rebels 74-68 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Tucker finished with 17 points on 4-11 shooting from the field and 8-13 from the line. He also had seven rebounds.

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in a ceremony on May 19, 2007.

[edit] Achievements and awards

• Broke Michael Finley's UW school record for UW's All Time Leading Scorer with 2,217 points.
• Broke Devin Harris's UW school record for most points in a single season.
• Broke Michael Finley's UW school record for vertical leap as a freshman by jumping 38 inches.
• 2002-03 - Set UW record for offensive rebounds (86) for a freshman
• 2002-03 - Big Ten Conference All-Freshman Team
• 2004-05 - Big Ten and Syracuse Regional all-tournament teams
• 2004-05 - Consensus third-team All-Big Ten selection
• 2005-06 - Preseason John Wooden Award Candidate
• 2005-06 - First team All-Big Ten selection
• 2006-07 - Preseason John Wooden Award Candidate
• 2006-07 - Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year
• 2006-07 - Consensus first team All-Big Ten selection
• 2006-07 - Big Ten Player Of The Year
• 2006-07 - First Team All-American (National Association of Basketball Coaches)
• 2006-07 - First Team All-American (The Sporting News)
• 2006-07 - Lowe's Senior Class Award (Lowe's)

[edit] External links

• Alando Tucker Info Page at NBA.com
• Madison Times interviews Alando Tucker
• ESPN Player Card
• NBADraft.net
• Profile from uwbadgers.com
• Arizona Central Article on Alando Tucker[1]