General

What’s 7-foot-8, English, and Has Two Thumbs? This Guy

Sep 1, 2009, 7:15 PM UTC

Not this guy this guy but, rather, that guy you see to your rightâ†µstanding a full two feet taller than a teammate of his. (The pointâ†µguard, naturally.) That’s Paul Sturgess, an Englishman who’s currently suiting up with the ...â†µer ... Mountain State Cougars, an NAIA team in West Virginia.â†µâ†µHe’s taller than Manute Bol, taller than Gheorghe Muresan, taller thanâ†µanyone in England and all but three or four guys anywhere on the planet.â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd he’s no good at basketball. At all:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥His last season at [JUCO] FTU he averaged 2.5 points and 2.8â†µâ‡¥rebounds.â†µâ†µâ†µI’m pretty sure if you’re 7-8 you can average threeâ†µrebounds a game by only using your teeth. And you can just stand nextâ†µthe basket as a human alley-oop, I’d think. If you’re familiar withâ†µsportswriting you can guess the next couple paragraphs:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥Not a big line, statistically speaking. But it isn’t stats that willâ†µâ‡¥get Sturgess to his ultimate destiny.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥And that is the NBA.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥“It’s definitely the NBA,” he said. “That’s the only goal for me,â†µâ‡¥really.”â†µâ†µ

â†µOh. Actually, I wasn't expecting a guy who averaged two points a game atâ†µa JUCO and is currently playing in the NAIA to say that. Nevermind. Itâ†µmight not be totally insane, since he's already shot down "six figure"â†µoffers to play in Europe, but, uh ...â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“I’m not going to say I am one of the best players (at MSU), but Iâ†µâ‡¥am going to work to be one of the best,” he said.â†µâ†µâ†µIt seems pretty foolhardy to not leap on six figures afterâ†µyour two points a game. Guys as enormous as Sturgess tend to see theirâ†µfeet, knees and other leg-affiliated bits explode early. You can catchâ†µSturgess in action ... never, unless you live in West Virginia. It’s anâ†µNAIA school. But when he appears as a jokey Sportscenter highlight, remember youâ†µheard it here first.â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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