Tucker starts to make his mark

Jamil Tucker says that the shoulder he injured during the preseason is still only 80 percent healed.

Just imagine what “The Thrill” will be able to do when he’s at full strength.

On Wednesday night, the 6-foot-9 Virginia junior had a career-high 15 points. Tucker also had seven rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block in helping UVa to a 77-75 victory over South Florida.

Tucker, whose contributions have been minimal in his first two college seasons, provided the X-factor.

“The Tucker kid was the biggest surprise,” said USF coach Stan Heath. “He did more than we thought or expected.”

Tonight, Virginia (2-0) will be looking for another good performance out of one of its elder statesmen when it hosts Radford at 7 p.m.

Against USF, UVa coach Dave Leitao paired Tucker in the frontcourt with Mike Scott, creating a smallish, yet versatile lineup.

“With Jamil, you get some experience and you get some offense,” Leitao said. “Between him and Mike, we’re not as big as need to be, but for the time being, before we get everybody deeper into the mix, he’s able to use his offense because he’s diversified.”

As a freshman, Tucker averaged 3.4 points. Last season, the Gary, Ind. resident averaged 5.2.

While those stats may not attest to much growth, Leitao says Tucker’s game has definitely evolved.

“He’s not just a 3-point shooter,” Leitao said. “He puts it on the floor and gets fouled a little more and is a little bit better around the basket than he was. He’s given us more than just a catch-and-shoot guy that he was in the past.”

Tucker has been, arguably, the most productive player of Leitao’s inaugural recruiting class, which also included Will Harris (now at Albany), Solomon Tat and Jerome Meyinsse.

Now, Tucker seems poised to make his biggest impact yet.

“My first year and second year prepared me for this year,” he said. “Just knowing that our team is more of a team without Sean Singletary — he was a 20-point scorer. We don’t have any 20-point scorers this season, so everyone has to contribute and step up in a bigger role. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

Freshman Sylven Landesberg has averaged 24.5 points in his first two games, but it certainly figures that several Cavaliers, namely Tucker, will be counted on to step up at different points throughout the season.

If his shoulder can hold up, Tucker could be in store for a breakout season.

“It feels good,” he said. “It has its sore moments, but it’s definitely getting better. We’re stretching it every day and it’s getting stronger every day.

“It’s not at full strength, but it’s definitely getting there.”

Dunks

Virginia’s participation in the 2010 Maui Invitational is official. Joining UVa in a very strong eight-school field will be Connecticut (and coach Dave Leitao’s former boss Jim Calhoun), Kentucky, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Washington, Wichita State and host Chaminade. The tournament will take place over Thanksgiving weekend in 2010. … Radford (2-0) is coming off an 86-46 win over Bridgewater on Tuesday. The Highlanders were led by 6-foot-11 Belarus native Artsiom Parakhouski, who had 19 points. … Radford, coached by Brad Greenberg — the brother of Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg — was picked to finish second in the Big South this season, ahead of VMI (seventh), which has already won at Kentucky and given Virginia a tough challenge last Sunday. … This is the fifth meeting between the schools. All have taken place in Charlottesville. UVa has won all four, most recently a 95-47 victory in 1997.