Tucker F. Neale (born 1972) is an American former college basketball player. He played at Colgate University between 1992 and 1995, where in just three seasons he set the still-standing school record of 2,075 points. As a junior in 1994 he was named the Patriot League Player of the Year. A native of

Strongsville, Ohio Strongsville is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of Cleveland. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 44,750. The city's nickname 'Crossroads of the Nation,' originated from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O ...

, Neale did not play varsity basketball at Colgate until his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educati ...

season in 1992–93. The Raiders had won only a single digit number of games in 10 of the 11 seasons prior to Neale arriving. During his three-year tenure, he led the most successful stretch in school history, including their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

. With Neale's per-game season scoring averages of 21.9, 26.6, and 23.1, the Raiders finished 18–10, 17–12, and 17–13, respectively. They won their first regular season conference championship in his junior year, then repeated as champions his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season. He was named to the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective g ...

all-conference second team as a sophomore and a first team selection in his junior and senior years. In 1995, he was named the Patriot League tournament's MVP, one year after becoming Colgate's first-ever Patriot League Player of the Year. In just 87 career games Neale scored 2,075 points. Through 2020–21 he still owns the highest career scoring average in Patriot League history (23.9). Colgate later retired his jersey number 20, and in 2015 he was named to the Patriot League's 25th Anniversary Team. After college he went undrafted in the

1995 NBA draft The 1995 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1995, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It marked the first NBA draft to be held outside the United States and was the first draft for the two Canadian expansion teams, Toronto Raptors and Vanco ...

. Neale was invited to the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

camp in fall 1995, the year of the

NBA lockout The NBA lockout may refer to any of the four lockouts in the history of the National Basketball Association: *The 1995 NBA lockout, which lasted for three months before the 1995–96 season. *The 1996 NBA lockout, which lasted for a couple of hou ...

. Instead, he opted to go to Europe and play professional basketball in Germany. He averaged 30 points per game and was named the player of the year. In 1996, he tried out for the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

, but was cut in the just before the season started. Since his playing career, Neale stays involved with the sport. He coaches AAU teams, is the creator of the popular Shot Coach (a device to help players learn how to shoot better), and manages OhioBasketball.com, the largest provider of basketball tournaments in the world. He lives in the Cleveland, Ohio area with his wife, Crystal, and their three children: Tre', Kennedi, and Trinidi.

References

External links

College statistics
@ sports-reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Neale, Tucker 1972 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Germany American men's basketball players Basketball players from Ohio Colgate Raiders men's basketball players People from Strongsville, Ohio Sportspeople from Cuyahoga County, Ohio Shooting guards