Basketball: Tucker Thompson signs with WCU

According to several sources, Tucker Thompson, a 6-10 senior from Hough High School in Cornelius, NC has signed a NLI to play basketball for Western Carolina next season.

Thompson will join Devin Peterson, Ashley Williams, and Alex Hicks in the incoming 2014-15 freshman signing class. Thompson will join Charlendez Brooks (redshirt freshman) as the second 6' 9"+ true center on the roster. It's not known at this time if Thompson will redshirt.

Hough basketball coach Justin Batts:

“I was really impressed with Tucker all offseason and expected him to be one of the top big men in the entire Charlotte area,” Batts said, adding that Thompson gained about 15 pounds, up to a much-stronger 225 pounds. While Thompson has had some big games – including a season-best 25 points and 10 rebounds in 14 minutes in a win over Hopewell – his numbers don’t always show up in the box score. 

Thompson is perfectly happy doing the “dirty work,” like setting screens, boxing out for rebounds and more. He knows tough plays like rebounds and stick-backs can make a huge difference in tight games. Thompson is also the first to dive for a loose ball, according to Batts. “I don’t think Tucker gets enough credit for all the little things he does, especially defensively,” said Batts, who said Thompson also is averaging 1.6 blocks and 1.6 steals per game. “He not only affects a lot of shots by his size, but he is our best guy at boxing out, and we always have him on other team’s best offensive rebounder.”