Tarik Diallo had always been known for his incredible height.
Around sixth grade, he's already standing at six feet. By the end of middle school, he's six foot seven, enough to break two meters. Once he graduated high school, he reached seven foot two.
He entered Illinois as a three-star prospect, without much fanfare, but with a lot of aspirations, and potential. He started playing basketball in high school, ever since his football coach told him that he's too lanky for American football, and would fit better as a basketball player.
Two years on, he's a valuable rotation piece in the Illinois Fighting Illini lineup, and oh, he's also gained three more inches in height.
Tarik now stood at 7 feet and 3 inches or, 223 centimeters.
He might not be fast at all, nor had the defensive instincts of an NBA player yet, but as a late bloomer, he had the guts and drive of a sponge that can absorb everything it sees.
"Oh, I think I can reach him." Tarik was the inbounder of the possession, and had not moved much up the floor because of the full court press. He stood there in the elbow, as Dwayne sped down the red carpet of a wide open lane.
His big hands were menacing, and the smile that showed his perfect white teeth was unbelievable.
Once he blocked the ball up top from behind Dwayne, he was undoubtedly surprised how this guy had not seen him coming.
The resulting downward force slammed Dwayne to the ground hard, making heads turn, and leaving the coaches breathless.
A late whistle was then blown, stopping play.
The referee himself knew that the block was clean, fantastic even, but this is the preseason. A fall like that isn't something to be dismissed by anyone with a wave of the hand.
Dwayne laid with his back flat to the floor, as his teammates swarmed around him, ready to do anything.
Relief washed over them once he opened his eyes and tried to get up. By the next instant, Tarik was apologizing profusely to Dwayne, and Khalil was already subbing him out to get checked.
Coach Roughan was already on his phone calling for the medical team, and his teammates had already put Dwayne on a stretcher.
Better safe than sorry.
***
The game restarted fifteen minutes later, after the medics had brought Dwayne to the school's clinic for check up.
Tremaine felt the intense atmosphere had mellowed down a little bit, with the pumping adrenaline and momentum all but completely gone for both sides. All of them believed nothing serious had happened to Dwayne, but the years they spent together with him made them cautious more than usual, and optimistic for his safety.
However, Tremaine believed that everything would return to normal after a few possessions.
And returned it did.
Several dull and standard possessions after the restart was followed by a couple of fiery, back and forth exchanges.
Tremaine Mills drilled an unfazed pull up three in front of Khalil's outstretched hands, sending his team into delirium, in just a single play.
Khalil postered Legend as payback on the next play, going so far as to flex his muscles on his captain in the heat of the moment.
Good natured Legend only smiled at the provocation, but his smile was not the friendly sort he usually had.
The coaches at the sidelines liked the return to their usual level of play. That kind of competitive edge drives every game to further heights, as long as it remains within the confines of sportsmanship and fair play.
Scrappy.
That's how both teams fought for the next five minutes or so.
However, unlike the start of the half, these teams didn't turn the ball over a ton, nor did they end up with one fastbreak play after another.
It had devolved into a naturally cagey, testy affair, filled with in your face grit, and uncontrolled adrenaline.
Fouls followed the relentless defensive tenacity from both sides.
But as they reached the halfway point of the second half, once both teams reached the personal foul limit, they stopped fouling each other and started defending as cleanly as possible.
Tremaine was ecstatic at how fast the team abandoned their gritty defending upon reaching the penalty, while maintaining a great level of team defense.
Right now, he was being hounded by Khalil in the perimeter after a quick defensive switch.
He ought to pass it inside, where there was a massive mismatch between his captain Legend, and Miguel, but Dwayne had been lurking in and out of the paint with a serious glint in his eyes, as if taunting the rookie.
'Send it here, if you dare.'
Tremaine wanted to just send it high, so that neither of the two could reach it anyway, but he's having second thoughts about trying.
"Oh well." Tremaine gritted his teeth and attacked Khalil with his head down, his plan pretty plain, but could be effective against someone more than a head taller.
He then tried to do a behind the back dribble while stopping his forward momentum, before stepping back.
"I've seen that before." Tre heard Khalil whisper at the last moment.
Upon getting the little bit of separation he needed to attempt the jumper, he jumped.
"Not today, friend." He saw Khalil's massive arms reach a point higher than his own, almost completely engulfing the ball before it's even thrown.
"Hehe." Tremaine sent a bullet pass to the right corner at the last moment where Caleb Wilson stood and waited for a supposed kick out.
His shooting motion was picture perfect.
His shot was also picture perfect.
Even his reaction after, was picture perfect.
Khalil was giddy about how everything unfolded, instead of being annoyed at how the rookie Tremaine destroyed him for another time today.
Their lead had grown to double digits again right after that triple, with a little less than ten minutes remaining in the scrimmage.
Unknowingly, after making that play, the pressure Tremaine put unto himself before the game had eased off in his mind. He could finally breathe a sigh of relief, and let the upperclassmen end the game their way. He came on with a precarious one point lead, and he's gonna exit with a ten point lead.
He saw Ryan standing at the baseline, about to check in for him at the end of the next play.
'Oh. I forgot I still have to play defense.' Miguel Montero easily drove to his left with him spacing out a little bit. He got up to recover, but the separation he got allowed him to send a drop pass down below, to Khalil…
Khalil tried backing his way down against Legend's sturdier, immovable frame. Tremaine doubled up on him in response, harassing his front while his back was to the basket.
He swiped several times, to no avail. Khalil continued backing down, but Legend has not budged. Right before he gets charged by a five second back to the basket violation, he picks up his dribble, allowing Tre and Legend to put on even more pressure to the slowly panicking Khalil.
Tre knocked the ball out of Khalil's hands like stealing candy from a baby. Once the ball had ended up in his hands, he threw a homing missile up ahead.
Jaylen Mitchell, like a man possessed, caught the ball and rushed straight to the rim, before slamming it down hard with a flashy windmill jam.
Tre was finally subbed out.