Each 1 Teach 1 might be the only grassroots basketball team in the country talented enough to divert the spotlight away from Tacko Fall. The Florida-based squad has the best player in the country in Australian-bred point-forward Ben Simmons. It also has one of the best pure scorers in the class of 2015 in guard Antonio Blakeney and a top big man prospect in Ohio State recruit Daniel Giddens. Fall is merely a role player on his summer squad, but everywhere else he goes he’s bound to be the center of attention.
7’5 center Tacko Fall is your new favorite college basketball recruit
Meet the tallest high school basketball player in the country.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Fall is the tallest high school basketball player in the country at 7’5. That’s 2 inches taller than the tallest NBA player, Oklahoma City’s Hasheem Thabeet. There hasn’t been giant in college basketball taller than him since 7’7 UNC Asheville center Kenny George in 2007.
Fall is a native of Senegal and moved to the United States in 2012. He’s bound to be your favorite college basketball player a year from now. Some things to know:
- With an 8-foot wingspan, he’s nearly capable of dunking without jumping.
- “I’m hoping to play professional basketball,” he said, “but at the same time I want to be a biochemist.”
- In November, his 7-year-old brother was already 5’9.
- From the Orlando Sentinel: “Fall, who weighs 250 pounds, is capable of eating a pizza topped with cheese, chicken and hamburger in one sitting.”
- He had to sleep diagonally across his bed.
- “School is easier here than in my country,” said Fall. “I haven’t had a lot of problems with academics. I like math, chemistry and biology.”
Fall is in Louisville this week for AAU Nationals. It looks like he’s off to a good start:
If you’d rather see Fall’s ability distilled down to one GIF, this one should work out pretty well:
Fall recently picked up an offer from Clemson and already has been offered by UTEP, LaSalle, Xavier, Tennessee and Georgia Tech.
It’s easy to see what college coaches like about Fall, mainly his ability to act as a rim protector without jumping. He’s more mobile than some of the other giants who have become cult favorites in college basketball lately, like former New Mexico State center, 7’5 Sim Bhullar. While the tools to become a very good college player are in place, Fall is still working on becoming a productive high school player.
Across 10 games in the EYBL regular season, Fall averaged only 3.5 points per game. He averaged only 4.6 minutes per game for Each 1 Teach 1 at Peach Jam, scoring a total of six points.
Fall may have a long way to go on the basketball court, but he’s only been playing the game seriously for two years. On size alone, he’s one of the most intriguing big men in the class of 2015.
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