The Cleveland Blue Raiders 2021-2022 boys basketball season finished at 13-17 and with a loss in the R3AAAA quarterfinals to Franklin County 49-43.
However, the group coming back for this season would be very experienced and ready to make a statement and make a statement they have to begin the 2022-2023 season.
This year under head coach Reggie Tucker Cleveland has began the season on a mission with tons of senior leadership as the team is 9-2 thus far.
Those seniors include Jasen Brooks (SR.-Signed with UC San Diego), Alex Hyder (SR.-Multiple DI/DII Offers), Judah Sault (SR.), Gabe Leeper (SR.) Anyone Thomas (SR.), Camden Gober (SR.), DJ Adams (SR.-Committed to UTC for Football) and Drew Lambert (SR.).
Speaking with coach Tucker on Tuesday he was very excited about the prospects of what this team/these players can do this season. "Jasen Brooks already has eight 20-point games this season and a game winning shot to beat Beardon. Gabe Leeper is the man that makes the team go but they're looking for him to be more consistent in order for the team to reach its ultimate goal of making it to the State Championship."
Coach Tucker has tons of basketball experience as well as experience playing at Cleveland High School, so this opportunity truly means a lot to him.
"I never thought I'd be back home coaching at my alma-mater. It just kinda fell into place, it was great timing situation for me and my family."
In fact, after playing college basketball at LSU and suffering a tear of his ACL he never thought that he wanted to be a basketball coach, he originally wanted to be a physical therapist for an NBA team.
However, after college he found himself in Orlando, FL coaching high school kids at one of the top AAU programs in the country for many years until he chose to move back home to take care of his mother, that's when the Cleveland opportunity arose.
"There came a point where my mom wasn't doing well so I wanted to come home and get her situated and that ended up with me staying in Cleveland longer than I wanted to and ended up coming out here (Cleveland high) every now and then to talk to the team. After a while, it just became that well, I'm here, alright lets make it happen," Tucker continued. "So, they offered me a job and I ended up staying in Cleveland. It was a tough decision to make but I've enjoyed it since I've been here."
He's been on the staff for six years and this is his fourth year as the head coach. During his four years he's compiled an impressive 82-25 record with a 33-1 record his first full season in 2019-2020. He took over towards the end of the 2018-2019 season and he was officially 4-1 as the head coach that year. His basketball knowledge, love for the game, his experience coaching at the high school level, and truly understanding/loving the kids are the attributes that have made him a success here at his alma-mater.
To hear the entire conversation with coach Reggie Tucker click here.