City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@jsantoliquito)
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Kaiya Rain Tucker did not really know what to expect. She sat there in Siena coach Terry Primm’s office watching a slideshow of herself. Nodding as Primm was breaking down her game, Tucker was thinking this hadn't yet happened during her recruiting journey: someone going to this extent to impress her.

It worked. The stalwart 6-foot Friends’ Central rising senior forward was very impressed.

So rapt, that on Tuesday, July 30, she called Primm to tell him she would be committing to play for Siena and on August 3 went public with her decision on social media.

“I love their coaching staff, their style of play, they are fast paced, their energy is high, everyone wants to win, those are the reason I choose Siena,” said Tucker, who averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds a game as a junior for the Phoenix last season. “They allowed me to watch practice and coach Primm took the time to make a slideshow of me.

"Coach Primm liked how I rebound, and he liked how I shoot. He likes my aggressiveness, and he told me he watched one of my games down at the DMV Live and told me I should have taken more shots, but instead I passed it. I loved that. He was not even my coach at the time and he was encouraging me.”

Tucker chose Siena, which will be under Primm for the first time this season after coach Jim Jabir retired after last season, over UMass-Lowell and Le Moyne. Cornell, Mercyhurst and Colgate were also in contact with her. Last year, Siena went 18-12 overall and finished 14-6 in the MAAC, reaching the MAAC tournament semifinals. The Saints currently have one local on their roster, Baldwin School’s Anajah Brown.

“Coach Primm let me know he has high expectations for me next year, he sees me as the MAAC Rookie of the Year, that’s how high he wants me to reach,” said Tucker, who maintains a 3.9 GPA at Friends’ Central and will be a three-year starter for Phoenix coach Vinny Simpson. “The other thing I like is Coach Primm does not define anyone by position. You could be the guard, you could be the forward, or a center, or shooting guard. He will allow me to really open my game and add more versatility.

"Coach Primm showed me how they run their practice and their plays. They opened everything up to me. To me, this was super important: Siena is No. 1 in job placement in New York over Columbia and Cornell. It can’t get any better than that. They are remodeling dorms, and I have a list of things I want to major in.

“This feels great committing early. I can play my senior year and not have to worry where I am going to school. I can’t wait for the season to begin. We’re (Friends’ Central) going to be really good. I think we are good enough to be nationally ranked. I have more memories to build. It all starts with practice. It’s no time to joke.”

The Phoenix, who finished 8-1 in the Friends Schools League and 25-7 overall, return a lot of talent. Returning with Tucker will be three-year starting 5-foot-8 senior shooting guard Nal’la Bennett, along with rising seniors Sydney Williams, a national-level recruit, 6-3 wing/forward Logyn Greer, Jordyn Adderly and Saniyah Washington.

“This year, I want to expand my game,” Tucker said. “I want to be more aggressive offensively, and the more successful I am scoring, the more options we will have. I need to be more offensive minded.”

Simpson definitely agrees. It was Simpson who turned Tucker around from a back-to-the-basket player to facing the basket and bringing her game out to the perimeter.

“Kaiya made a big jump last year,” Simpson said. “This is a great situation for her. She does not have to overly impress anyone. She has a college destination, and she can work on improving every day. She possesses those things you can’t teach or see on a stat sheet, like leadership, high energy, vocal, and she can stretch the floor. She is a high-IQ player and is someone who you can put the ball in her hands. She is willing to do anything she has to do to win. Coaches love players like that.

“Kaiya transferred into Friends’ Central her sophomore year. Last summer, she broke out and showed college coaches what she could do. The biggest improvement came in shooting the ball. She is 6-foot, can work the post, can hit the three consistently, that is what college coaches noticed. I told her last year the only way she can be a unique big by facing the basket. She’s good, and her potential is so much better."

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Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.