Class of 2024 wing Bryson Tucker committed to Indiana a couple weeks ago, and in the process became one of the program’s highest-rated recruits of all-time during the rankings era.
The Daily Hoosier caught up with Tucker’s father Byron to get more background on the 5-star McDonald’s All-American.
Here’s our Q&A with the elder Tucker:
————————————————
Q: Indiana first got involved with Bryson way back in 2021. What was the back story there?
Byron Tucker — (IU assistant coach) Kenya Hunter saw Bryson when he was playing for Mount St. Joe’s up in Baltimore. He was on to Bryson really heavy. Kenya is actually from my area. Even though we didn’t know each other well personally, we knew of each other through acquaintances. He was really trying to get Bryson on campus many different times, but we were really just pushing everything out of the way because we wanted to be able to focus on high school basketball.
Q: What did you know about Mike Woodson, had you ever met him before Indiana started recruiting your son?
Byron Tucker — All along, most people don’t know, but I pretty much had an idea of where Bryson was gonna go to school. It was Indiana.
I was developing Bryson with a pro-type skill set. It doesn’t mean that he was going to be a one-and-done or anything like that, but I already had certain things already mapped out, including certain types of coaches. Indiana (with Mike Woodson) was one of those schools with one of those particular coaches.
I’ll be 55 years old this month, and anyone who played basketball, or anyone who was into basketball, knew who Mike Woodson was. I knew a lot about his NBA history, I knew about the type of players he has coached. I know that when he got to Indiana, the first two years he took them to the NCAA Tournament. And this past year he went 19-14, a down year for Indiana standards by far, but I also knew that if you can get in certain types of players, he can possibly take Indiana back to where it wants to be.
Q: Bryson announced his decision to commit to Indiana very soon after his visit. How did he and your family get comfortable so fast?
Byron Tucker — It was a better visit than most of the other schools. It was more laid out. It was a lot more straightforward, and the vision was there.
You know when we came to Indiana, Bryson worked out?
Q: No I didn’t know that, what can you tell me about that?
Byron Tucker — It was my idea. For me it’s almost like a job interview, even though we know we both like each other, I wanted you to see my boy on your floor, under you all’s watchful eye. We did the exact same thing at Michigan State. It was Bryson and Gabe (Cupps) going through drills.
Q: What stood out about Indiana’s playing style and how you see Bryson fitting in?
Byron Tucker — It’s almost like an NBA-type open set, mixed in with some college-type sets as well. I looked at how Jalen Hood-Schifino morphed into a point guard role with his skillset. I looked at how a kid like Mackenzie Mgbako, how they allowed him to figure things out. And I thought this could actually be a really good fit. The style itself, and what they’ve done with younger players, was really enticing.
Q: Bryson didn’t play traditional AAU basketball in the summer. Talk about what he was doing during that time?
Byron Tucker — The thing with Bryson is most people haven’t seen the best version of him. We normally see it in the summertime when he’s playing against grown men. I had him playing in Pro-Am leagues. So he’s played against guys like Quinn Cook. He’s played in a league here called the Kenner League, where as a 15-16 year-old he’s playing against grown men and averaging 20 points and seven rebounds because everything was pro rules. So I think once he’s under really good tutelage in the college game, that understands what he can bring, you all are going to see the type of Bryson Tucker that you’re really going to love.
If you look at the NBA top-100 camp (last summer), they saw the real Bryson Tucker.
Bryson Tucker highlights at the NBA Top 100 Camp! @BrysonTucker3_ pic.twitter.com/qTMrusnHQk
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) July 12, 2023
Q: What went into that decision to not play AAU basketball in the summers?
Byron Tucker — I wanted to teach Bryson the game of basketball, and I wanted to do it in a very slow, methodical way. I tried to limit the amount of people in his ear. When I was growing up, we spent our summers playing with older guys, and so that’s what I did with Bryson.
Q: What went into taking the recruitment into the spring of Bryson’s senior year?
Byron Tucker — I’m from the old school. A lot of the elite kids when I was coming through, they didn’t commit early. And today with the transfer portal, it doesn’t make any sense to me that kids are committing as early as November. You don’t know what these rosters are going to look like. So for us it was never in our plan to commit early.
Q: Positionally most people seem to think Bryson is a wing at the college level. Is that how you see it?
Byron Tucker — I would say that assessment is correct, but I think he’s going to be a rebound and go guard as well. I think it will be a disservice if you put him in just one position. I think a lot of people will say they want their kid to be a point guard. But that’s not us. I think if you put him at the point he can run the position, but I think you take away other things that he can do. For me, depending on who you’re playing against, he can go one through four, because he likes to post up as well.
Q: What would say is an area of Bryson’s game he needs to improve over the next couple months before he arrives at Indiana, and during his freshman season there?
Byron Tucker — I would say defensively, staying locked in the whole possession. College will force him to do that, while high school he could just figure guys out.
Q: Some people have written that his three-point shot still needs to develop?
Byron Tucker — When you see people say Bryson’s not a shooter, that’s utter nonsense.
Q: How would you and Bryson define success for his freshman season of college basketball?
Byron Tucker — Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
TDH Note: Tucker is the No. 17 ranked player in the 2024 class according to the On3 Average and sits behind Rutgers bound Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, and Maryland’s Derik Queen among Big Ten recruits.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
