Elhadji Tacko Sereigne Diop Fall (born December 10, 1995) is a Senegalese basketball player who currently plays college basketball for the UCF Knights. At 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m), he is among the tallest college players in the US.
Video Tacko Fall
Early life
Born and raised in Dakar, Senegal, Fall moved from Senegal to the United States at age 16. Initially, he played soccer and had no interest in basketball. Fall visited the International Sports Training Institute at Dakar, known as ISTI-Dakar, in Senegal.
Fall lived with Ben Simmons for one year in Houston, Texas and played for his first organized basketball school team there. He trained with Simmons and NBA Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon.
Fall went to Liberty Christian Prep, in Florida, for his final two years of high school, and now plays college basketball at the University of Central Florida.
Maps Tacko Fall
Basketball career
High school
Fall is 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) and was 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. Due to his height and eight foot (2.45 m) wingspan, Fall was one of the most highly scouted high school basketball centers in the country. Fall first played for Jamie's House Charter School in Houston, where his team won the state championship in 2012. Tacko played with ISTI all-stars summer travel team. He played in several NCAA certified events. Fall then attended with Liberty Christian Preparatory School in Tavares, Florida. With nearly forty different schools expressing interest in him, Fall committed to the University of Central Florida in Orlando, who had officially signed him on October 28, 2014. He would play with the UCF Knights under head coach Donnie Jones.
College
Fall joined the UCF Knights as a center. He faced fellow 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) Senegalese center Mamadou N'Diaye in the tallest tip-off and match-up in US college basketball history in a game against the UC Irvine Anteaters. Both from Dakar, it was N'Diaye's brother, Ibrahim, who persuaded Fall to take up basketball. By his sophomore year, Fall became the exclusive tallest player in college basketball thanks to N'Diaye's declaration to enter the 2016 NBA Draft. During his sophomore season, Fall would make considerable improvements on his playing style. In 2017, Fall was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. On April 5, Fall decided to test his name 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. On May 24, 2017, Fall withdrew his name from consideration for the NBA Draft, to return to UCF for his junior year.
College statistics
Source:
Personal
Fall is a devout Muslim. He maintained a 4.0 grade point average in high school. Fall has aspirations of becoming an engineer for electronic companies such as Siemens or Microsoft, which currently makes a future in professional basketball unclear. Fall comes from a tall family. His younger brother was 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) at age 7, while two of his uncles are 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m).
References
External links
- Fox Sports New Interview Tacko's first
- UCF bio
- NBADraft.net profile
Source of article : Wikipedia
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