Tacko Fall will forgo the NBA Draft and stay on UCF’s basketball roster.
7-foot-6 center will play for UCF after exploring his NBA draft options
Tacko Fall’s NBA dream can wait, at least for another year. The 7-foot-6 center will return to the UCF basketball team to complete his upcoming junior season.
The decision concludes a whirlwind cross-country tour of NBA workouts for the 21-year-old Fall, who originally entered his name into the 2017 NBA Draft April 5 after competing for the Knights for two seasons.
His announcement came as somewhat of a surprise given the fact Fall entered his sophomore season with just four years of basketball experience. Fall grew up in Senegal and did not start playing basketball until he moved to the United States as a teen.
Even with the limited court experience, Fall quickly improved from his freshman to sophomore years and was named the 2017 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. At one point last season, he led the country in field-goal percentage among Division I basket-
“He did a great job of getting better this year.” Anonymous NBA executive
ball players.
Fall averaged 10.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game during the 2016-17 campaign. He led the conference with a .715 field-goal percentage, which registered as the second best in UCF history.
“It has been really stressful, I would say, just thinking about it,” Fall told reporters after a recent workout with the Orlando Magic. “It’s a great decision, one of the most important decisions I have made ever since I chose a college, really. So it’s definitely going to be stressful. I did get a lot of feedback from those guys just telling me the things I need to work on and the things I do great and all of that.”
NBA executives and agents who were asked by the Orlando Sentinel two weeks ago whether Fall should remain in the draft universally said Fall should return to school. Traditional centers, even centers who protect the rim, have been marginalized somewhat by the trend of teams using small-ball lineups.
They were, however, quick to praise Fall’s attitude, personality and work ethic.
“I think he should go back to school,” said one executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
“He got in a lot better shape this year. But [he needs] to continue to expand on his game, continue to work on defending in space. He’s good when he’s inside, but in the NBA, everybody’s so much more spread [out]. Just continuing to work on that defensively and doing it at that level probably will help him and continuing to expand on his offensive game [would help him], because he’s going to have to be able to take advantage of guys that are smaller than him around the basket and in the post. I thought he did a great job of getting better this year, but he probably needs more time.”
Fall did not immediately hire an agent to allow himself the flexibility to return to UCF after choosing to test the NBA waters. He went through workouts with the Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics and Houston Rockets.
Given Fall’s unique frame and story, his college decision out of Liberty Christian Prep also came with much fanfare.
He ultimately chose to pursue a degree in engineering while playing basketball for UCF after a competitive recruiting battle ultimately won by former UCF basketball coach Donnie Jones. Jones is now an assistant coach for Wichita State after he was fired by incoming UCF athletic director Danny White in 2016.
Fall found an immediate chemistry with new head coach Johnny Dawkins, helping the team post a 24-12 record and advance to the National Invitation Tournament semifinals.
Last week, Dawkins said he planned to sit down with Fall along with his host family before the Wednesday NBA draft underclassmen withdrawal deadline to discuss his future plans.
The UCF basketball team will resume organized team summer workouts next month.