Tacko Fall

Elhadji Tacko Sereigne Diop Fall (born December 10, 1995) is a Senegalese professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Maine Red Claws of the NBA G League.[1]

Tacko Fall

Fall with UCF
No. 99 – Boston Celtics
Position	Center
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1995-12-10) December 10, 1995 Dakar, Senegal
Nationality	Senegalese
Listed height	7 ft 5 in (2.26 m)
Listed weight	311 lb (141 kg)
Career information
High school	Jamie's House Charter School (Houston, Texas) Liberty Christian Prep (Tavares, Florida)
College	UCF (2015–2019)
NBA draft	2019 / Undrafted
Playing career	2019–present
Career history
2019–present	Boston Celtics
2019–present	→Maine Red Claws
Career highlights and awards
NBA G League All-Defensive Team (2020) Third-team All-AAC (2019) AAC Defensive Player of the Year (2017)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

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. Fall went undrafted in the 2019 NBA draft, but later signed with the Boston Celtics.

Fall is the tallest current NBA/G League player, is the tallest player in G League history, and is one of the tallest living humans.[2][3] When measured at the 2019 NBA Draft Combine, he 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).[4] He was later measured at 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) without shoes; thus, the NBA lists his height as 7 ft 5 in.[5]

Early life

Born and raised in Senegal, Fall moved to the United States from Dakar at age 16. Initially, he played soccer and had no interest in basketball. He visited the International Sports Training Institute at Dakar, known as ISTI-Dakar. He first played organized basketball in Houston, Texas, and trained with NBA Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon.[6]

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.[7] Due to his height and reach, Fall was one of the most highly scouted high school basketball centers in the nation. 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.[8] He also played in several NCAA certified events, including the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Virginia.[9] 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,[7] 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.[10]

College career

Fall attended the University of Central Florida and played for the Knights as a center. He faced fellow giant Senegalese center Mamadou N'Diaye, 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 from Dakar, it was N'Diaye's brother, Ibrahim, who persuaded Fall to take up basketball.[11] 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. In 2017, Fall was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.[12] Fall grew to be an efficient player, ranking second nationally in field goal percentage as of January 2017.[13] On April 5, 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.[14][15] On May 24, 2017, Fall withdrew his name from consideration for the NBA draft, to return to UCF for his junior year.[16] During his junior year, Fall injured his shoulder,[17] causing him to only play in 16 games, totaling 351 minutes.[18] 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.[19] In his final game, Fall recorded 15 points and six rebounds in a losing effort against Duke 77–76.[20]

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.[21] By the end of the event, Fall later got transferred into the NBA Draft Combine as one of an additional 11 participants there.[22] During the combine, he put up new records at the event, including height (which received comparisons to former NBA player Manute Bol),[23] wingspan, and standing reach.[24]

Boston Celtics (2019–present)

Despite going undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft, Fall was signed to an Exhibit 10 Contract on June 21, 2019 by the Boston Celtics.[25] Fall played for the Celtics during the 2019 NBA Summer League season,[26] 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.[27] 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.[28]

On July 25, 2019, the Celtics officially announced that they had signed Fall.[29] 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.[30] 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.[31]

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 honors with nearly three blocks per game.[32][33]

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)[34] and a standing reach of 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m).[13] He also has a max vertical leap of 2 ft 2.5 in (0.67 m). Unlike the father–son pair of Manute Bol (now deceased) and Bol Bol (9.25 in length, 9.50 in width), Fall has considerably larger hands, measuring 10.5 inches in length and width, which makes him able to palm the ball with one hand.[35]

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.[36]

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

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
Career		7	0	4.7	.786	—	.333	2.1	.1	.1	.6	3.3

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 devout Muslim;[2] he selected the jersey number 99 with the Celtics as a reference to the 99 Names of Allah.[37] 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. He maintained a 4.0 grade point average (GPA) in high school,[38] 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[13] and originally had aspirations of becoming an engineer for electronic companies such as Siemens or Microsoft.[2]

References

1. "Tacko Fall: Tallest active NBA player bids for success in debut season". October 7, 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
2. "The rise of 7–6 (and growing) Tacko Fall". Yahoo Sports. December 16, 2014.
3. "Tacko Fall Measures at 7'7", 289 Lbs at 2019 NBA Draft Scouting Combine". bleacherreport.com.
4. "Tacko Fall headlines 2019 NBA Draft Combine measurements". NBA.com. May 19, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
5. Taylor, Cody (October 8, 2019). "Celtics' Tacko Fall is apparently shorter than initially thought". USA Today. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
6. Kerasotis, Peter. "Mastering the Rebound – Pegasus Magazine". Pegasus Magazine. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
7. Williams, Joe (November 12, 2014). "UCF signs 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall, America's tallest high school basketball player". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on June 27, 2015.
8. O'Donnell, Ricky (July 25, 2014). "7'5 Center Tacko Fall is your new favorite college basketball recruit". sbnation.com. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
9. "Tacko Fall had a strong Top100 Camp". USA Today High School Sports. June 27, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
10. "Tacko Fall". ESPN.
11. Macklin, Oliver. "Tacko Fall and Mamadou N'Diaye faced off Wednesday for the tallest head-to-head matchup in college basketball history". Washington Post. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
12. Green, Shannon. "Tacko Fall wins AAC defensive player of year". Orlando Sentinel.
13. Borzello, Jeff (January 18, 2017). "There's more to UCF's Tacko Fall than his 7-foot-6 frame". ABC News.
14. Romero, Iliana Limón. "Tacko Fall to test NBA Draft waters with option to return to UCF". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
15. "UCF 7-foot-6 center Tacko Fall to explore NBA draft options". Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
16. Forcella, Daniel. "Tacko Fall to Return to UCF for Junior Season". UCFKnights.com. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
17. Green, Shannon (January 20, 2018). "Tacko Fall is out for rest of UCF basketball season". OrlandoSentinel.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
18. "Tacko Fall College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
19. Groeschen, Tom. "Cincinnati Bearcats edged out for 1st place in AAC men's basketball Media Day poll". Cincinnati.com. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
20. Bernstein, Dan (March 24, 2019). "Tacko Fall impacts Zion Williamson, but Duke wins tight March Madness battle". Sporting News.
21. "80 players expected to attend 2019 NBA G League Elite Camp". NBA.com. May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
22. "Tacko Fall among 11 players added to NBA draft combine". USA TODAY. Associated Press. May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
23. Diven, Keely (May 16, 2019). "Tacko Fall breaks official records, measures up to Manute Bol at NBA Draft Combine". NBC Sports Washington. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
24. "Tacko Fall headlines 2019 NBA Draft Combine measurements". NBA.com. May 16, 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
25. Armstrong, Megan. "Celtics Sign Tacko Fall to Contract as Undrafted Free Agent After 2019 Draft". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
26. King, Jay (July 9, 2019). "Celtics' Tacko Fall has become the main attraction at NBA Summer League". The Athletic.
27. D'Amico, Marc (July 9, 2019). "It's Tacko Everyday in Vegas, As Fall's Showing He Belongs". NBA.com. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
28. "NBA Summer League Stats". NBA.com. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
29. "Celtics Sign Four Players". Boston Celtics. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
30. Wojnarowski, Adrian. "Celtics convert rookie Tacko Fall to two-way contract". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
31. Edwards Jr., Scott (October 26, 2019). "Celtics' Tacko Fall Scores First NBA Points On Standing Dunk vs. Knicks". NESN. Retrieved October 27, 2019.
32. Vitale, Josh (April 6, 2020). "Auburn's Bryce Brown confident more opportunities are coming after 'fun' first season in NBA G League". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
33. D'Amico, Marc (June 26, 2020). "G League Honors Highlight Development by Waters, Fall in Maine". Boston Celtics.
34. Auerbach, Nicole (January 11, 2017). "Tacko Fall finds his footing for UCF, with room to grow as a player". USA Today. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
35. "Draft Combine Anthrometric". NBA Stats. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
36. "Draft Combine Agility". NBA Stats. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
37. Boston Celtics [@celtics] (October 24, 2019). "Let's 🌮bout @tackofall99 ⤵️" (Tweet). Retrieved October 26, 2019 – via Twitter.
38. "Tacko Fall Bio". UCF Knights. Archived from the original on August 14, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NBA.com, or Basketball-Reference.com
• Fox Sports New Interview Tacko's first
• UCF Knights bio
• NBADraft.net profile
• DraftExpress.com profile