John Tucker is a retired American professional

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

player, and former head coach of the Boston Cannons and

Atlanta Blaze The Atlanta Blaze were a professional men's field lacrosse team in Major League Lacrosse (MLL). The Blaze became the ninth team in MLL as an expansion team for the 2016 Major League Lacrosse season, 2016 season and played its home games at Atlanta ...

of the now defunct MLL. He was also the head coach of the Philadelphia Wings of the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

. He was elected into the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame in 2010 and into the National Lacrosse Hall of Famee in 2016.

Playing career

Tucker began his lacrosse playing career in ninth grade, joining the junior league team at Archbishop Curley High School under Coach Joe D'Adamo. He was a freshman and sophomore on the team during the school's 1976 and 1977 championship seasons, and he graduated from Curley in 1979. As a collegiate player, Tucker was a member on a number of winning teams. He played on the undefeated

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Blue Jays team that won the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship in 1984. In international competition Tucker played for Team USA in winning three gold medals at the

World Lacrosse Championship The World Lacrosse Men's Championship is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years. The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as ...

s in 1986, 1990, 1994. Tucker captained the 1990 and 1994 teams. In addition, Tucker won two championships with the Philadelphia Wings of the

Major Indoor Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. Tucker played at the amateur level for the storied Maryland Lacrosse Club winning three USILA Club championships. He is enshrined in both the NLL and US Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Tucker was also an outstanding football player for the Blue Jays. In 1983 he was named to the all-state team and was all-Centennial Conference for his performance as a tight end. He holds the Centennial Conference record for both receptions and total yards in a season by a tight end.

Coaching career

As a coach, he has led a number of teams to championships, including a total of four Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association championships: three with the

Gilman School Gilman School is an all-boys independent school, independent, day school, day, college preparatory school located in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. There are three school divisions: Lower School, grades pre ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

, and one with

Loyola Blakefield Loyola Blakefield is a private Catholic, college preparatory school run by the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus in Towson, Maryland and within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. It was established in 1852 by the Jesuits as an all-boys scho ...

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...

. In the

, Tucker coached the

Baltimore Thunder The Baltimore Thunder were an American professional box lacrosse team and a member of the National Lacrosse League from 1987 until 1999. They were based in Baltimore, Maryland, and won the first then-Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League championship in ...

from

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

. He also was the coach of the Pittsburgh CrosseFire for their one year of existence in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. Tucker served as Head Coach of the Los Angeles Riptide of Major League Lacrosse from 2006 to 2008 compiling a 22–14 record. Following the 2007 MLL season he was awarded the Major League Lacrosse Coach of the Year Award. With the folding of the Riptide, Tucker signed a two-year deal to coach the Washington Bayhawks beginning in 2009. In October 2009, Tucker was an assistant coach with his original NLL team from the 1980s, the Wings

After a dismal 2010 campaign under head coach Dave Huntley, when the Wings had their worst ever record (5-11), the team fired the coaching staff, eventually hiring Tucker back as the head coach. In June 2011, Tucker stepped down to assume a scouting position within the Wings organization. In 2011, Tucker came full circle and accepted the head coach position of his alma mater, Archbishop Curley High School. Assisting him on defense was his own former coach, Joe D'Adamo. He worked as an admissions at Concordia Prep in Towson, Maryland. Tucker was named Head Coach of the Boston Cannons (MLL) in 2013 and was named, for a second time, Brine Coach of the Year in 2015. Following the end of the 2015 season on September 8, it was announced that Tucker would not re-sign to coach the Boston Cannons for the 2016 season. Tucker instead opted to coach the expansion Atlanta Blaze. After a dismal 3-7 start the Blaze fired Tucker and associate head coach Dave Huntley assumed the head coaching job. Tucker is now the head coach of the varsity boys lacrosse team at St. James School, Maryland, Saint James School in

Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. The population was 43,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's List of municipalities in Maryland, sixth-most popu ...

, where he also works as the Director of Admissions & Enrollment Management.

Statistics

Major Indoor Lacrosse League career

* Philadelphia Wings stats only (may not be complete)

Notes and references

External links