A high honor - Former Crusader is tallest man in U.K.

Anyone in Worcester who watched Neil Fingleton play basketball at Holy Name or Holy Cross doesn’t need Guinness World Records to tell them the Englishman is tall, but we’ll take their official word for it. The famous reference book of international extremes last month validated Fingleton, who towers 7 feet, 7.56 inches, as the United Kingdom’s tallest living man. He said he ranks as the fifth tallest living man in the world. “When you put it in that perspective, it is fascinating,” Fingleton said in a telephone interview from his apartment in central Spain, where he is playing professional basketball. The Guinness World Records book comes out only once a year — usually right before Christmas — so if his mark prevails, Fingleton will be in the next edition. Fingleton, 26, is averaging 12 points and 10 rebounds for his Ciudad Real team, and has not given up on his dream of playing in the NBA. Fingleton, who earned a degree in history from Holy Cross, has also played professionally in China, Italy, Greece and England. He was the tallest player in the histories of Holy Name, Holy Cross and the University of North Carolina (he spent two years there). Fingleton attained his latest mark of distinction from Guinness while being filmed for an upcoming British Broadcasting Corporation documentary about tall people. Fingleton and two English teenagers, both over 7 feet tall, were interviewed and filmed for the program. “It’s basically about how tall people deal with their height, the positives and negatives that come with being tall, and it’s also to educate people,” Fingleton said. BBC crews spent eight full days over two months with Fingleton — both in England (London and his hometown of Durham) and in Spain — to offer insight to the everyday life of a 7-foot-7 man. Sleeping, dressing and driving are among the topics. Before he signed his contract with the Spanish team, for instance, Fingleton had to be sure they’d have a long enough bed made for him. He has to order all of his suits, shirts and jeans custom-made — he’s never found a 42-inch inseam on the rack at the Gap. As for driving a car? “I wouldn’t even try it (in Europe),” said Fingleton, who used to scrunch himself into a VW Golf when he was at Holy Cross. “The cars here are much smaller (than they are in the United States).” Traveling on airplanes is also, to say the least, uncomfortable. Fingleton routinely encounters gawkers, inquisitors and those insistent on telling tall people jokes — more so in Europe, he said, than here — so he hopes the documentary will be informative and educational. “In the States, people related my height to basketball,” Fingleton said. “Here, people can be very rude.” Worcester really embraced Fingleton, who came here when he was 16, and he has often called the city his adopted hometown. He tries to keep tabs on his former Worcester teams — he was happy to hear both are having good seasons — and keeps in close contact with former Holy Name teammates Dave McNamara and Bill Bertrand, as well as Phil Giarusso, with whom he lived. He said he e-mails J.P. Ricciardi, the Toronto Blue Jays general manager and his coach at Holy Name, every couple of months. “Worcester changed my life for the better,” Fingleton said. Fingleton said the BBC is contacting Channel 3 for footage of his playing days at Holy Name to include in the documentary. The documentary may not be the only time Fingleton appears in front of a camera. He is taking acting classes and has hired Warwick Davis as his agent. Davis, a 3-foot-6 British actor and co-founder of Willow Management in England, has had roles in a number of films, including the title character in “Willow” and as Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter movies. “(Acting) is something I was very interested in doing, and I contacted him because he’s basically made a living from his height and being a very good actor,” said Fingleton, who added he had to recently turn down a couple of parts because of basketball, but is hopeful there might be a role for him in the next Harry Potter or Narnia installment. “I’m getting more and more into it, and when you think about it, there are no tall actors out there, and there is a demand for tall people in certain roles.” As for basketball, Fingleton said he is playing well and, most importantly, has been healthy since the season started in October. His college career was plagued by injuries. If things continue to go well, he’s hoping his agent in the U.S. can get him some workouts with NBA teams this summer. “I’m doing now what I should have been doing in college,” Fingleton said, “playing through my mistakes, developing, gaining experience. Realistically, I probably have only a couple of years left to try to make the NBA, but if I can’t reach it, it’s nice to know I have other things to fall back on. I got a great education at Holy Cross, and we’ll see where the acting stuff can lead. I’m excited about the future.”