Every now and then, a young athlete comes along and blows our minds with the way that he simply dominates everyone around him. The latest such example was Trick Shot Titus, the adorable boy who was born to put a basketball through a hoop at any height or distance, as playing for the Duke Blue Devils was obviously written into his genetic code. But today we’re dealing with someone a little more physically gifted, as high school basketball star Tacko Fall is billed as the tallest high school basketball player in the world at an incredible 7-foot-5.
The folks at Home Team Hoops put together this highlight reel of the awkward-yet-dominant Fall just obliterating his competition by using his incredible and unfair reach advantage to make up for his negative vertical. I’ve watched this video three times since yesterday, and all I can think is that it’s fake. Is this a Pepsi ad? Is that Kyrie Irving on Greg Oden’s shoulders? If so, get him off, because they’ll snap like twigs. But it turns out that this dude is real, and he has quite the story.
According to an Orlando Sentinel article from last November, Fall only started playing basketball when he came over from Senegal, and that’s why he struggled at first at Liberty Christian Prep in Lake County. Hell, he struggles at everything because of the fact that he’s enormous.
Fall has an 8-foot wingspan, sleeps diagonally across his bed and must squeeze into most cars, if he can fit at all.
Fall, who weighs 250 pounds, is capable of eating a pizza topped with cheese, chicken and hamburger in one sitting. Anything to keep weight on his frame.
That won’t keep him from bumping his head into objects, though.
“When I walk through the door, every once in a while I forget to duck, and I’ll hit my head,” Fall said. “I hit my head on the ceiling fan in [Liberty Christian coach Paul Archer’s] house the first time I was there. It almost knocked me out. It hurt.”
It’s not just a freak thing, though. His brother is already 5-foot-9 and he’s just 7 years old. So if Fall’s dream of becoming an NBA player falls through, maybe his coaches and trainers can get a better jump on his brother’s eventual career.
