Fall headed to UCF
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It's official: The tallest player in the class of 2015 is off the board. Tacko Fall, the 7-foot-6, 283-pound center at Liberty Christian Prep in Tavares, Florida, called UCF head coach Donnie Jones to commit and bring his recruitment to an end.
"He was excited," Fall said of Jones. "He was really excited. I trust him a lot and I believe I can help the team accomplish great things. Plus I feel really comfortable there."
The three-star big man, originally from Senegal, discussed his decision with his parents Monday night before choosing UCF over a group of finalists that included Georgetown, Georgia Tech¸ Purdue, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
Fall, who didn't begin playing basketball until arriving in the U.S. in October 2012, impressed college coaches with his play during the AAU season, playing on a talented E1T1 Elite team alongside Rivals five-star prospects Ben Simmons and Antonio Blakeney.
"Tacko Fall has the desire and work ethic to be great," E1T1 Elite head coach Steve Reece told Rivals.com in June. "He's a kid that comes to practice ready to learn and improve each time. He's always the first one there and the last one to leave. He's a great kid to be around too."
The senior also gets it done in the classroom holding a 4.0 grade point average.
"School is easier here than in my country," said Fall. "I haven't had a lot of problems with academics. I like math, chemistry and biology. I'm going to be an engineering major and I like the program they have (at UCF)."
It was generally considered that Georgia Tech was the school to beat for Fall, but UCF put on the full court press and was able to get Fall on campus for several unofficial visits in addition to school visits and the official visit that Fall took to Orlando earlier this month. It also didn't hurt that the big man had developed relationships with other UCF commits and current UCF players.
"I know (UCF commit) Chad (Brown)," Fall said. "I met him a couple of times. I also know B.J. (Taylor) and Justin (McBride)."
Fall plans to sign his national letter of intent during the early signing period in November. He joins an all-Florida 2015 recruiting class for UCF that includes power forward Chad Brown of Deltona, shooting guard Chance McSpadden of Winter Haven and Daytona State JuCo small forward Tanksley Efianayi of Orlando.
Russ Wood is a basketball recruiting analyst for Rivals.com and Inside the Gators. You can click here to follow him on Twitter.
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