MOULTRIE — This is what three Colquitt County Sports Hall of Famers had to say of Lamar Tucker, who played football and basketball at Moultrie High from 1938-1941:

“He was the best basketball player Moultrie ever had,” said Gladys Espy, the longtime Packerettes coach.

“He is the best athlete I ever coached,” said Ike Aultman.

“I played all varsity sports at Georgia Tech and the University of Miami. And I never played with a better athlete than Lamar Tucker,” said Jerry Wright.

Even Grant Gillis, another Colquitt County Sports Hall of Fame member, maintained that Tucker had the best hand-eye coordination of anyone he ever saw.

Tucker, who died Monday at his home in Thomasville, became a member of the Hall of Fame himself, inducted in 2004.

Ralph Lamar Tucker was an outstanding blocking back in football and an All-State basketball player.

Basketball was his favorite sport and he learned to play on a dirt court outside Funston Elementary, where he attended school.

As a senior at Moultrie High playing for coach Huey Murphy, another future Hall of Famer, Tucker helped lead the Packers to an undefeated regular season.

Moultrie was averaging 65 points a game when it opened play in the 1942 state tournament in Macon.

The Packers defeated Brooklet 37-22 and Decature 56-32 to reach the state championship game, where they fell to Canton 25-23.

That Packer team was the first to have qualified for the state tournament.

Tucker and teammate J.B. Lewis were named to the All-State team.

Bill Avera, the Sports Editor of The Moultrie Observer, referred to Tucker as “the brilliant forward and defensive ace of the district.”

Tucker also was an outstanding football player and was a member of the Grant Gillis-coached 1941 team that 7-1 and won the South Georgia Football Association championship.

A two-year all-star in football, Tucker was called by Avera “the best blocking back in the Association.”

Tucker received a number of scholarship offers before enrolling at the University of Georgia with the intention of playing basketball.

However, he soon entered the military and served in India for two years during World War II. He also served during the Korean Conflict.

He lived much of his life in Colquitt County, where he coach youth baseball. His son Doug was an outstanding football and baseball player for the Packers.