When Mack Tuck was hired this summer to coach the Rizing Fukuoka, he took over a team that had reached the bj-league championship game in May but fell one victory short of its ultimate goal. The Rizing, then coached by Atsushi Kanazawa, lost to the Yokohama B-Corsairs in the title match.

Now, Tuck's tenure as head coach is apparently over before it every really began. He was in Japan during the preseason but departed before the team's opener on Oct. 5, a 91-76 road win over the Takamatsu Five Arrows. But, according to a team source, he left Fukuoka due to a family matter.

He hasn't returned.