Tucker Garza’s athletic career at Elk City has been one of success mixed with adversity. He plays football where he is a running back and linebacker, basketball as a forward, and runs the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes in track for the Elks. One of his highlights was tying the school record for touchdowns in a single game with five in one game his freshman year. But two knee injuries have also meant gaps in his playing time over the years, particularly in basketball and track.
“I missed my freshman year in basketball, played my sophomore year and missed about half the season last year,” said Garza. “That was really a bummer because I was averaging about 17 points and game and hitting 40 percent on 3-pointers before I was hurt and it was really frustrating to have to watch us lose games that I know I could have made a difference in. This year my goal is to average over 20 points a game and keep the 3-point percentage high again.”
The emphasis on basketball in the Garza household stemmed from a mom who played on high school state championship team at Canute and a houseful of sisters who played basketball. But dad played football in high school and that’s the sport that Tucker likes the best.
“I think in football you tend to develop more character because there’s more adversity ink football and I think you get closer as a team in football.”
On the gridiron or the hardwoods, Tucker is a senior leader this year and he has some solid ideas on what it takes to be a good leader.
“I think being a good leader is about more than just being vocal but also about being a good example of how to do the right thing. You can’t demand something from someone that you’re not willing to do yourself. We have a young basketball team this year with a lot of sophomores and being vocal but encouraging in hard games will be important because these guys have not been required to play at a high level and so I want to be a reliable source of encouragement for them.”
Tucker’s main goal is to remain injury free the rest of the football season and enjoy a full senior season of basketball and track with an eye towards playing football at the next level next year. He’s had discussions with UCO, Emporia State and Panhandle State so far and would like to play offense wherever he ends up.
“I’d rather score a touchdown than save one,” he laughed.
