Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Region: Qatar

Tucker Dupree

Swimming (para)

Served as envoy

  • 2021  –  Qatar

Four-Time Paralympic Medalist Three-Time Paralympian Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina

Disability: Blind/ Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy

At 17, Tucker began to lose his vision and was diagnosed with a rare disease – Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON). In a short period of time, he lost 75% of his central vision in both eyes.

Tucker currently holds 9 American and Pan-American records.
At the 2016 Paralympic games in Rio, Tucker won a Bronze medal in the 100 meter backstroke.

At the 2012 London Paralympic Games, Tucker won a silver medal in the 100m backstroke and bronze medals in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle.

Tucker has been able to swim his way into over 10 world championship titles.

Tucker currently works for an energy company in Chicago and has a passion for accessibility, technology, plays piano, does yoga, and loves cooking.

Carla McGhee

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2009  –  Qatar

Carla McGhee enters her first year as a member of the Nevada women’s basketball staff. McGhee, who had a Hall of Fame career at Tennessee before playing five seasons in the WNBA, will assist with team travel, coordinating camps and academics and manage other operational duties for the Wolf Pack.

McGhee brings an impressive basketball résumé to Nevada. She has spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach in the SEC, the last two at Auburn and previously at South Carolina. She also has experience as a consultant and player personnel director with the WNBA, in addition to her playing career in the league from 1998-2003. She also spent two seasons as a sideline reporter for ESPN in addition to previous coaching spots at Temple and Auburn.

Her professional career was preceded by a standout career at Tennessee for legendary coach Pat Summit. While with the Lady Vols from 1986-90, McGhee and the team collected national championships in 1987 and 1989. McGhee was inducted into the Lady Vol Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2007.

Altogether, McGhee has more than eight years of experience as a collegiate coach and WNBA administrator, along with her 13-year professional career as a player that includes a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

McGhee then played professionally for teams in Germany, France, Turkey, South Korea, Spain, Italy and Greece for six years. With the start of professional leagues in the United States, she earned a spot on the Atlanta Glory of the ABL where she played from 1996 to 1998. From there, she went on to spend five years with the WNBA’s Orlando Miracle.

McGhee’s playing experience includes a lengthy stint in the USA Basketball organization, beginning with the 1987 Sports Festival. She went on to participate in the 1993 World Qualifying, 1994 World Championship and Goodwill Games, the 1995 Pan American Games and the 1996 Olympics. McGhee got her coaching start at Temple during the 2003-04 season when she helped the Owls to an Atlantic 10 Tournament championship and an NCAA Tournament appearance. She played an integral role in developing Candace Dupree into a first round pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft, the first such selection in Temple’s history.

Sam Perkins

Basketball

Served as envoy

  • 2005  –  Algeria
  • 2008  –  Kyrgyzstan
  • 2008  –  Kazakhstan
  • 2009  –  Qatar
  • 2010  –  Indonesia
  • 2011  –  South Sudan
  • 2012  –  United Kingdom
  • 2022  –  Albania

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Perkins attended Samuel J. Tilden High School. He later attended and graduated from Shaker High School in Latham, New York. He was named large-school player of the year (high school) by the New York State Sportswriters Association in 1980 and was also named to the 35 Greatest Boys McDonald’s All Americans team.

Perkins attended college at the University of North Carolina and played basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels from 1980 to 1984. He was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 1981 and starred alongside future NBA Hall of Famers James Worthy and Michael Jordan on the Tar Heels’ 1982 NCAA championship team. A three-time All-American, Perkins was the 1984 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. Perkins finished his collegiate basketball career as the Tar Heels’ all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots and as the second-highest scorer in team history. He graduated from UNC in 1984.

Perkins was a co-captain of the gold-medal-winning 1984 U.S. men’s Olympic basketball team.

Chosen by the Dallas Mavericks as the fourth overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft, Perkins went on to play as a power forward and center in the NBA from 1984 to 2001. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 1985. Perkins played for the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Seattle SuperSonics, and the Indiana Pacers, respectively. He scored a career-high 45 points on April 12, 1990. Perkins tied an NBA record on January 15, 1997 by making eight three-pointers without a miss. He appeared in three NBA Finals: The 1991 NBA Finals (with the Lakers), the 1996 NBA Finals (with the SuperSonics), and the 2000 NBA Finals (with the Pacers). In Game One of the 1991 NBA Finals, Perkins made a game-winning three-point shot to defeat the Chicago Bulls. He was known by the nicknames “Sleepy Sam”, “Big Smooth”, and “The Big Easy”.

Since his retirement in 2001, Perkins has been actively involved in a variety of charitable endeavors, including Special Olympics, Nothing But Nets in conjunction with the United Nations, Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers, Carolina for Kibera, NBA Cares, Basketball Without Borders and Habitat for Humanity.

In 2002, Perkins was named to the ACC 50th Anniversary men’s basketball team as one of the fifty greatest players in Atlantic Coast Conference history.

In 2008, Perkins was named vice president of player relations for the Indiana Pacers. That September, he was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.

In October 2011, Perkins traveled to South Sudan as a SportsUnited Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, where he worked with Hall of Fame NBA center Dikembe Mutombo to lead a series of basketball clinics and team building exercises with youths, the South Sudanese Wheelchair Basketball Team, and 36 coaches.

Perkins was named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018.