EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Drianna Tucker, daughter of the late El Paso basketball icon Cliff Tucker Jr., had been anxiously anticipating this day.
“I kept on telling my grandma, ‘I can’t wait to get baptized. I can’t wait,’” Drianna Tucker said.
It was a joyful start to the day for the Tucker family on Sunday, June 16, at the Hope Chapel on Fort Bliss, where they and friends of the late Cliff Tucker gathered to see his 9-year-old daughter get baptized.
It encapsulated a weekend where the Borderland memorialized the legacy of Cliff Tucker.
The Cliff Tucker Jr. Memorial Tournament entered its fifth year on Friday, honoring the former Chapin High School and University of Maryland basketball star, who died in a car wreck outside of Balmorhea, Texas in May 2018 along with his girlfriend, Genesis Soto, and Andrew and Amanda Akaji.
“It’s a day that’s emotional for all of us because it’s Father’s Day and their father’s not here. So, for all of the people that are here to support and continue to encourage us, that’s why we chose this day,” said Tucker mother, Regina Tucker.
Drianna, who was a 3-year old in 2018, was also in the vehicle the day her parents were killed, but she survived and was hospitalized and was fighting for her life after suffering a severe traumatic brain injury.
“I’m going to be honest with you: I know that Drianna should be dead, and that’s the roughest part,” Regina Tucker said. “By the grace of God, she’s not. He saved her. He’s cultivating something in her. He has a purpose for her, and whatever that purpose is, I hope that I’m going to be alive to see it.”
Ever since the accident, Drianna has had to undergo physical and speech therapy, and her journey has seen her progress dramatically from where she began.
Regina Tucker said Drianna’s had to go to therapy three times a week. She couldn’t walk, talk, dress herself, one of her eyes couldn’t move, and she had several developmental challenges as well.
Fast forward to today, she only has to go one day per week, and has improved her ability to do most things.
“She’s just an amazing child. You would never know that she has an injury, and there’s so many people to thank for that,” Regina Tucker said.
Drianna’s favorite sport, of course, is basketball, but said she gets to try a little bit of everything when she goes to therapy.
“We play soccer, basketball, and we do puzzles, we do tennis, and she makes me tired,” Drianna said.
She said she has seen her father’s basketball highlights, and thinks he’s good.
“I’m better, I’m better,” Drianna said, smirking.
Several former teammates of Cliff Tucker from his time at Maryland were in town to witness Drianna’s baptism and to take part in his memorial tournament.
“Cliff was like a brother to me. His family is my family, and I always want to support him,” said Dino Gregory, Tucker’s teammate at Maryland from 2007-2011. “It’s my job to come out here every year and support, see his kids, see his family, hang out in El Paso. I love him so it’s my way to show him that I’m still with him.”
“I wasn’t able to make it in the past, so this is actually my first time coming to El Paso. I feel like I owed it to them (Tucker family),” said Braxton Dupree, Tucker’s teammate at Maryland from 2007-2009. “Basketball is the gateway that brought us together, but our experiences made us brothers.”
“Cliff’s family embraced us and loved us while we were in Maryland, and they supported us. So it was only right for us to do the same thing,” said Adrian Bowie, Tucker’s teammate at Maryland from 2007-2011.
The three players spoke with joy and amazement at Drianna’s journey and her progress since the tragedy.
“It’s impressive. She went through something that not most of us have gone through or will ever go through. And for her to continue to be the young lady that she is, full of energy, full of life and full of love is amazing,” Bowie said.
“This gives us joy. I mean, how can we be sad although it’s very emotional, when we see what’s happening in her life? I can’t even imagine what really goes on but she doesn’t show it. She smiles. She’s just beautiful inside and out,” Regina Tucker said.