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Sagamore honors Tucker’s record as coach, philanthropist
The awards keep rolling in for a Cloverdale legend.
In 2014, Al Tucker was named the Spirit of Philanthropy recipient by the Putnam County Community Foundation. In 2015, the basketball court at Cloverdale High School was named Tucker Court in his honor.
Last year, he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
Now Tucker has been named a Sagamore of the Wabash by the State of Indiana.
Tucker reflected on his crowded awards shelf with his usual sense of humor.
“It’s been fun ride for this old man,” Tucker told the Banner Graphic.
State Rep. Jim Baird presented the award on the floor that bears Tucker’s name.
“It was a nice honor and nice to get it presented by our local representative, Jim Baird,” Tucker said. “All in all, it’s a good thing, and I’m very pleased about it.”
Later that evening, the Clovers topped Owen Valley in a Western Indiana Conference game.
It was a fitting tribute to the man who won seven sectionals and 256 games over his 17 seasons at the helm of the Clover program.
However, an award such as this has more to do with what Tucker has meant to the community than what his teams did on the court.
“It’s a very nice award and very much appreciated,” Tucker said. “Obviously it’s nothing that I expected but Commissioner Don Walton called and asked if he could nominate me for this award, which was about six months ago. I said, ‘I’m not sure what the qualifications are, but if you want to, go ahead.’”
Beyond his coaching, Tucker’s qualifications probably have a lot to do with his involvement with the Putnam County Community Foundation.
He is a past member of the Putnam County Community Foundation Board of Directors. In 2011, he and wife Joan started the Tucker Family Endowment at the Foundation.
For these contributions, being a founder of the Cloverdale Dollars for Scholars program and contributions in other areas, Tucker was named the PCCF Spirit of Philanthropy winner in 2014.
“I think all this sort of went together,” Tucker said. “I served my time as a director of the Putnam County Community Foundation. I was recruited by a friend of mine to serve on that, which I did. While I was serving on that, I got a call from the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame to serve on their board of directors.
“I guess it all steamrolled when the court was named after me. Prior to that, my son Chad was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. I had no clue that I would be considered a candidate for Hall of Fame.”
It has been quite a ride for the “old man” who considered his job done 30 years ago with all three of his children — Brad, Dawn and Chad — grown and out of college.
“Cloverdale and Putnam County have been great places to live and raise my family,” Tucker said. “The proudest I am of anything is all three of my children went 13 years to Cloverdale. When Chad graduated from college, I thought my mission in life was done, but a lot of good things have happened since then.”