Before Tacko Fall would become one of the tallest high school basketball players in
the country, and be one of the tallest people in the world.
Before Tacko would be named the AAC’s Defensive player of the year
Before Tacko gave us one of the greatest vines of all time.
And Before Tacko would take on Zion Williamson and The Duke Bluedevils in the 2019 March
Madness Tournament and almost pull off a massive upset
Tacko Fall’s profile picture on Facebook says “Make History,” and that is something
that he’s already done through his height alone.
But there is more to Tacko than just an unfathomable wingspan, and nothing in his life was guaranteed
simply because of his stature.
It took a lot of work and perseverance for him to be able to play on college basketball’s
biggest stage.
Tacko grew up in Senegal where he originally had no interest in playing basketball, but
when he heard that he could pursue a life in the United States through the sport, he
took the opportunity.
After landing in Houston where he was set to play high school basketball, well the school
he was attending closed, and he lost his immigration papers.
But that wasn’t before meeting an NBA hall of famer who showed Tacko some footwork technique.
From there, he would bounce around from place to place searching for somewhere to play in
order to stay in the states.
Finally, one coach and one family in Florida gave Tacko a second chance at his dreams.
And those dreams include a lot more than just basketball.
In fact he stated.
He says he knows that his athleticism will fail one day but his knowledge will last forever
and could impact people for a longer period of time.
What’s going on guys?
It’s your boy Michael Mccrudden here for you on Before They were famous taking you
through the life and career of Tacko Fall prior to basketball, here for you on Before
They Were Famous.
We recently did one on Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett, so we naturally had to make one
on the man that almost shocked the world and took those two down in what would have been
absolute Madness massacre!
Plus, he’s got a great story.
Let us know who's next in the comments down below
Alright, let’s get into Tacko Fall.
Great name by the way.
Tacko Fall was born Elhadji Tacko Sereigne Diop Fall in Dakar, Senegal which is the largest
city in the westernmost country in Africa.
He grew up with his mom and brother and his half-sister.
Although Tacko had an uncle who was 6 foot 8, neither of his parents were extraordinarily
tall.
But Tacko began to grow and didn’t stop…
In fact when he became a teenager, he could only find one pair of sandals that fit him,
and they were custom made by a friend in his neighborhood.
And even those would always break because of how quickly his feet were growing.
Currently he rocks a size 22 shoe.
You know what they say about a guy with big feet..
... wow.
nice.. :---)
Tacko’s first love was actually soccer, not basketball.
In fact, he didn’t really know anything about basketball growing up.
It was a man named Ibrahim N’Diaye’s who was actually the one to persuade Tacko that
he should play basketball instead.
He spotted Tacko and knew his height could make him one of the best centers in the game.
From there, he offered Tacko a spot at a Senegal's Basketball Academy to train.
Later on, Tacko would play against Ibrahim’s brother Mamadou N’Diaye who played for UC
Irvine and is ironically, also 7’6.
The two completed the tallest tip-off match up in US college basketball history.
At first, Tacko wasn’t really interested in Ibrahim’s offer.
And in the end, it wasn’t actually playing basketball that finally convinced him.
He saw basketball as a way out.
Through the sport he could go to America and pursue a career, creating a better life for
his family.
After training at the academy, he was placed at a high school in Houston Texas and at 16
he hopped on his first plane ever and moved to the US.
He attended a high school called Jamie’s House Charter where he became fluent in English
within 8 months, and scored in the 95th percentile on the SAT test.
And English was his fourth language behind his fluency in French, Arabic and the African
language of Wolof..
I think it's wolof.
Sorry.
In Houston, Tacko met NBA legend and hall of famer, Hakeem Olajuwon.
Hakeem saw Tacko’s potential and showed him some footwork for bigmen.
He attended his first NBA game, which was a Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Clippers
matchup.
Tacko even recalls Blake Griffin and Deandre Jordan taking notice of his height during
the national anthem and giving him a head nod.
But a few months after being in Texas, the school he was attending closed.
Tacko was extremely homesick and wasn’t sure what to do with himself.
Along with the school went Tacko’s eligibility.
His I-20 certificate was revoked and that is the document he needed to have, in order
stay in the US and study.
His reapplication would take months to process!
So for the time being, he spent time with his father, who was a taxi driver in Cincinnati
as Tacko looked for another option to stay in the states.
His plans in Cincinnati fell through, then he found a school in Georgia, which also didn’t
work out, and then one in Tennessee.
But without the right paperwork, his eligibility was put into question.
He told Yahoo sports:
"I was really homesick the first year.
I missed waking up and seeing [my mom and siblings].
We were a close family."
After bouncing around from place to place with nowhere to go, a friend of Mamadou N’Diaye
who lived in Central Florida had an answer.
Tacko was offered a spot on the team at a Christian school in the sunshine state.
Tacko came to the states with one of his friends from his childhood, Ange Badji.
The two were excited about the opportunity to attend their new school, but with no family
in Florida, well, they didn’t have a place to live.
Enter Mandy Wettstein, who is a local public relations consultant, heard about two Senegalese
boys who don't have no place to stay so she opened up her home to them.
And while she thought they would have a few days to figure things out, well the move happened
48 hours later.
Mandy had two daughters of her own, so having two new kids in her house was definitely an
adjustment, and since none of the beds that she owned came close to fitting Tacko’s
long frame, well she placed a second mattress at the foot of his bed.
But other than his bed and his clothes, she treated him like any other child, telling
UCF’s website:
“Nobody cares if you’re tall, you still have to take out the garbage.”
But even as they arrived and settled into their new home, Ange and Tacko were awaiting
to hear about their immigration application, and if denied, they would have to return to
Senegal for ten years!!
Mandy says the boys were nervous as hell
"Ange asked me every day, 'Is there news?
Have you heard anything?"
But in April of that year, their papers were accepted and Tacko would start focusing on
being the best he could be, both on and off the court.
Fall attended Liberty Christian Prep school in Florida for his final two years of high
school.
During his first visit to the school, he was hit in the head by a ceiling fan.
Or he hit the fa.. you know what I mean.
But more than just the height of the buildings doors, going to a Christian prep school was
an adjustment for Tacko as he is a devout Muslim.
At first, he wasn’t very confident.
He didn’t think he could play basketball.
In fact, he had to be taught how to dunk when he first started.
But he soon realized that he was only just beginning and that he had potential for greatness.
He told Bleacher Report:
“It made me realize that these guys were not actually better than me…
I can compete with them and not only that, I can dominate.”
Plus none of them have been hit by no ceiling fan.
He's got that on them as well.
Along with basketball, he also learned how to drive in Mandy’s car, although she had
to push the seat all the way back, and jokes that he drives like a Florida grandma.
Well, they would come frequently.
But hey, tough to check your blind spot.
Got to like...
You know what I mean.
His AAU coach Edward Francis said that Tacko had an incredible work ethic and his coach
at Liberty, Tony Atkins said:
"Since this summer it has been a quick trail and a quick adventure to watch [Fall] grow
both as a basketball player and as a person."
At Liberty he averaged 20 points, 15 rebounds and 5 blocks per game as a senior.
By that time, almost 40 different schools expressed interest in him.
By his senior year of high school, Tacko couldn’t even go out in public without being recognized
and taking selfies.
There probably weren’t that many 7’6 teenagers walking around…
But Tacko was always glad to take pictures with his fans.
Not them, you know, the people.
But Tacko wasn’t just focused on basketball, he was a great student, maintaining a 4.0
GPA all throughout high school.
He studied advanced mathematics and science classes.
His math teacher actually said that Tacko could do things that she couldn’t even do
when it came to Math.
At first, he wanted to do Biochemistry but in college he is majoring in computer science
and his dream is actually to work as an engineer for a company like Microsoft.
I mean you're already in the NBA, or you will be.. eh, it's good to always have a back-up
plan
Tacko chose to attend UCF, not just because of their basketball program but because of
their historically good engineering program.
Tacko wants to use the money he makes in basketball to impact the lives of people in his home
country.
He wants to go back and open up businesses and science labs there.
He wants to ultimately help his brother and his mom and then he wants to make the Hall
of Fame as a bonus.
Not bad, I'm rooting for him.
His mother actually got to see her son for the first time in 7 years as she watched him
play basketball for the first time ever in College.
He told the Orlando Sentinel "Two years ago, I never expected to be here.
I was so far away, never having played basketball.
But God put me in the right place and around the right people."
On his college basketball experience he says: “Here is the thing.
When I don’t play well, it’s ‘Why is he so terrible?
He’s 7-foot-6.’
And if I play well, it’s ‘Oh, he’s 7-foot-6, he’s supposed to be good.’
What they don’t see is the amount of work I put in.”
That work includes watching game footage of all of the opposing players that he’s facing.
But none would be a greater challenge that Duke’s Zion Williamson, who Tacko faced
off against in the second round in the 2019 March Madness tournament.
And if it weren’t for a shot that rimmed out at the last second, UCF would have shocked
the world.
Tacko’s journey is far from over and we’ll most likely have to do an updated version
on his come up next year to see where the rest of his story is taking him.
And just for everyone wondering, according to a reporter for Yahoo sports, yes, Tacko
does enjoy Tacos.
So now you know.
As for the rest of the story, well I'm wrapping this one up here of course this is before
they were famous!
Now this is our third video coming at you celebrating march madness
we've done Zion Williamson, we've done RJ Barrett and uh, we've got another one coming
for ya.
It's Lonzo's Rich Life.
Because someone just stole 1.5 million so I guess..
He's still rich, it's just uh, his financial status has taken a bit of a hit.
Now I'll be dropping it shortly guys, be sure to subscribe if you haven't already, check
out our playlist dedicated to athletes, or check out our most recent uploads.
Let us know who's next and I'll see you guys in another video.
I'm 6 foot 4 by the way.
Who would have guessed that.
Okay Bye. Boom.