UW's Sorn, Loyola Player Share Distinction as Nation's Tallest
Seven games into a woeful season, this University of Washington basketball team is clearly lacking in multiple areas.
Team chemistry. Three-point shooting. Meaningful victories.
At a time like this, the Huskies (1-6) might best be served by taking stock of what they do have — one of the two tallest players in college basketball — and figure out a way to better take advantage of this creature.
Riley Sorn, all 7-foot-4 of him.
Only Matt Van Komen from St. Mary's College and formerly of the University of Utah also can make a tape measure stretch that far among all NCAA players.
Eighty-eight inches for both.
They're sophomores who rarely played in the Pac-12 last season, a situation that compelled Van Komen to enter the transfer portal last March.
At 262 pounds, Sorn brings a slightly heavier frame, pulls more minutes and appears more nimble around the hoop than the other guy.
Van Komen was a 4-star recruit who turned down Gonzaga, Baylor and others when coming out of Pleasant Grove, Utah, and heading to his local school.
Sorn emerged as a 2-star player from Richland, Washington, and had conversations with St. Mary's, a school noted for its big-man instruction, and smaller schools before walking on at Washington.
They're two of the 120 7-footers who show up on the rosters of the 350 Division I teams in 32 conferences.
East Carolina, Fresno State and Utah State each have three 7-footers to choose from.
These towering guys come from all over the world to play college basketball, from places such as Cameroon, France, Germany, Mali, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Senagal, Serbia, Sudan, Sweden and the Virgin Islands.
Here's a rundown on the game's seven tallest guys nationwide:
Riley Sorn, Washington, 7-foot-4 — Coming off the bench, he's become increasingly more comfortable with his body. In his last outing against Colorado, Sorn turned in a 16-point, 8-rebound performance over 18 minutes, shooting 7-for-8. He could find himself a starter soon, though stamina might prevent his game time from increasing much.
Matt Van Komen, St. Mary's, 7-4 — The 250-pound big man has drawn just 21 minutes so far with his new team, appearing in 6 of 9 games. He's taken 3 shots and hit 1 of them, dropped in 4-for-4 from the foul line, grabbed 7 rebounds and blocked three shots.
Connor Vanover, Arkansas, 7-3 — Another former Pac-12 player, the sophomore returned to his home state, sat out last season as a transfer and has started 6 of 7 games for the unbeaten Razorbacks. He averages 8.9 points and 8.1 rebounds an outing, and has blocked an amazing 20 shots so far. As a freshman, he started 15 of 28 games for California.
Jordan Wilmore, Missouri, 7-3 — The true freshman from Laurel, Maryland, has appeared in just three 3 of the 5 outings for the unbeaten Tigers. He's taken 3 shots and hit 1 and grabbed 3 rebounds while being slowly introduced to the college game.
Matt Haarms, BYU, 7-3 — The Purdue grad transfer is the Cougars' second-leading scorer at 9.7 points per game and grabs 3.9 rebounds an outing. He's started 6 of 7 games and missed two others because of an ankle injury. From The Netherlands, Haarms draws big-man expertise from BYU coach Mark Pope, who played for Washington and Kentucky, and in the NBA.
Mattias Markusson, Loyola-Marymount, 7-3 — The Swedish native has started 69 of 98 games for the Lions into his senior season and is one of the program's all-time most accurate shooters, hitting 59.2 percent of his attempts. The 265-pound center currently averages 7.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per outing.
Chris Sodum, Delaware State, 7-3 — A Nigerian, the well-traveled Sodum is with his fourth college program after committing to New Mexico and changing his mind, playing 6 games for Georgetown and getting dismissed by coach Patrick Ewing, and briefly joining George Washington. The sophomore appeared in 14 games for Delaware State last season, averaging 1.6 points and 2.7 rebounds an outing. He hasn't played yet for the Hornets this season.
This is the first in a series of three stories explaining where Riley Sorn fits in size-wise nationally, in the conference and in Husky history.
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