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She’s 6-foot-10, ferocious in the paint, and only 16 years old. A college basketball coach of note says that she could redefine the women’s game. That may or may not be true, but there’s only one thing I know for sure: When Bubbles Anderson says that you’re taking her to the dance, you’re taking her to the dance. At Rutgers Prep, every day is Sadie Hawkins Day.
“Once in a lifetime, 6-10, 6-11 comes your way,” said Mary Coyle-Klinger, Anderson’s high school coach.
CBS News sent its tallest correspondent, Jim Axelrod, to New Jersey to interview Anderson, and even he had to stand on a couple of phone books to see her eye to eye.
She came here this summer from Jamaica, looking for a better life and ended up at Rutgers Prep in New Jersey — on the basketball team — even though she had never played before.
She’s a natural, said Pat Coyle, a former WNBA coach and NCAA star and the sister of the Rutgers Prep coach, Coyle-Klinger.
“If she continues to grow as a player the way she has the last three months she’s going to redefine the game because of her size and her athleticism,” Coyle said.
Her given first name is Marvadene, and doctors say she could grow to be 7-foot-1. She was born in Jamaica, where they play something called “netball”; a basketball hybrid that was invented when a woman asked for a copy of James Naismith’s original basketball rules, and copied them down wrong (this is true). Anderson had never played the American version of basketball until last year.
According to MaxPreps.com, Rutgers Prep is 1-2, and have a big tilt against St. Bernard’s in Gladstone tonight. See you there.
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HS Basketball Star 6’10″ and Still Growing [CBSNews.com]
NJ hoops gal a huge star [New York Post]
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- Shawn - Jan 9, 2010 at 7:06 PM
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Why does the headline say “World’s Tallest Teenager” when that’s not true? 14-year-old Brenden Adams from the state of Washington is 7-4 and plays sports, as well.
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- Bob Cook - Jan 10, 2010 at 9:52 PM
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You can’t teach height, though you can’t always teach it to play basketball, or make its feet support it.