BU recruit- class of 2013- Michael Tucker

[tornado]

Former Bradley POI signee Michael Tucker commits to Hutchinson CC and will go the juco route as he is not playing his post-senior year due to academic turmoil.
If he does OK at Hutch - I hope we stay on the kid......he will become a 2016 recruit, and we have plenty of scholarships by then...

[tornado]

after a long road with both academic and injury issues, Michael Tucker has enrolled in junior college at
Georgia Perimeter College in Decatur, GA - one of their top players just signed with Virginia Tech - LINK

[Da Coach]

The long, convoluted story of former Bradley commit Michael Tucker has taken another turn. Here is a summary that started with him surfacing as a 2013 Geno Ford recruit in October, 2012.

Tucker was originally a senior in the class of 2013 when he was a high schooler at Alcovy HS in Covington, Georgia. Just prior to his senior season, he left his high school and transferred to Quality Education Academy prep school in Winston-Salem, NC. He then committed to Bradley October 25, 2012. He had a pretty good season at QEA, but then he suddenly de-committed from Bradley April 19, 2013. Then it became known that he was not going to qualify to go to college, so he reclassified to a 2014 recruit.
He then played the summer of 2013 with the Atlanta Xpress AAU team and impressed a lot of coaches and garnered more offers from schools like Maryland and South Carolina. He started to climb up the national recruit rankings. He planned on transferring to Mt. Zion Prep in North Carolina for the 2013-14 school year, but in June of 2013 while playing AAU ball, he tore his ACL and sat out the entire 2013-14 season.

In January, 2014, he announced that he had committed to Hutchinson Community College in Kansas for the fall of 2014. However, he changed his mind again, and in July of 2014, he enrolled at a different junior college, Georgia Perimeter College in Decatur, Georgia. However, there is no evidence I can find that he ever enrolled there, and his name does not appear anywhere on their roster. There is no report of where he has been these last 2 years, and it does not appear that he has played competitively since his summer AAU play prior to the ACL injury in June of 2013.

But now there is news that he has just committed to John A. Logan CC in Carterville, Illinois (just a couple miles east of Carbondale). Because I can't confirm that he ever did enroll at either of the previous 2 jucos he committed to (Hutchinson & Georgia Perimeter), it is not clear if he would be a 2016 or 2017 recruit.

https://twitter.com/scottybscout/status/629762223792123905

[tornado]

to add...
in that 2012-13 season at QEA...he played very well early on but didn't even come close to finishing the season - leaving QEA in December after a bunch of violations were uncovered...

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21553&page=2

He then transferred right away, mid-season to his old high school in Covington, GA and suited up and played the very next game on Jan. 14, 2013...

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22094&highlight=michael+tucker

In that first game back he put up 25 points but other coaches in the region objected to his eligibility, then a Georgia state investigation resulted in Tucker being ruled ineligibile for the rest of the 2012-13 in Georgia, he ended up playing apparently just 2 games in Georgia.

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22094&highlight=michael+tucker

Dave Reynolds tweeted that Tucker was still solid on Bradley even at a time when it was looking like he was not.

https://twitter.com/DaveReynolds2/status/289787368729354240

https://twitter.com/DaveReynolds2/status/289786335231873024

He ended up wasting his senior year and now in retrospect - maybe he should have just kept his commitment to Bradley.
Hopefully he can rebuild his DI chances at John A. Logan...


btw- in addition to Hutchinson, Georgia Perimeter, and John A. Logan - Tucker also signed a Letter of Intent to Chipola
..so that would make five different high schools or prep schools, plus one 4-year college, and four jucos that Tucker has been committed to -
and yet he hasn't played a game since the middle of his senior season. Ten schools, no games - wonder who's gonna take the next risk on the guy?

NAME............. HIGH SCHOOL........ LOCATION......... COLLEGE .........REGION ...........SPORT ..........STATUS...
Tucker, Michael Covington Academy Covington , GA Chipola College Region 8 Men's Basketball Signed 06-29-2015

[tornado]

The Southern has a column about Tucker

http://thesouthern.com/print-specific/brief/logan-signs-georgia-prep-star-michael-tucker/article_9e86b751-33b1-5487-b943-fe2d75434a59.html

His coach at John A. Logan is Kyle Smithpeters, brother of current SIU Saluki Tyler Smithpeters

and they also note even more more school that Tucker attended - Georgia Prep Sports Academy in Atlanta - which will make now about a dozen different schools if he plays college ball, that he's been either at or committed to since his junior year in high school -
gotta be the most well-travelled kid in the history of college basketball. Hope he can make it this time around..

[tornado]

Michael Tucker

http://www.jalc.edu/athletics/mens-basketball/roster/2015-2016/michael-tucker

they list him as freshman despite the 2-3 year gap since he finished high school - and the numerous other jucos he had reportedly enrolled in which by NCAA standards would have started his "clock" ticking like with Taylor Brown and possibly cost him a year of eligibility.
But time will tell - I doubt our new staff will get too involved ...

[tornado]

only marginally related to Tucker....
but the President of John A. Logan College suddenly takes a "temporary" leave of absence, then resigns completely, then gets a huge buyout!

What's really interesting is that almost nobody is talking about why the guy is suddenly leaving - rumored to be forced out and "conflict" between him & the 3 member Board- with 2 years left on his contract - except the entire campus has enormous financial problems & debt, declining enrollment - and will need to raise tuition.

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/communities/carterville/dreith-steps-aside-temporarily-as-jalc-president/article_6915430b-ef1c-5d75-877e-f7672dad41a7.html

http://www.wsiltv.com/story/30272214/dreith-to-receive-290000

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/30264757/john-a-logan-college-accepts-resignation-of-president-names-interim-president

http://wtax.com/news/101101-community-college-pays-out-severance-to-departing-president/

Then - to compound the problems - without missing a beat - a new guy is appointed President that faculty members are somewhat upset about...with zero search process or review of other qualified candidates. (this is the problem with small Boards - 3 members - like this - it only takes two people to run amok and commandeer the entire process)

The new guy, Ron House, is a complete unknown to most, has virtually ZERO experience in education field or in administration of anything to do with colleges.

http://thesouthern.com/news/local/education/jalc-leaders-confused-by-appointment-of-house/article_9ffcdcac-aa80-5245-a451-a4d82d621570.html

"The move left some leaders of the region’s largest community college scratching their heads."

This is getting interesting...

[pfcmsh]

Not Our Best Interest?

I wonder if recruiting a player who was recruited by the previous regime is a good idea? I am sure he is a good person and a quality player, but do we want a player that can't make up his mind and honor a commitment? Can he be successful if hard work is required and dedication to a team concept? Just asking.....

[tornado]

...do we want a player that can't make up his mind and honor a commitment......

some of the guy's changes were caused by factors not of his own choosing, such as the injuries..but indeed...he is nearing the all-time well-travelled record..

If he commits to a 4-year school after John A. Logan it will be the 11th different commitment the kid has made to a school between the beginning of his final year of high school and the very first year of college attendance...
So potentially 11 different school commitments/course changes in the span of time that he advanced only one academic year.
But if he's talented enough then I am sure he will get interest - however all those different course changes signal the high likelihood of some serious academic concerns.

[tornado]

If he commits to a 4-year school after John A. Logan it will be the 11th different commitment the kid has made to a school...

Tucker didn't get his extra year at John A. Logan so he transferred to Southern Indiana University - but he's already left the team there as well....so he may now be out of eligibility - unless he can catch on at some NAIA