Tacko Fall

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 that he had seen playing with friends in a local street.^[6] 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.^[6] 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.^[7]

Fall 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.^[8]

Due to his height and reach, Fall was one of the most highly scouted high-school basketball centers in the nation.^[9] He 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 and 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.^[10] Fall also played in several NCAA certified events, including the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Virginia.^[11] He 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. Rated as a four-star and three-star recruit in the 2015 high-school class,^[12][13][14] nearly 40 different schools expressing interest in him.^[8] Fall committed to the University of Central Florida in Orlando, who officially signed him on 28 October 2014. Fall played with the UCF Knights under head coach Donnie Jones.^[12]

Fall played college basketball for the UCF Knights. As a freshman during the 2015–16 season, he faced fellow 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 the UC Irvine Anteaters.^[15]

As a sophomore in 2016–17, Fall was named American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year.^[16][17] He ranked second nationally in field-goal percentage as of January 2017.^[18]

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.^[19][20] On 24 May, Fall withdrew his name from consideration for the NBA draft, to return to UCF for his junior year.^[21] During his junior year, Fall injured his shoulder,^[22] causing him to play in only 16 games, totaling 351 minutes.^[23]

During his senior season, Fall helped lead the Knights to the 2019 NCAA tournament and secured their first victory in program history with a win over the VCU Rams.^[24] In his final game, Fall recorded 15 points and six rebounds in a 77–76 loss to the Duke Blue Devils.^[25]

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 in May 2019.^[26] He was subsequently added to the NBA Draft Combine.^[27] During the combine, he put up new records at the event, including height (which received comparisons to former NBA player Manute Bol),^[28] wingspan, and standing reach.^[29]

Given his size, Fall plays the center position. His shoe size is 22 (US), his wingspan is 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m)^[68] and he has a reported standing reach of 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m).^[18] Fall also has a maximum vertical leap of 2 ft 2.5 in (67 cm). His hands measure at 10.5 inches (27 cm) in length and width.^[69] Prior to the 2019 NBA draft, Fall was viewed as a great shot blocker who was relatively lacking in lane agility and three-quarter-court sprinting speed.^[70]

Fall is a Muslim,^[1] and selected the jersey number 99 with the Celtics as a reference to the 99 names of Allah.^[72] He is not the only tall member of his family; Fall's younger brother was reportedly 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) at age seven, while two of his uncles are 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m), but his extreme height stands apart even among them.^{[citation needed]} Fall maintained a 4.0 grade-point average (GPA) in high school,^[73] while taking advanced mathematics and science classes. He became fluent in English within eight months and scored in the 95th percentile on the SAT. Fall was a computer-science major at UCF^[18] and originally had aspirations of becoming an engineer for electronic companies such as Siemens or Microsoft.^[1]