{{short description|American basketball player}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Tucker Neale | image = | image_size = | caption = | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 3 | weight_lb = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1972}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = American | career_position = Shooting guard | career_number = | high_school = Strongsville<br/>(Strongsville, Ohio) | college = Colgate (1992–1995) | draft_year = 1995 | career_start = | career_end = | years1 = | team1 = | highlights = * Patriot League Player of the Year (1994) * Patriot League tournament MVP (1995) * 2× First-team All-Patriot League (1994, 1995) * Second-team All-Patriot League (1993) * No. 20 retired by Colgate Raiders }} '''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.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://gocolgateraiders.com/honors/hall-of-honor/tucker-neale/164 |title=Colgate Raiders Hall of Honor: Tucker Neale (2004) |last=|first=|date=2021 |website=GoColgateRaiders.com |publisher=Colgate University |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> As a junior in 1994 he was named the Patriot League Player of the Year.<ref name=patriotmg>{{cite web|url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/patriotleague.org/documents/2019/8/28/2019_20_MBB_Record_Book_Final.pdf |title=2019–20 Patriot League Men's Basketball Media Guide: Records |last= |first= |date=2021 |website=|publisher=Patriot League |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref>
A native of Strongsville, Ohio, Neale did not play varsity basketball at Colgate until his sophomore season in 1992–93.<ref name=collegestats>{{cite web| url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/tucker-neals-1.html |title=Tucker Neale stats |last= |first= |date=2021 |website=sports-reference.com |publisher=Sports Reference, LLC |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> The Raiders had won only a single digit number of games in 10 of the 11 seasons prior to Neale arriving.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/colgate/ |title=Colgate Raiders Index |last= |first= |date=2021 |website=sports-reference.com |publisher=Sports Reference, LLC |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> During his three-year tenure, he led the most successful stretch in school history, including their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance in 1995.<ref name=watn>{{cite web| url=https://gocolgateraiders.com/news/2017/8/23/mens-basketball-where-are-they-now-tucker-neale-95.aspx |title=Where Are They Now? Tucker Neale '95 |last= |first= |date=August 23, 2017 |website=GoColgateRaiders.com |publisher=Colgate University |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> 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 season. He was named to the Patriot League all-conference second team as a sophomore and a first team selection in his junior and senior years.<ref name=patriotmg/> 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.<ref name=patriotmg/> 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).<ref name=patriotmg/> 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. Neale was invited to the Boston Celtics camp in fall 1995, the year of the NBA lockout.<ref name=patleague>{{cite web|url=https://patriotleague.org/news/2010/9/2/Patriot_League_20th_Anniversary_Profiles_Tucker_Neale |title=Patriot League 20th Anniversary Profiles: Tucker Neale |last= |first= |date=September 2, 2010 |website=PatriotLeague.org |publisher=Patriot League |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> Instead, he opted to go to Europe and play professional basketball in Germany.<ref name=patleague/> He averaged 30 points per game and was named the player of the year.<ref name=patleague/> In 1996, he tried out for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but was cut in the just before the season started.<ref name=patleague/>
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),<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20170718/blogs06/170719808/former-strongsville-colgate-standout-develops-product-aimed-poor |title=Former Strongsville, Colgate standout develops product aimed at poor jump shots |last=Kleps |first=Kevin |date=July 18, 2017 |website=CrainsCleveland.com |publisher=Crain Communications, Inc. |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref> and manages OhioBasketball.com, the largest provider of basketball tournaments in the world.<ref name=watn/> He lives in the Cleveland, Ohio area with his wife, Crystal, and their three children: Tre', Kennedi, and Trinidi.<ref name=watn/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/tucker-neals-1.html College statistics] @ sports-reference.com
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Neale, Tucker}} Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:American expatriate basketball people in Germany Category:American men's basketball players Category:Colgate Raiders men's basketball players Category:Sportspeople from Strongsville, Ohio Category:Basketball players from Cuyahoga County, Ohio Category:Shooting guards Category:20th-century American sportsmen