Paul Sturgess (born 25 November 1987) is a British former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He was officially measured by ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' in November 2011 at and . Sturgess was the tallest

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player in the United States.

Career

Paul "Tiny" Sturgess was "drafted" by the Harlem Globetrotters in August 2011 and is the tallest ever to play for the team. He joined the team with fellow

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

Jonte "Too Tall" Hall, who, at was shorter than Sturgess, and who was at the time the shortest Globetrotters player ever. Sturgess wears a

size Size in general is the magnitude or dimensions of a thing. More specifically, ''geometrical size'' (or ''spatial size'') can refer to linear dimensions ( length, width, height, diameter, perimeter), area, or volume. Size can also be m ...

19 shoe. He was the second-tallest man in Britain until the unexpected death of

Neil Fingleton Neil Fingleton (18 December 1980 – 25 February 2017) was an English actor and basketball player. Neil became the tallest living British-born man and the tallest man in the European Union at 7 ft 7.56 in (232.6 cm) and among the 25 t ...

, who was tall, in 2017. Examinations as a teenager revealed that his growth is healthy and not the result of a medical condition, but rather he possesses familial tall stature—that is to say his height is genetic. His biological father is , and there are other tall members in his family although his mother is and his younger sister is . He featured prominently in the 2007

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

television documentary ''Supersize Kids: Britain's Tallest Teens'' when he was 19 and playing at Florida Institute of Technology. Sturgess enjoys playing many other sports and before concentrating on basketball also played

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

and football. He started playing team basketball at age 14 when he was , was aged 16 playing at

Burleigh Community College Burleigh Community College was a specialist Sports College located on Thorpe Hill in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. History The origins of the school can be traced to the will of Bartholomew Hickling, a leading citizen of Loughborough ...

, and was when he graduated high school at age 18. A growth spurt during ages of 16 and 17 resulted in a of height added within a single year. Sturgess can hold the high rim whilst standing. He declined offers to play professional basketball in Europe, preferring to pursue basketball in the US. On 1 November 2013, Sturgess was selected by the Springfield Armor in the third round of the 2013 NBA Development League Draft. On 4 November 2013, he was traded to the

Texas Legends The Texas Legends are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Frisco, Texas, and are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. The Legends play their home games at the Comerica Center. The team began as the Colorado ...

where he played for the rest of the season. On 19 November 2014 he was signed by

Cheshire Phoenix The Cheshire Phoenix are a professional basketball team based in Ellesmere Port, England. Founded in 1984, they are members of the British Basketball League and play their home games at the Cheshire Oaks Arena. From 1993 until 2015 the team was ...

of the

British Basketball League The British Basketball League (BBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Great Britain and represents the highest level of play in the countries. The league is contested by 10 teams from England and Scotland. There are no clubs howeve ...

. Later Sturgess transferred back to the Harlem Globetrotters act, this time being part of the arranged opposition. In the re-formed

Washington Generals The Washington Generals are an American basketball team who play exhibition games against the Harlem Globetrotters. The team has also played under several different aliases in their history as the Globetrotters' perennial opponents. Function ...

Sturgess adopted a mask and the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of "Cager," adopting a villainous role. Immediately following his basketball career, he became a motivational speaker, mostly for primary school aged children.Tallest Man in England, at 7 Feet, 7 Inches, Gets His First Suit
/ref>

References

External links

Profile
at Eurobasket.com
KMG Sports Management ProfileFacebook PageTwitter account
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturgess, Paul 1987 births Living people Centers (basketball) Cheshire Phoenix players Florida Tech Panthers men's basketball players Harlem Globetrotters players Mountain State Cougars men's basketball players Sportspeople from Loughborough Texas Legends players Washington Generals players