Players who start the majority of games in their sophomore season expect to have an even more prominent role once their junior and senior seasons roll around. However, that wasn’t the case for current senior Dakarai Tucker.
His second year at Utah, he started in 22 games, but it was apparent during the summer between his sophomore and junior season that things would change. His third year, he only started in three games but still averaged about 20 minutes per game.
This year, he hasn’t started in a single game, and his playing time is down a bit. Through all his ups and downs, though, he’s never lost any trust in the program. Although coming off the bench isn’t exactly ideal, it’s something Tucker embraces.
A lot people in his position may have thought about quitting or even transferring somewhere else, where they know they would get more playing time and more attention, but Tucker is not one of those people. He would never start something he couldn’t finish.
“I never gave up,” Tucker said. “I always had the mindset to keep pushing myself. I always had faith in myself, most importantly. Can’t give up on yourself — that’s one thing I don’t do.”
Tucker is 100 percent invested in this Ute squad and considers himself a team player. He will continue to do whatever is asked of him in order to help Utah keep winning. A couple of weeks ago, the team was on the road in Southern California, and as an LA native, he was ecstatic with the way the team played.
Utah pulled out a couple wins, one over UCLA and another over USC. Tucker’s family was able to watch both games, and winning in front of them made it all the better. It was somewhat of a bittersweet ending, however, since this would be the last time he would get to play in his hometown.
“It felt great knowing that my last two road wins were at home and to do it in front of my family,” Tucker said. “It’s sad that it’s coming to an end and I’m not going to play in LA no more in my college career, but it was a fun experience.”
With those wins now in the rearview mirror, there’s still plenty left that Tucker wants to accomplish, and to do so, he needs to keep doing what he’s been doing all year long — working hard. Even his head coach notices the effort and hustle he brings to the court — Larry Krystkowiak knows he can always count on Tucker to give it everything he has and in doing so, he makes his teammates better.
“Dakarai continues to bring it in practice,” Krystkowiak said.
Part of what motivates Tucker in practice is the fact that he has such little time left to say he is a basketball player for the Runnin’ Utes. He’ll continue to bring his ‘A’ game because at any moment in March, his career could be over.
While Krystkowiak may yell at him for the occasional mistake, he always makes sure to listen. Tucker knows Krystkowiak is only trying to make him the best player he can be before all is said and done.
“He’s just been on me in practice, always yelling, but that just motivates me to keep doing better,” Tucker said. “Even if someone is yelling at you, it’s better than if they’re not talking to you at all. I just see it as a positive.”
Tucker has enjoyed his time with the other seniors on the team, Brandon Taylor and Jordan Loveridge, and hopes the trio can end their season — and careers — with a bang. He wants to leave his mark on the program and hopes to set an example for whoever else comes in.
“I want people to know that I gave all my effort,” Tucker said. “I played my role pretty well on this team. I brought this program something that it needed, and I helped it from when I was a freshman until now, and I just give advice to the people who come in to keep working hard — then everything will fall into place.”
@kbrenneisen