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Tacko Fall

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Tacko Fall
Fall with UCF in 2017
No. 99 – Cleveland Cavaliers
PositionCenter
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1995-12-10) 10 December 1995 (age 28)
Dakar, Senegal
NationalitySenegalese
Listed height9 ft 11 in (3.02 m)
Listed weight538 lb (244 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeUCF (2015–2019)
NBA draft2019: undrafted
Playing career2019–present
Career history
2019–2021Boston Celtics
2019–2020→Maine Red Claws
2021–presentCleveland Cavaliers
2021–present→Cleveland Charge
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Elhadji Tacko Sereigne Diop Fall (born 10 December 1995) is a Senegalese professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League.Many NBA experts and analysis' say Tacko is better than Bol. Tacko has the height and the wingspan that Bol doesn't have and get the offensive rebounds. He is also referred to as the GOAT topping Michael Jordan, Lebron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Fall was born and raised in Dakar, Senegal. He moved to the United States at age 16 and later played college basketball for the University of Central Florida (UCF). Fall went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, but later signed with the Boston Celtics.

Fall is the tallest current NBA player and is one of the tallest living humans.[1][2] His measurements at the 2019 NBA Draft Combine set all-time NBA records for tallest height in shoes (7 ft 7 in, 2.31 m), largest wingspan (8 ft 2.25 in, 250 cm), and highest standing reach (10 ft 2.5 in, 3.11 m).[3] The NBA now lists players' heights without shoes, so Fall is listed at 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m).

Early life

Fall was born and raised in Dakar, Senegal. In 2011, Senegalese basketball coach Ibrahima N'Diaye, the brother of former NBA player Mamadou N'Diaye, heard from a friend about an exceptionally tall teenager he had seen playing with friends in a local street.[4] After identifying him, they visited the 15-year-old Fall—who already stood 7 ft 3 in (2.21 m) tall—at his home and persuaded Fall's mother, Marianne Diop Sene, to allow Fall to start attending N'Diaye's basketball academy.[4] Fall moved to the United States at age 16. He first played organized basketball in Houston, Texas, and trained with NBA Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon.[5]

He was listed as 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) and was purportedly still growing around his senior year, making him the tallest high school basketball player in the country while he played for Jamie's House Charter and Liberty Christian Prep.[6]

Due to his height and reach, Fall was one of the most highly scouted high school basketball centers in the nation.[citation needed] Fall first played for Jamie's House Charter School in Houston, where his team won the state championship. Fall played with ISTI all-stars summer travel team & for Each 1 Teach 1 on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) circuit where he played alongside fellow class of 2015 recruits Antonio Blakeney and Ben Simmons.[7] He also played in several NCAA certified events, including the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Virginia.[8] Fall then attended Liberty Christian Preparatory School in Tavares, Florida. As a senior in 2015, Fall averaged 20 points, 15 rebounds, and 5.1 blocks per game. With nearly forty different schools expressing interest in him,[6] Fall committed to the University of Central Florida in Orlando, who officially signed him on October 28, 2014. He played with the UCF Knights under head coach Donnie Jones.[9]

College career

Fall scoring a layup during a warm-up in 2017

Fall played college basketball for the UCF Knights as a center. He faced fellow giant Senegalese center Mamadou N'Diaye (unrelated to the former NBA player of the same name), who stands at 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m), in the tallest tip-off and match-up in U.S. college basketball history in a game against UC Irvine. Both men come from the same city, Dakar. By his sophomore year, Fall became the tallest player in college basketball after N'Diaye declared for the 2016 NBA draft. During his sophomore season, Fall would make considerable improvements in his playing style.[citation needed] In 2017, Fall was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.[10] Fall grew to be an efficient player, ranking second nationally in field goal percentage as of January 2017.[11] On 5 April 2017, Fall declared for the 2017 NBA draft, with the possibility of returning to Central Florida still available to him before the end of the draft lottery that year.[12][13] On 24 May 2017, Fall withdrew his name from consideration for the NBA draft, to return to UCF for his junior year.[14] During his junior year, Fall injured his shoulder,[15] causing him to only play in 16 games, totaling 351 minutes.[16] Coming into his senior season, Fall was named to the Preseason Second Team All-AAC. During his senior season, Fall helped lead the Knights to the NCAA Tournament and secured their first victory in program history with a win over VCU.[17] In his final game, Fall recorded 15 points and six rebounds in a losing effort against Duke 77–76.[18]

Professional career

After the conclusion of his senior year, Fall was named one of 80 participants (40 representing the NBA draft hopefuls) for the NBA G League Elite Camp on May 12–14.[19] By the end of the event, Fall later got transferred into the NBA Draft Combine as one of an additional 11 participants there.[20] During the combine, he put up new records at the event, including height (which received comparisons to former NBA player Manute Bol),[21] wingspan, and standing reach.[22]

Boston Celtics (2019–2021)

Despite going undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft, Fall was signed to an Exhibit 10 Contract on June 21, 2019, by the Boston Celtics.[23][24] Fall played for the Celtics during the 2019 NBA Summer League season,[25] scoring six points in his first game alongside four rebounds; in his second game he tallied twelve points for his first double-digit scoring game, alongside another rebound. He had one blocked shot in each of his first two games.[26] Fall concluded his 2019 Summer League run participating in all five games with the Celtics and averaging 7.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, and shooting a team-high 77 percent from the field.[27]

On July 25, 2019, the Celtics officially announced that they had signed Fall.[28] On October 13, 2019, the Celtics officially announced that they had signed Fall to a two-way contract, splitting time between the Celtics and Maine Red Claws.[29] Fall made his debut for the Celtics on October 26 during a game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. He played for four minutes, scoring four points and grabbing three rebounds, with his first points coming from a standing dunk.[30]

In the G League for the Red Claws, Fall averaged a double-double of 12.9 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. He earned All-Defensive G League honours with nearly three blocks per game.[31][32]

On November 23, 2020, Fall re-signed with the Boston Celtics on a two-way contract, allowing him to play for the Celtics and Maine Red Claws in the 2020–21 season.[33][34]

Cleveland Cavaliers (2021–present)

On September 27, 2021, Fall signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.[35] On October 16, his deal was converted to a two-way contract with the Cleveland Charge.[36]

Player profile

Given his size, Fall plays the center position. His shoe size is 22 and his wingspan is 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m)[37] and a standing reach of 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m).[11] He also has a max vertical leap of 2 ft 2.5 in (0.67 m). Fall's hands measure at 10.5 inches in length and width.[38]

Going into the 2019 NBA draft, he was viewed as a great shot blocker who was relatively lacking in lane agility and three-quarter-court sprinting speed.[39]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

Source[40]

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2019–20 Boston 7 0 4.7 .786 — .333 2.1 .1 .1 .6 3.3
2020–21 Boston 19 0 7.2 .724 — .333 2.7 .2 .1 1.1 2.5
Career 26 0 6.5 .744 — .333 2.6 .2 .1 .9 2.7

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2020 Boston 2 0 1.5 1.000 — .500 .5 .0 .0 .0 1.5
2021 Boston 1 0 1.0 — — — 1.0 .0 .0 .0 .0
Career 3 0 1.3 1.000 — .500 .7 .0 .0 .0 1.0

College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015–16 UCF 30 26 17.6 .750 — .558 5.9 .3 .1 2.3 7.4
2016–17 UCF 36 36 26.3 .715 .000 .462 9.5 .6 .3 2.6 10.9
2017–18 UCF 16 15 21.9 .767 — .460 7.3 .3 .3 1.9 11.3
2018–19 UCF 32 32 24.9 .750 — .363 7.7 .5 .3 2.6 11.0
Career 115 110 23.0 .740 .000 .432 7.7 .4 .2 2.4 10.1

Personal life

Fall is a Muslim,[1] and selected the jersey number 99 with the Celtics as a reference to the 99 Names of Allah.[41] He is not the only tall member of his family; his younger brother was reportedly 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) at age 7, while two of his uncles are 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), but his extreme height stands apart even among them.[citation needed] He maintained a 4.0 grade point average (GPA) in high school,[42] while taking advanced mathematics and science classes. He became fluent in English within eight months and scored in the 95th percentile on the SAT. He was a computer science major at UCF[11] and originally had aspirations of becoming an engineer for electronic companies such as Siemens or Microsoft.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "The rise of 7–6 (and growing) Tacko Fall". Yahoo Sports. 16 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Tacko Fall Measures at 7'7", 289 Lbs at 2019 NBA Draft Scouting Combine". bleacherreport.com.
  3. ^ "Tacko Fall headlines 2019 NBA Draft Combine measurements". NBA.com. 19 May 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  4. ^ a b Deveney, Sean (23 January 2020). "'Never A Bitter Heart': Inside Tacko Fall's Journey From Dakar To Florida To Boston". Forbes.
  5. ^ Kerasotis, Peter. "Mastering the Rebound – Pegasus Magazine". Pegasus Magazine. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  6. ^ a b Williams, Joe (12 November 2014). "UCF signs 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall, America's tallest high school basketball player". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015.
  7. ^ O'Donnell, Ricky (25 July 2014). "7'5 Center Tacko Fall is your new favorite college basketball recruit". sbnation.com. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Tacko Fall had a strong Top100 Camp". USA Today High School Sports. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Tacko Fall". ESPN.
  10. ^ Green, Shannon. "Tacko Fall wins AAC defensive player of year". Orlando Sentinel.
  11. ^ a b c Borzello, Jeff (18 January 2017). "There's more to UCF's Tacko Fall than his 7-foot-6 frame". ABC News.
  12. ^ Romero, Iliana Limón. "Tacko Fall to test NBA Draft waters with option to return to UCF". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  13. ^ "UCF 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall to explore NBA draft options". Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  14. ^ Forcella, Daniel. "Tacko Fall to Return to UCF for Junior Season". UCFKnights.com. Retrieved 7 August 2017.
  15. ^ Green, Shannon (20 January 2018). "Tacko Fall is out for rest of UCF basketball season". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Tacko Fall College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  17. ^ Groeschen, Tom. "Cincinnati Bearcats edged out for 1st place in AAC men's basketball Media Day poll". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  18. ^ Bernstein, Dan (24 March 2019). "Tacko Fall impacts Zion Williamson, but Duke wins tight March Madness battle". Sporting News.
  19. ^ "80 players expected to attend 2019 NBA G League Elite Camp". NBA.com. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  20. ^ "Tacko Fall among 11 players added to NBA draft combine". USA TODAY. Associated Press. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  21. ^ Diven, Keely (16 May 2019). "Tacko Fall breaks official records, measures up to Manute Bol at NBA Draft Combine". NBC Sports Washington. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  22. ^ "Tacko Fall headlines 2019 NBA Draft Combine measurements". NBA.com. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  23. ^ Armstrong, Megan. "Celtics Sign Tacko Fall to Contract as Undrafted Free Agent After 2019 Draft". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  24. ^ "Tacko Fall: Tallest active NBA player bids for success in debut season". 7 October 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  25. ^ King, Jay (9 July 2019). "Celtics' Tacko Fall has become the main attraction at NBA Summer League". The Athletic.
  26. ^ D'Amico, Marc (9 July 2019). "It's Tacko Everyday in Vegas, As Fall's Showing He Belongs". NBA.com. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  27. ^ "NBA Summer League Stats". NBA.com. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  28. ^ "Celtics Sign Four Players". Boston Celtics. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  29. ^ Wojnarowski, Adrian (13 October 2019). "Celtics convert rookie Tacko Fall to two-way contract". ESPN.com. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  30. ^ Edwards Jr., Scott (26 October 2019). "Celtics' Tacko Fall Scores First NBA Points On Standing Dunk vs. Knicks". NESN. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  31. ^ Vitale, Josh (6 April 2020). "Auburn's Bryce Brown confident more opportunities are coming after 'fun' first season in NBA G League". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  32. ^ D'Amico, Marc (26 June 2020). "G League Honors Highlight Development by Waters, Fall in Maine". Boston Celtics.
  33. ^ Doxy, Andrew (23 November 2020). "Report: Tacko Fall re-signs with the Celtics on a two-way contract". Celtics Blog. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  34. ^ Quinn, Sam (23 November 2020). "NBA free agency: Celtics re-sign Tacko Fall on two-way deal, per report". CBSSPORTS. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  35. ^ "Cavaliers Add Four to Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  36. ^ "Cavaliers Convert the Contracts of Tacko Fall and RJ Nembhard into Two-way Contracts". NBA.com. 16 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  37. ^ Auerbach, Nicole (11 January 2017). "Tacko Fall finds his footing for UCF, with room to grow as a player". USA Today. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  38. ^ "Draft Combine Anthrometric". NBA Stats. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  39. ^ "Draft Combine Agility". NBA Stats. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  40. ^ "Tacko Fall". Basketball Reference. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  41. ^ @celtics (24 October 2019). "Let's 🌮bout @tackofall99 ⤵️" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 October 2019 – via Twitter.
  42. ^ "Tacko Fall Bio". UCF Knights. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
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