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Wisconsin assistant coach Alando Tucker talks with guard D'Mitrik Trice during practice.(Photo: Rick Wood / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

MADISON The fit appeared to be perfect.

The offer was one that couldnt be refused.

Saying no didnt appear to be an option.

After all, who wouldnt want to work at the basketball program and under one of the coaches responsible for helping him develop into an All-American player?

Yet even after UW head coach Greg Gard offered the job of interim assistant coach for the 2019-20 season, Alando Tucker had to ponder the matter, weigh every pro and every con.

The process was trying to figure out how to grieve and trying to balance that with life still moving (forward), the world still rotating, Tucker said Friday during the teams annual media day. I was stuck in the middle.

Is it something that is deserved? Id have to fill a great friends shoes. So, youve got all of these different emotions you have to go through.

Including guilt.

Under normal circumstances, Tucker probably wouldnt have hesitated to accept Gards offer. Yet anyone who follows the UW mens basketball program understands the circumstances were anything but normal and why Tucker needed time before accepting challenge of working on game plans, tutoring players and wooing recruits.

Tucker understood he would be taking over for assistant Howard Moore, who lost his wife and daughter and suffered severe burns in a horrific automobile accident on Memorial Day weekend. Moore was on the UW staff when Tucker was a player (2002 through 2007). He was a mentor, a friend, a brother.

No one expected this, said Tucker, who served as UW's Director of Student-Athlete Engagement since February of 2018 before taking over as assistant coach on July 30. There was never a blueprint for this. It all happened so fast. To me, it was like I blinked and I became a coach."

Gard understood the initial reticence.

I knew that weighed on his mind, Gard said. He talked to his family about it. He talked to Howards parents about it. That was really important for him to have their blessing, that he could step into this role, knowing that he was trying to continue what Howard had been a part of.

It wasnt an overnight, easy decision for him.

Yet assistant coach Joe Krabbenhoft, who was a teammate of Tuckers for two seasons, understood why the offer was eventually accepted.

Hes not replacing Howard," Krabbenhoft explained. "Hes picking up a brother. Really, Howard and Alando, that relationship, theyre family. Thats what family does.

If something bad happens, you go, you do, you jump on board, you get in your car and your drive. You dont know why, you dont know what will happen, you just do it because its family. I think Alandos had that approach."

Tucker explained Thursday he has no doubt he is wired to coach the game he played professionally for 10 seasons, the first three in the NBA and the last seven overseas.

Im a natural coach, he said. Im owning this position. I could see myself in this long-term, for sure. I dont think that is a question.

The question that Tucker, who is married and has two sons, had to ask: Do I want to spend more time on the road after I promised my family those days were behind us?

I understood the demands will require me to travel a lot, he said. I had made a commitment to my family to be there.

Am I ready for this? When I became comfortable was when my wife said: Yes, you can do this. Weve experienced where you are gone all the time. At least you get to come home and you are there to tuck your kids into bed.

Although he wasnt able to go on the road recruiting initially, he was able to get to the know the players during summer workouts.

I think anytime you walk down that road, there is always some excitement in the unknown, Gard said. It was very good to have the summer where he could be here and be in the workouts and get his feet wet. That is what I wanted to do, knowing we could ease him into this, get him on the floor first and then work through the recruiting

He knows all our guys. Hes got street cred to no end. Hes got a lot of horsepower when he walks into the gym. They know who he is.

"I knew that was a very sensitive line that we had to walk. Walking in with John Stranger out of the blue, they dont have a grasp of the emotional strings attached to all this. And what is their motive?

"Were fortunate to have Alando. He has been terrific."

Tucker's initial reticence is gone. He is home again.

"I am here for a reason," he said. "When I decided to come back to the university it wasnt to be a coach.

"But it was the easiest transition to make it comfortable for the coaches, comfortable for the players and ultimately for the families.

"Lets not be mistaken. This is an unbelievable opportunity to be able to coach on this level. Im very fortunate to be in that position. But again, it came (after) the most tragic incident anyone could ever experience."

Originally posted here:
'Is it something that is deserved?': Alando Tucker paused before choosing to join UW coaching staff - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel