Just a few notes on Tacko:
HS 4.0 GPA
SAT scores 95th percentile
Majored in Chemistry and Engineering at UCF. Settled on Engineering.
Mastered English language in 8 months/his family is Senegalese.
okay..... now can you state if this has much to do with basketball?
Probably nothing, but if he becomes a bball player of note, it could be huge for black kids everywhere to see. You can both excel in academia and sports and have it be a cool thing. Even if he doesn't make it as a pro, he can show kids that it's okay to be educated and not have to rely solely on sports to make a life for yourself.
Not everything has to relate to what someone can or cant do on the court. JB is a good example, people say he has a low bball IQ (I dunno), but off the court the guy has spoken at Harvard and more. Sports aren't the be all and I like that athletes are representing different things that those coming behind them can see and say "I can do that too!"
This isn't an argumentative post, just saying I like it when I find out that these guys are more than athletes. If people are already thrusting being a role-model on them, it's nice to see people who value more than the stereotypes of money and women (not saying they don't enjoy those things too

).