Nov. 12--A little more than two years ago, Tacko Fall was a soccer player in Dakar, Senegal, who had never played basketball.
Now, America's tallest high school basketball player at 7-foot-6, is a future center for the UCF's men's basketball team.
"I am really excited," Fall said. "I am looking forward to playing for [UCF] coach [Donnie] Jones. We have a good relationship and he seems like a good person."
With the slash of a pen, a smile, the donning of a baseball cap and in front of a standing ovation in a packed chapel at Tavares Liberty Christian Prep Wednesday, Fall signed with UCF.
The ceremony included the entire student body, administrators and Lake County commissioner Leslie Campione.
Fall picked UCF over nearly 40 colleges that had courted him, including Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Purdue, Wake Forest and others.
"When I woke up this morning, it was just like a regular day, but when I got here, I was like 'This is going to be special,'" said Fall, a 4.0 student who plans to study engineering. "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."
A transformation has taken place.
Liberty Christian coach Tony Atkins saw a growth in Fall as a player during the summer.
"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," Atkins said.
Fall unofficially begins his senior season Wednesday at 5 when the Lions play Jones in the preseason Black Coaches Tip-Off Classic at Oak Ridge.
Joe Williams is a senior sports writer for the Orlando Sentinel. You can contact him at jwilliams@orlandosentinel.com
