Tucker wants to stay @ Iowa...

[hawkeye12345]

Playing basketball for Iowa is not a right, it's a privledge, and I don't think Tucker should be allowed back. I'm all for second chances, but not THIRD chances. He took his 2nd chance and flushed it. Game over. If I was coach, I would not want him back.

Not to mention, I never was overly impressed with his game, from what little we really got to see. Tucker's 3 pt. percentage wasn't exactly lights out this year, and what else did he really do well? In fact, you could make an argument that Tucker is nearly as 1-dimensional as Bawinkel, except Bawinkel had a higher FG%.

Is Tucker really even worth the baggage that he brings? In my opinion, NO.

If you played for Lick, you probably would drink a lot too.

 

[JonDMiller]

many chances? How about 2. I think lick forced him to quit. The guy made 2 bad choices. he served his time for those choices. As long as the school allows 3 strikes, then so should the team. I am not in the know on the cliques on this team, or have inside info like you jon. It will be up to the next coach to build this team into one unit of solid unity. i have caoched soccer teams over the years, i never had a team where all my players were best friends off the field, they all had their cliques, or seperate friendships. But they all came together on the field for one goal! WINS!

He got busted twice. Hardly learned any lessons after the first time. I have very good reason to believe this.

He has been given his chances at Iowa. Time to move on from that.
And I think you can make a decent case that Tucker's arrest and suspension last year, along with his failure to get it done in the classroom, is a big part of the reason why Todd Lickliter is no longer at Iowa. I wrote about that on 12/29: Tucker's Decisions Exact Heavy Toll | Hawkeye Nation

 

[Hawke]

So if these were two parking or jaywalking tickets, should they also kick him off the team so it didn't get ugly and embarrassing?

If it was parking or jaywalking it would be a non-factor. But it isn't about parking or jaywalking, it's about being passed-out in an alley and drunkenly assaulting a taxicab driver. This is not representing the U of I in a postive light and it obviously isn't being tolerated.

 

[JonDMiller]

I want to say one more thing on this...I am not writing off the kid for life. I hope that he learns from his mistakes, and sometimes it takes people making a lot of them to learn from them. I can say the same for me as it came to drinking.

However, tying in a scholarship to a Big Ten school into the mix, he's had his chances at Iowa

 

[hoosieriniowa]

I think the new coach needs to be allowed maximum flexibility when determining who he wants on his roster. One of my close friends is a former D1 assistant. He was joking about the Tim Floyd "rumor". He said if Floyd was the coach all the players might be cut.

 

[CAARHawk]

Wow.

This team is a mess and has been thoughout Lick's tenure. Way too many defections, squabbles, and cliques. Might just be a result of losing. But, in any event, it probably does suck to be in the middle of it.

 

[DwayneTwill]

If it was parking or jaywalking it would be a non-factor. But it isn't about parking or jaywalking, it's about being passed-out in an alley and drunkenly assaulting a taxicab driver. This is not representing the U of I in a postive light and it obviously isn't being tolerated.

So the consequences for the alcohol violations should be as serious as those for the rape violations.

 

[BAVISHAWK]

There is a whole lot more to the Anthony Tucker story than any of us know. It is probably for the best that Anthony transfers, but let's not make his problems more than they really were. He had 2 underage drinking episodes, he did not commit rape, drive under the influence, commit arm robbery, etc. What Lickliter did or did not do is water under the bridge and let's go forward, the new coach needs to get his facts and do what he thinks is best for the Iowa Basketball.

 

[Thomzahawke]

Is it even concievable that a new coach being welcomed into his new job that has a divided fan base, losing seasons and issues such as Pierre Pierce in its past is going to give a kid he doesn't even know a 3rd chance and allow him to re-join the team?????

I don't think so and any coach that would do that would be making a huuuge mistake. Whoever they bring in will be smart enough NOT to touch this issue. AT ALL!

 

[tweeterhawk]

And this would be a very bad idea. The kid has made his bed. I heard last week that if this happened, that may ensure that some of the young kids leave

gatens and Tucker are roommates and close. I have heard there are strong cliques on this team and that the gatens/Tucker clique is not a popular one

it's a bad idea and I'd rather not see it happen. Tucker has had his chances here, many of them.

In tweets reacting to Lick's termination Roy Marble Jr. referred to Iowa as being a "clicky" place, suggesting it was the Gatens clique that got Lick fired. The new coach is going to have a lot of work to do. But I will say that a strong leader will be respected by those he is leading and there can be no place for cliques.

 

[JonDMiller]

There is a whole lot more to the Anthony Tucker story than any of us know. It is probably for the best that Anthony transfers, but let's not make his problems more than they really were. He had 2 underage drinking episodes, he did not commit rape, drive under the influence, commit arm robbery, etc. What Lickliter did or did not do is water under the bridge and let's go forward, the new coach needs to get his facts and do what he thinks is best for the Iowa Basketball.

No one was in a more desperate situation to have Tucker on the floor than Lick, and Lick didn't do it. I respect him for that, even if he could have handled the communication part of it better. The new coach will not be in a desperate situation when he arrives. Better to move along

 

[kgoblee]

to comapre Tucker and Pierce is really a reach.. I love all the Saints on this board who never drank until they were 21 or made a mistake or even several before the lights went on.. That being said I don't think I would take him back at this point either but I don't think the kid should be associated with a rapist either....

 

[JonDMiller]

to comapre Tucker and Pierce is really a reach.. I love all the Saints on this board who never drank until they were 21 or made a mistake or even several before the lights went on.. That being said I don't think I would take him back at this point either but I don't think the kid should be associated with a rapist either....

I was a drunk. I have sympathy for Anthony. But there were prices I paid for my mistakes, as do we all. And none of us had a free ride to a Big Ten school, worth six figures at least for an out of state kid.

So yes, a lot of us drank a lot in college. But none of us were Big Ten basketball players. To draw that comparison and act like there aren't increased responsibilities that go along with it is unrealistic.

 

[jshawks]

Tucker essentially quit on the team by his request. Whether he was "forced" out or not, he could see the writing on the wall with Lick. Everyone new it was only a matter of time and Lick would be gone, so if Tucker was so interested in staying with the Hawks why didn't he ride it out and wait to start fresh with a new head coach. He has burned his bridge, and I don't think that any new coach worth his salt is going to go out on a limb this early in his tenure for a kid he didn't recruit, coach, and otherwise has no loyalties to, considering the baggage that Tucker brings with him. It would be best for AT and the Iowa program to get fresh starts without each other.

 

[ibahawkeye]

Is it even concievable that a new coach being welcomed into his new job that has a divided fan base, losing seasons and issues such as Pierre Pierce in its past is going to give a kid he doesn't even know a 3rd chance and allow him to re-join the team?????

I don't think so and any coach that would do that would be making a huuuge mistake. Whoever they bring in will be smart enough NOT to touch this issue. AT ALL!

Spot on...

This will be a non issue. I don't think the first move of the new coach is going to be one that will instantly divide the fan base and have some fans take away support from him right out of the gate. Remember, we need to fill CHA so the new coach is going to need every aspect of support he can get.

 

[Hawke]

So the consequences for the alcohol violations should be as serious as those for the rape violations.

In this case it would appear so. Both players were kicked off the Iowa basketball team. That does not put alcohol abuse on the same level as sexual abuse. If that were the case the prisons would be more than overcrowded.

 

[jake703]

Division happens more readily in the absence of strong leadership. I am not even a little bit concerned because I am confident the new coach will be a strong leader and strong relationship person.

Any locker room division should be a non-issue regarding Tucker. The whole culture will be changing. I am not going to cast a vote which way that Tucker decision should go because I expect the new coach will have far more information than I do and can make a much more educated decision.

 

[JonDMiller]

Alcohol abuse and rape are not the same. However, justice in big time team sports is not the same as justice in the world for you and me.

There are behaivoral expectations in society and in team sports. In high school, if you get caught at a party with alcohol, you miss games, usually whether or not you were drinking. There are no real world ramifications for that, you are not kicked out of school, you won't lose a job someday because you were at that party, but you miss games.

that's the way that it is. When you do the same thing twice, and the first time around that selfish behavior (both with the drinking AND being academically ineligible) played a huge part in the team suffering the rest, you'd been given your chances.

Tucker has had THREE strikes. The first drinking issue, being academically ineligible, and then the second drinking issue. All three of those instances speak to a maturity issue, at the least.

He's had his chances at Iowa. I would be floored if the new coach would even entertain him being back on the team. It just won't happen.

 

[Lionhawk]

In this case it would appear so. Both players were kicked off the Iowa basketball team. That does not put alcohol abuse on the same level as sexual abuse. If that were the case the prisons would be more than overcrowded.

First of all, AT was not kicked off the team. He requested his transfer all on his own. Was it due to the way he was being treated by Coach after his suspension ended, maybe. Had he stuck it out until the end of the season and then made his decision to leave or stay, he would be a member of the team today and this point would be mute. He made his choice when he asked for his release and in my opinion his ship has sailed.

I do hope he finds somewhere that will be good for him and that he gets his alcohol challenges under control. Lots of us make mistakes when we are in college, I know I did, and in no way should we write off AT as a person. I wish him nothing but success, just think it would be best for him if it was somewhere else. The catcalls on the road in the Big Ten can be brutal and there is no doubt they would be very brutal for AT.

 

[Hawke]

Obviously my point has been misunderstood. I was not comparing Tucker or his problems with those of Pierce. I was merely pointing out that the U of I has already proven itself capable of turning the other cheek, be it for altruistic purposes or something a little more self-serving. Either way the pattern is the same. The University gives the young man another chance and it ends up getting bit in the rear. I've been in Tucker's shoes with the exception that it was my own money I was throwing away. If he wanted to continue getting a free ride at the U of I he should have made choices other than the ones he has made. He was given a fair chance to turn it around and he failed. It's time to close this chapter and offer his scholarship to someone that can appreciate what it is and take full advantage of it.