Photo via Yahoo! Sports
By JOHN PAVIA
Special to ZAGSBLOG
NEW YORK – Jordan Tucker may not be playing in the Under Armour Elite 24 game in Brooklyn on Saturday, but you’d never know it after watching him practice with the players who are slated to play in the prestigious game.
Tucker, a 6-7 wing who is rated 25th in ESPN’s Super 25 for the class of 2017, is from White Plains, New York and will be practicing with the other players not only on Thursday, but Friday as well.
“Everybody here can play,” Tucker told SNY.tv in regards to what this experience has been like for him. “Everybody’s a top player where they come from. You’ve got to come here and play hard or you won’t be able to show out.”
Tucker is one of the youngest players at the event so his approach to the practices is a bit different than everyone else’s.
“Being a young guy, coming here, you’ve got to be humble,” he said. “You can’t do what the older guys are doing. You’ve got to do the opposite. You’ve got to go twice as hard as them. You’ve got nothing to lose too because it’s all positive.”
Tucker recently transferred from White Plains High School to Archbishop Stepinac High School, which is also in White Plains. Stepinac is actually a rival of White Plains so Tucker’s decision is not without a little bit of controversy.
When asked how the transition has been, Tucker replied, “It’s been good. I wanted to come in and just play against better competition in the Catholic school league. Playing against Christ the King, St. Ray’s and Cardinal Hayes. It’s going to be a better experience for me.”
Tucker’s list of which schools are currently on him the hardest is as follows: Providence, Syracuse, Villanova and Oklahoma.
“I actually visited Providence last week,” Tucker said. “It was cool. I like the coaching staff. They’re really cool.”
