The Import: Hasheem Thabeet, Connecticut
Thabeet goes on. The Huskies lost at Providence on Thursday night, but it was through no fault of the 7-3 center from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Thabeet had 16 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks, moving him into the D-I lead in that last category. Thabeet has 139 blocks this season, just ahead of Mississippi State's Jarvis Varnado.

Thabeet has one of those classic "The Air Up There" tales that you've no doubt read before. Above-average soccer player who took up hoops later in life but is an incredibly swift learner. Here's the difference: Thabeet is taller than both Hakeem Olajuwon and Dikembe Mutombo.

Also, he made all six of his free-throw attempts at Providence. Thabeet will turn as more heads than he will turn back shots come tourney time.

The Sleeper: Jason Thompson, Rider
Asked to name one under-the-radar player among this season's crop of venti (or gigante) players, Bilas mentioned the 6-11 senior from Rider. The MAAC Player of the Year, Thompson 20.2 ppg and 11.8 rebounds for the Broncs (21-9).

"He's a really good player," says Bilas of Thompson, who has fifty career double-doubles. "He's the real deal."

Like Brook Lopez, Thompson is fortunate enough to have a sibling in his starting five. Ryan Thompson is two years younger and five inches shorter than his big bro. The Broncs have not been to the NCAAs during Thompson's tenure and may need to win the MAAC to advance to the tourney. It would a shame, for Thompson's sake — and us fans' — if they don't.

The Enigma: Kenny George, UNC-Asheville
He is too tall to drive a car. His size 28 shoes are bigger than even Bob Lanier's. He can dunk — there is visual evidence — while standing flat-footed. He is, quite simply, the tallest human ever to play Division I hoops.

Kenny George, 7-7, seems less a real person than the product of Edward Bloom's imagination in that 2003 film "Big Fish." But he does in fact exist and, considering the physical limitations of someone his size, George is as likely to put his name in the NCAA record book as in Guinness'.

Despite playing fewer than 20 minutes per game, George, who grew up (and up and up) in Chicago, is averaging 12.7 points and seven rebounds per game. Dislocated kneecaps have caused him to miss significant time, and in a college town that is renowned for the furniture it produces, George moves like an end table.

Still, you cannot teach height. And how do you defend against it? On January 20th UNC-Asheville trailed by one in overtime at VMI. There were 12.8 seconds remaining and the Bulldogs had an inbounds play under their own basket. George, who had not played at all against VMI's uptempo attack, was summoned from the bench.

This is when coaching becomes easy. Standing more than a foot taller than the VMI player guarding him, George caught the inbounds lob and deposited it in the bucket. Just the way Dr. Naismith drew it up 118 years ago.

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The Roanoke Times called it the "Colossal Cameo".

On Thursday night the 360-pound junior had 19 points and eleven rebounds in 24 minutes as the Bulldogs won their Big South tournament semifinal against Coastal Carolina. He was 7-of-8 from the field — indeed, George has is shooting 70.5% from the field this season, which puts him in a familiar place: head and shoulders above the rest of Division I.

UNC-Asheville lost the Big South championship to Winthrop. But I'm still hoping someone at the tournament selection committee understands entertainment value. If the tallest player in D-I history, who just happens to have the highest field-goal percentage this season, is not invited to the Big Dance … well, then, wouldn't we fans be the biggest losers?

One final observation: All of the aforementioned players, whether the metric be talent, legend or actual verticality, are larger-than-life types So how come none of them have a nickname of note? Are we just becoming that bland of a society?

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