ORLANDO — Former UCF basketball star Tacko Fall returns to the NBA after a nearly five-year absence, signing a two-way contract with the Philadelphia 76ers over the weekend.
Fall inked an Exhibit 10 deal last month, a one-year, non-guaranteed, NBA minimum salary contract that allows a team to evaluate a player during training camp or the preseason while securing their G League affiliate rights. Injuries to Philly's frontcourt, including the season-long loss of projected backup center Ariel Hukporti (Achilles), opened a roster spot.
The 30-year-old Fall, listed at 7-foot-6 and 299 pounds, last played an NBA game during the 2021-22 campaign with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He has played 37 times across parts of three seasons, averaging 2.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game.
"I was a little speechless, to be honest," Fall told reporters over the weekend. "Like I said, I've had quite a few challenges since I left, and when you get that, after all these years and after all the hard work, I think it means a lot more, for sure.
"I'm excited to be back. I feel like this is a great opportunity, and with the things that I can do, I believe that I can really help this team. And for me, whatever they need me to go out there and do, I'm going to do, come in with great energy and just do what I can do to help."
Johnny Dawkins, who coached Fall for three seasons at UCF and played five years for the 76ers, is thrilled to see him given another shot in the NBA. Fall most recently played for the Ningbo Rockets of the Chinese Basketball Association.
"It's well deserved," Dawkins said. "Tacko's a terrific human being … but also, he's an NBA player. He has the mobility, and he has the size. I know the game has changed so much with bigs shooting 3s and all those things. I keep waiting for the game to get a new iteration where we go back to throwing it in the post to guys.
"Maybe that will be it with Embiid and him on the same roster."
Fall holds UCF's all-time Division I program record in field goal percentage (.740) and blocked shots (280), while ranking third in rebounds (887). He started 33 games as the Knights earned an at-large bid into the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
The 76ers travel to Madison Square Garden for the second game of the 2026-27 NBA season, squaring off with the defending champion New York Knicks. Philadelphia made two of the biggest moves of the offseason, signing LeBron James as a free agent and acquiring Jaylen Brown via trade from the Boston Celtics.
Brown and Fall were teammates in Boston in both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.
They join a roster that already boasted a pair of All-Stars: center Joel Embiid and guard Tyrese Maxey.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Tacko Fall, UCF's 7-foot-6 legend, returns to NBA with Philadelphia 76ers