Jackson Tucker is a 6’5” guard on the men’s basketball team from Bakersfield. In his junior year, Tucker has spent the last three years being a crucial component and outstanding athlete for the Golden Eagles. Adding numbers to his stat sheet with every game this season, Tucker tallies a current total of 570 points, 70 steals and 66 assists from his career as a Golden Eagle.

Q. What inspired you to start playing basketball?

A. “Ever since a young age, even in the crib, I always had a little basketball in my hand, always playing on a ‘Little Tikes’ hoop. My dad played basketball at Cal Poly Slo, so I was always around basketball.”

Q. Why did you choose to play basketball here at Concordia?

A. “Concordia was the best bet for me to be able to play and to be able to be around a team that I wanted to be around. I felt like the coaches had the same values as me, I wanted to play hard defense. They are just good guys and then also the team, it felt like they are what I wanted to be a part of and the values that I kind of wanted to go into.”

Q. What is your most significant basketball memory?

A. “Probably winning the Valley Championship with my high school team in my senior year, we just had a really special group of guys, great coach, great team and we went through a lot that season ... and the playoffs bracket was hard.”

Q. Have you ever experienced a setback or injury that significantly affected your playing?

A. “At the end of my freshman year, I broke my right pinky when we had like three or four games left and I had to try to play on it for the rest of the season.”

Q. What does it mean to you to be a good teammate?

A. “For me, to be a good teammate, I feel like it's being able to pick up your teammates but

also be hard on them. You got to be honest with them if they are like messing up or something to be able to correct them but also provide that constructive criticism.”

Q. If you didn’t play basketball, what other sport would you like to play?

A. “Baseball— I used to play shortstop when I was a kid. I wasn’t hitting home runs, but I was hitting some RBIs. Ultimately I had to choose between basketball and baseball, and chose basketball.”

Q. What are you hoping to achieve this season?

A. "As a team, to be one of the top teams in the conference— hopefully, win the conference and then make a deep playoff run. Since I've been here, we haven’t made a conference playoff. As an individual, yeah I want to say I want to improve my three-point percentage and make it to an All- All-Conference team.”

Q. What advice would you give to a kid wanting to play basketball?

A. “Try it out, it's a fun sport ... just keep working.”

 

Tags: Alexander Carr, Men's Athletics, Q&A

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