Chapin retires Cliff Tucker’s jersey in special ceremony
The number 21 is officially retired at Chapin High School.
The school retired Cliff Tucker’s basketball jersey in a special ceremony Friday night in the school gym before the boys basketball game against Andress.
Chapin head coach Rodney Lewis, who is in his first year as head coach, praised his friend Tucker in a speech, calling him one of the best athletes El Paso has ever seen.
He added that he knew all along he would retire Tucker’s jersey, but waited until the game against Andress to make it a special moment for the northeast.
“And I knew right when I took the job that I was going to retire his number to make sure no one else could put their body in the number 21 here at Chapin,” said Lewis. “And when I say ‘We,’ I’m also talking about you guys, Andress, because Cliff loved you guys, too.”
Andress would defeat Chapin Friday night by a final of 63-58 in a back and forth game that went to overtime.
The late Tucker was a star athlete for the Huskies who dazzled on both the football field and the basketball court.
His talent on the hardwood would eventually land him at Maryland, where he appeared in 131 games from 2007 to 2011. Tucker connected on a team-high 41 three-pointers during the 2010-11 season and even hit a buzzer-beating three to beat Georgia Tech in February of 2010.
He would eventually return to El Paso to suit up for UTEP as a wide receiver during the 2011 football season.
Tucker, 29, was among those killed in a car accident in May of last year while on the road back from San Antonio to his hometown of El Paso. Investigators said they believed the tread on one of the rear tires blew out causing the driver of their van to lose control and roll over on I-10 near Balmorhea, about 180 miles southeast of El Paso.
Tucker’s wife, Genesis Soto, died about a month later as a result of injuries she sustained during the crash.
The accident also claimed the lives of Andrew Akaji and Amanda Akaji while others were injured including Tucker’s three-year old daughter, Andrea.
Tucker’s mother, Regina, previously told ABC-7 her son was considering a career in the military at her request.
