Rico Tucker to get home visit from Gophers

Rico Tucker of San Diego (CA) University will visit Minnesota this weekend and the Gopher coaches will make a home visit tonight. Tucker is the Gophers’ top recruiting target. He is an athletic guard who can play both backcourt positions. He had a strong summer playing for the Pump N Run AAU team and participated in the Nike All-American Camp. Tucker is one of the top defensive guards in the country.

Rico Tucker had previously committed to nearby San Diego. However, he decided to re-open his recruitment and has received scholarship offers from schools in the Big Ten and ACC and has gotten interest from schools in the Big 12, SEC, Big East and Pac-10.

Tucker will visit Fresno State September 20th and Utah on the 27th.

San Diego, San Francisco, and Arizona State, which he visited unofficially, have all offered him a scholarship. Gonzaga and North Carolina State had also offered him a scholarship, but both programs got point guard help. Gonzaga received a commitment from Pierre-Marie Altidor-Cespedes and North Carolina State landed Georgetown transfer Tony Bethel.

Tucker is still interested in hometown San Diego, but he admitted that he might have committed too early to the nearby Toreros.

"I just want to weigh all my options. It was nothing personal and nothing against the program," he said.

Tucker said that 6-9 Minnesota commitment Spencer Tollackson of Chaska (MN) High did a good job of recruiting him for the Gophers at the Nike Camp. Tollackson had received a list of players that the Gophers were recruiting from head coach Dan Monson and told Tucker all the positives of the program.

Tucker said that he likes Minnesota and how they play. He stated that he wants to play at a big school and knows that Minnesota is one of the biggest universities in the country.

Some basketball observers felt that he and Wesley Washington could have formed the top defensive backcourt in the country. However, with Washington not being accepted by the Minnesota admission office, that will not happen.

Tucker said that he is uncertain whether he will sign in the early signing period, due to possible coaching changes that could develop.

His high school team will return four starters on a senior-dominated team. They finished 16-16 last season, after being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs on a shot at the buzzer.

Tucker said that he is willing to go away for school. He lived in Cleveland, Ohio until he moved to San Diego when he was 8 years old.