Pierce's Rachelle Tucker, right, and Jacy Bretschneider are all smiles as they wait to receive their championship medals after a win over Minden in the Nebraska Class C championship game in March. Tucker verbally committed to Wyoming for the class of 2015. Francis Gardler/Lincoln Journal Star
Pierce's Rachelle Tucker, right, and Jacy Bretschneider are all smiles as they wait to receive their championship medals after a win over Minden in the Nebraska Class C championship game in March. Tucker verbally committed to Wyoming for the class of 2015. Francis Gardler/Lincoln Journal Star
Almost no one gave Pierce, Nebraska, a chance in the Nebraska Class C girls state basketball championship game in March.
Undefeated and untested Minden had won 26 straight games by an average of almost 19 points with three Division I recruits on its roster.
“At the beginning of the season, Minden was pretty much handed the state championship trophy because they had all these Division I recruits,” Pierce junior forward Rachelle Tucker told the Lincoln Journal Star after Pierce won 69-60.
“We just wanted to prove that we could defend our title.”
As it turned out, Pierce also had a pretty talented Division I recruit in Tucker.
The 6-foot-2 athletic forward recently verbally committed to the University of Wyoming, becoming the second recruit for the 2015 class. She joins 6-1 forward Daley Handy of Maize, Kansas, as verbal commitments for the Cowgirls.
The earliest a basketball player can sign a national letter of intent is November.
Tucker scored 23 points in the Class C title game win, the second straight state championship for Pierce, and averaged 19 points and 8.3 rebounds a game during her junior year. The forward also shot 60 percent from the field and 70 percent from the free-throw line while also averaging 1.7 blocks and 1.3 steals a game.
One interesting aspect of Tucker’s game is that she didn’t attempt a single 3-pointer this past season, something she’ll likely have to do in Wyoming’s offensive system.
Wyoming “usually runs the four-out or five-out game on offense, and I really like to drive and shoot,” Tucker said. “I like to be around the block and out to the 15-foot area. I know I’ll have to improve on my 3-point shooting, and I think I can do that.”
Tucker also had interest on the recruiting trail from Creighton and Nebraska-Omaha and was picking up other interest during the summer AAU season. But after visiting Wyoming about a month ago, Tucker said her decision was easy.
“I didn’t intentionally plan to commit before school started, but once I came to Wyoming and saw the campus and everything, I knew this was the place I wanted to be,” she said. “I came in with an open mind, and I was really excited to hear about how supportive the town was about the team and the university.
“From the start of my visit, the coaches were so welcoming, and the environment they have around the campus and everywhere felt so at home. It just felt right.”
With the commitments of Tucker and Handy, the Cowgirls have three open scholarships for the 2015-16 season.
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