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Background
2007-08:
In his rookie NBA season, averaged 3.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 36% FG, 89% FT and eight minutes in six games for the Suns... Scored a season-best 10 points in wins over the Trail Blazers (April 16) and Kings (November 21)... Averaged 27.7 points, six rebounds and 1.6 assists in 21 total games with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (19 starts).
The Wisconsin forward was selected 29th overall in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft, following a standout career with the Badgers.
Tucker, the 2007 Big Ten Player of the Year and a First Team All-American by The Associated Press, averaged 19.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 36 games in his senior season with the Badgers. He was also one of four finalists for the Naismith Trophy given to the national player of the year, along with eventual winner Texas forward Kevin Durant (2nd overall to Seattle), Texas A&M guard Acie Law IV (11th overall to Atlanta) and North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough.
The 6-6, 205-pound forward finished as Wisconsin’s all-time leading scorer (2,217 points), surpassing former Suns draft pick Michael Finley (21st overall in the 1995 NBA Draft). Tucker, 23, also holds seven other school records, including games played (134), games started (126), minutes played (4,297), field goals (798), free throws (520), free throw attempts (817) and offensive rebounds (314).
As a senior, Tucker led Wisconsin to heights unparalleled in school history. The Badgers won 17 consecutive games, the longest single-season streak in school history, earned a No. 1 ranking in The Associated Press poll for the first time, and garnered their highest seed ever in the 2007 NCAA Tournament (No. 2).
Tucker, who spent five seasons with the Badgers after receiving a medical redshirt in 2003-04, averaged 16.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists in 134 collegiate games from 2002-07.
Personal
Nickname is “Doe.”
Son of Lisa Tucker and Forrest Harris.
Has two brothers and a sister.
Older brother Antonio completed a tour of duty with the Army in Kosovo and is a police officer.
Wrote a 19-page paper in college using the work of hoops philanthropists Magic Johnson and Kevin Johnson as a model for his own work.
Completed first dunk by seventh grade.
Holds the Wisconsin school record with a 38-inch vertical leap.
Majored in life sciences and communications at Wisconsin.
Traveled to China to play in Steve Nash and Yao Ming’s charity basketball game in September 2007, just two months after participating in the two-time NBA MVP’s annual fundraiser in Vancouver.
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