The Harlem Globetrotters have announced their signing of area dunkmeister Jacob Tucker, who hails from Carlyle, Illinois, about 50 miles east of St. Louis.
The 23-year-old Tucker, you may recall, won the 2011 College Slam Dunk Contest earlier this year as a student at Illinois College, where he later graduated with cum laude honors. His YouTube jams have garnered more than four million hits. (Watch a few of them here.)
The Globetrotters have bequeathed Tucker with the nickname "Hops." He's only five feet, eleven inches tall, but his vertical range is 50 inches, and his eyes reach rim-level when he leaps. His airborne nastiness will be on display January 6, when the 'Trotters visit the Scottrade Center. Tickets go on sale next week.
In addition to Tucker, the squad boasts other flashy rookies, including the British-bred Paul "Tiny" Sturgess, who at seven feet, eight inches, is the world's tallest pro player; Jonte "Too Tall" Hall, who at five feet, two inches, is the shortest player in team history; and Fatima "TNT" Maddox, the first female Globetrotter in nineteen years.
