How big a girl are ya? -- TUESDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

 ZHANG ZIYU IS OVER 7'2" 

It was Roy D.Mercer who recorded the hilarious "How Big A Boy Are Ya" clip, back in 1999, (you can hear it HERE) and the clip came to mind when this very tall woman came into the clinic I go to for my dialysis treatments. I was talking to one of the technicians after this tall woman left ,and we were discussing tallest people we had ever seen in person. She claimed she had seen a 6'9" woman at a trade show a few months back, I told her mine was a girl named Allyssa DeHaan, who played for Michigan State and was 6'9" when I saw her play around 2009 or 10. 

Was she the tallest girl to ever play basketball? The answer is "No". Zhang Ziyu of the Shandong Six Stars in the WCBA. The WCBA is the Women's Chinese Basketball Association and Ziyu is 7'2' (some say 7'3" ) and is 19 yrs. old. 

Your first question may very well be...why isn't she in the WNBA? That league has a rule that international players must be at least 20 on the day of their signing. If you are a player in the United States, the age requirement is 22. Why? My best guess is that the WNBA doesn't want to start usurping talent from the colleges too early, since it is their major recruiting source. Out of the roughly 160 players in the WNBA, around 120 attended a U.S. college or university. We also started talking about the tallest woman basketball player that has played at UofL. That would be either Liz Dixon, Eseosa Imafidon or Syndi Schetnan, who were all 6'5". An interesting fact is that Liz didn't start her college time at UofL...she first went to Georgia Tech. Sydni and Eseosa didn't finish their careers as Cardinals...Sydni ended up at South Dakota St. and switched primarily to Volleyball there. Eseosa is now a senior at Providence. 

Ayse Melek Demira. 

Who is the tallest Cardinals player this upcoming season? That's a tie between Grace Mbugna and Ayse Melek Demira at 6'4"

The tallest WNBA player award goes to Margo Dydek..who has seen time at the Connecticut Sun, Los Angeles Sparks and the Utah Starzz. She is 7'2". 

The tallest woman I ever dated was a 6'4" girl from Anderson County, KY who was the little sister of one of my fraternity brothers. She confided to me it was nice to finally go out with someone she didn't have to start down upon...(I'm 6'3") and dance with someone who's head wasn't buried in her breasts during slow dances. I wonder whatever happened to her? 

Know a tall girl? Make sure and remember her on June 20 or 21, that is National Tall Girls Day and comes about on the Summer Solstice. 

I wonder if it's too early for a "tall boy"? 

 paulie