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[/media-credit]Alando Tucker is the best player in Wisconsin basketball history.
While I can't speak for Badger hoops before the '90s, Tucker has quietly collected some of the best career numbers in UW history and has emerged as a national Player of the Year candidate this season.
Yes, Tucker's better than Kirk Penney and Mike Wilkinson were, even better than regular NBA contributors Michael Finley and Devin Harris.
Following No. 4 Wisconsin's 71-58 victory over Penn State Wednesday, Tucker is just one point away from joining Finley as just the second player in school history to record 2,000 career points. And while Finley's spot at the top of Wisconsin's all-time scoring list is probably secure (Finley has 2,147 career points while Tucker has 1,999), Tucker has contributed much more in terms of success than Finley did in his early 1990 days at the Field House.
To date, Tucker has compiled a record of 115-38 (.750) in his five seasons on campus — that is, counting the 2003-04 season in which he took a medical redshirt due to a foot injury.
But it's not the numbers Tucker has put up over the years that make him great, it's how he's done it.
The Lockport, Ill., native was a part of head coach Bo Ryan's first recruiting class and entered his freshman season in 2002-03 with little media attention. Nevertheless, Tucker contributed right away for the Badgers, quickly cracking the starting line-up for a team that won a Big Ten title and marched its way to the Sweet 16.
Even though he was beat out by Michigan's Daniel Horton for Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, Tucker was one of the best first-year players in the nation. Not many freshmen across the country are able to come in and start right away, let alone average 12.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
Yet, despite dropping gaudy numbers over the years, Tucker has never really received the recognition he probably deserves.
Prior to the start of this year, Tucker was the consensus preseason Big Ten Player of the Year, but all anybody wanted to talk about was how he wasn't going to be that good in the NBA, and the criticism was warranted. Last season, he couldn't hit a free throw to save his life, shooting a Shaq-Fu-esque .545 from the line. His jump shot was streaky, too. Sure, he has freakish athletic abilities, but at a very generous 6-foot-6 — things just didn't seem to add up for Tucker's professional future.
All that has changed 25 games into the year.
While Tucker's free-throw shooting isn't spectacular, it's much improved this year at nearly 67 percent. Undoubtedly, his biggest improvement has been his shot. Tucker's shooting a respectable .490 from the field, but has been money in big games, taking over whenever the Badgers need him to.
As a result, NBA scouts have started to take notice. Tucker's draft stock just keeps going up as the year progresses — NBADraft.net currently has him at projected as a late lottery selection, its highest spot for Tucker yet. While I highly doubt Tucker will be a lottery pick, he's certainly worked his way to practically being a lock for the first round.
Although Finley is Wisconsin's all-time scoring leader, the only other Badger who may come close to Tucker's on-going legacy is Harris.
Like Tucker, Harris came to Wisconsin with little media attention and contributed as a freshman. By Harris' junior season, he was also receiving plenty of national recognition.
After Harris posted one of the best seasons in Badger history — 19.5 points and 4.4 assists per game in 2003-04 — the Wauwatosa native bolted for the NBA a year early, and that's all anyone will ever remember.
The "what if" questions still haunt Harris' Wisconsin career to this day, but Tucker's still in Madison and is playing like the best player in the country.
Michael Poppy is a senior double-majoring in journalism and communication arts. If you'd like to add Sean Mason, Mark Vershaw or Boo Wade to the best Wisconsin player of all time debate, you can reach him at [email protected]
