He’s 7’5″ (2.26 meters) tall and Elhadji “Tacko” Fall is attracting attention for his height and his basketball potential.

The 18-year-old Senegalese giant came to the United States in 2012 and he just finished his junior (third year) season at Liberty Christian Prep in central Florida.

In a phone interview with the Voice of America’s Daniel Brown, Tacko talked about how he started playing basketball.

Tacko says former Chinese star Yao Ming inspires him when he’s on the court. The 7’6″ Yao is only slightly taller than Tacko, and he was hobbled by lower leg injuries before retiring from basketball in 2011.

Basketball observers say Tacko will need to improve his strength, mobility and overall skills if he is to reach the NBA like Yao.

Yao, though, started playing the game at a much younger age (9) than Tacko, who first picked up a basketball shortly before coming to the USA.

So there’s plenty of room for improvement, and as one coach told me back in my younger days, “you can’t teach size.” And Tacko definitely has a lot of that!

Tacko Fall says he hopes to play basketball at the collegiate level, and I’m betting he gets a few scholarship offers.

Tacko is also an outstanding student. He says if the basketball doesn’t work out, he wants to be a biochemist.