Tucker joins former ENMU assistant on bench

LAREDO, Texas — Tori Tucker is back on the sidelines with Jeff Caha, after her hiring this week as assistant women’s basketball coach at Texas A&M International.

Tucker, who led Floyd to a state championship in 2010, was serving as an assistant at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.

The two knew each other when Tucker played her junior and senior seasons at Eastern New Mexico University with Caha serving as associate head coach.

"I always thought that if I became a head coach,” Caha said in a school release, “Tori was someone who I would love to have come coach with me due to her work ethic but more because of her character. Tori was an excellent player but an even better teammate."

Tucker said she was “all-in” at the chance to rejoin Caha.

"In the two years I played for Coach Caha, I was able to learn a ton and was taught to think outside the box when it came to different aspects of our program,” Tucker said. “I also was able to witness him work hard off the floor for us as players as well and he earned my respect because of that. As a coach these past two seasons, I was always able to call and bounce ideas off him or ask for advice and he was always willing to take the time to help and that was huge for me..”