TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — After a non-existent summer and a fall filled with anticipation, the Godby girls basketball team's season is officially underway. Every year, the Godby girls basketball team has a motto they live by.
"It's our saying, unmask our gift," said senior Charnell Tucker of this year's mantra. "We have to show who we are as women behind this mask."
"Unmask the gift." A saying that means a little more for Tucker this year.
"I try to be positive, be the role model on the team, help some of the JV team work out with them, work out after practice," she said. "It's one change can make a difference."
"She's taken it to heart more than anything we've done," said head coach Chelsea Muir. "She says, 'I hide a lot of times behind my teammates. I'm teammate first and it's my time as a senior to step up.' She's truly unmasking the gift inside and outside of the lines."
A gift on the court and in the classroom. Tucker's leading the Lady Cougars with a 3.8 GPA.
"When they send me their grades on a weekly progress report, she'll say, 'There's a B, but I'm going to pull it up.' I'm like, 'Girl! You have 5 A's and a B, relax,'" Muir said. "It's that push right there. You don't need me to push you. You are self-motivated."
"I can balance everything. You just have to find the right mindset," said Tucker. "You just have to be dedicated. Go beyond, stay up late, do the homework assignment. Come home from practice, take a shower, eat, do the homework assignment. You can't stop. You just have to grind."
That grind has earned Tucker the respect of her teammates.
"We know adversity comes, but those things, trials come to make us strong," said Muir. "I think she's learned that at Tabernacle, at our church, and she's brought that to the Lady Cougar program."
A gift for Godby, unmasked, for the season ahead.
Tucker said her goal is to play basketball at the next level, and she said she wants to study journalism.
