Tuck shining on court in Italy

By From Staff Reports (Contact) | Alex City Outlook

Published Tuesday, February 2, 2010

One Alexander City native is making quite a name for himself overseas.

Jamal Tuck, the son of Frank and Cheryl Tuck, is a standout basketball player for Aviano High School in Italy. Aviano is one of Europe’s Department of Defense schools.

Tuck’s team won the Division II championship last year (Tuck was MVP) and is on pace for a repeat, thanks in large part to Tuck’s game.

After receiving All-Europe, All-Region and All-Conference honors in 2009, Tuck was averaging 27.5 points per game in his first eight games this season, all Aviano wins. That number went up after this weekend, when Tuck scored 40 points and 30 points in two games against rival Naples.

He can do more than score, as his numbers would indicate. He pulls down more than seven rebounds per game and averages 6.5 steals and assists per contest. Tuck, a senior who averaged 15.8 points as a junior, has also been an All-Conference academic performer since his freshman year. He was an All-Conference wide receiver in football after catching 22 passes and four touchdowns.

Tuck’s father, Frank, was a 1979 Benjamin Russell High School graduate and has been in the Air Force for 26 years. Jamal was born at Russell Medical Center while Frank was assigned to the Republic of Panama at Howard Air Force Base.

Jamal, who is a cousin of the New York Giants’ Justin Tuck, attended kindergarten in Alexander City before Frank was moved to Japan in 1997. He has spent most of his time in Japan and now Italy since then. His mother, Cheryl, is a 1981 Goodwater High School graduate.

Frank, who said he is soon to retire and return to Alabama, said Jamal is hoping to play basketball for Auburn in college.

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