What it's like to be Jordan Wilmore, Tennessee's tallest high school basketball player in 36 years

It's lunchtime at Whitehaven High School, and a familiar face ducks under the doorway with a friendly smile.

Students look up from their lunches, eyes drawn to 7-foot-2, 275-pound Jordan Wilmore as he makes his way to the lunch line.

The way the 17-year-old senior handles the attention is nearly as remarkable as his size. Some kids yell, "Hey Big Jordan!" from afar. Others walk right up to him for a handshake or a hug. He acknowledges everyone, and he has a quick-witted comeback for every joke.

"I’m just friendly with people," Wilmore said. "I just like coming into school with a good attitude and good vibes every day. So if somebody cracks a joke I’ll just say something back and make everybody laugh. That’s basically like my job here, just like to make people laugh and have a good time." 

Wilmore is believed to be the tallest high school basketball player in the state since Mike Carpenter, a 1983 Farragut graduate who was 7-2 and played at Minnesota and Arkansas.

Wilmore is also believed to be the tallest player in the Memphis area since Bartlett's Steve Turner played in the 1960s.

"I didn't get here until 1976 and I cannot think of anyone that tall that's come through," said former Commercial Appeal sports editor John Stamm. 

Turner played at Vanderbilt from 1969-73 where he was listed at 7-4. He was selected by the Boston Celtics in the 10th round of the 1973 NBA draft, when he was then listed at 7-2.

Wilmore is averaging 8.9 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.1 blocks in his only season at Whitehaven. He has been listed as tall as 7-foot-4 by some media outlets. But the USA Today Network - Tennessee measured him at 7-foot-2 at practice recently. His wingspan is 7-foot-4.

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The biggest kid in the room

Brenda Wilmore, Jordan's mother, couldn't help but laugh when she showed up to his kindergarten class to check out his surroundings. 

"Imagine a regular kindergartner. He could not sit in the desk. They had to go and get a sixth-grade desk for him because when he went to sit, his knees were lifting the desk up," said Brenda, who is 6-1. Jordan's father is 6-10. "And he goes, ‘Mom, guess where I’m sitting at’ and I just start laughing because I knew. I knew he was going to be a big young man, but I just had no idea how big." 

By eighth grade, Jordan had surpassed 6 feet. It happened so fast that Brenda didn't realize it until he asked her to comb his hair one day and she had to stand on her toes to reach

By his sophomore year he hit 7 feet and and kept growing. He might not be done yet. 

"According to his doctor, they said his growth plate is still open. But I'm hoping that he’s stopped," said Brenda. "Because health-wise, for bone structure, I just want to make sure he’s healthy. I don’t want him to get any taller. He’s young right now, but I’m looking down the road."

Jordan said he loves being tall and that the best part is being able to dunk a basketball consistently. He also mentioned that he can see over the top of crowds. 

People typically ask him how tall he is, if he can reach items in stores, and if he plays basketball. He likes to have fun with the last question. 

"Sometimes I just mess around and say, ‘No, I play table tennis' or 'I play pro hockey’ and they believe me," said Jordan. 

What's not made for someone 7-foot-2 — just about everything

Other than basketball, Jordan's biggest passion is cars. He daydreams about having the world's biggest car collection one day. 

But first, he has to get his driver's license, which he hopes to obtain by the end of the summer. Just entering a vehicle requires special technique. 

"Yeah it's a long process," he said. "Wait until the seat moves back. Wait until the top part moves back. There’s kind of like a little technique. You kind of have to like put your right leg in there and then kind of just let it slide over and let your body just sit down in it." 

Jordan sleeps in a queen-size bed, which has a standard length of 6 feet, 8 inches. He says that he mostly sleeps "crunched-up" so his feet don't hang off the end of the bed. When he feels the need to stretch out, he sleeps diagonally. 

"Yeah, I curl up into a little ball especially when it’s cold," said Jordan. "I don’t ever sleep straight because I don’t like my feet to get cold and the sheet don’t reach that far."

Most of his clothes are bought online, which means that walking into a store, picking something out and trying it on is almost never an option. 

"It can be pretty challenging because he wants to dress and do things like normal kids do, but some things he can’t," said Brenda. "Like if he goes to the mall, and goes, ‘Oh I like these pants,’ he can’t buy them because they won't fit him." 

He has a 42-inch inseam and wears a size 17 or 18 shoe depending on the way the shoe is cut.

The chance to play for Penny Hardaway

Jordan grew up in Maryland. He spent freshman and sophomore year at prep basketball powerhouse DeMatha Catholic. He sat out most of his sophomore season with a broken ankle and transferred to Mt. Zion Prep for his junior season. 

His journey to Memphis began when his mother asked him if he knew who Penny Hardaway was and if he'd like to play for his AAU team, Team Penny (now known as the Bluff City Legends after Hardaway became the Memphis Tigers coach). She had a friend who noticed Jordan's height and pitched the program on finding a spot for the towering teen who was about to enter the 10th grade. 

Jordan played for the program for the past two summers. He and Brenda enjoyed the experience so much that they decided to move to Memphis. 

"It was the relationships that we developed with Penny and Bluff City and the people in general," Brenda said. "The way that they play ball here is just totally different and Jordan and I just love the city. It was something about the city. He just really meshed with everyone and he was like, 'I like it here' and I was like, ‘Yeah, me too.'" 

Jordan said he has offers from Tennessee, Ole Miss and Southern Utah, among others. He is unranked in the 247Sports Composite.

He hasn't received an offer from Memphis, but he wants one. 

"Memphis is a very good school," said Jordan. "Memphis is on my list of schools that I want to get an offer from. I wouldn’t mind going there."

His plan is to gain more exposure playing on the AAU summer circuit, which means he might not sign with a college during the spring signing period, which starts in April. 

"First I have to play AAU, and then go to college or go to prep school and get better college offers," said Wilmore.

But, having spent the first three years of his high school career at prep schools, he said he doesn't want to go back for a fourth. 

"I don’t really like prep school. I’ve already been to prep school two times, so I’m ready for college right now," said Wilmore. 

Some schools are telling Whitehaven coach Faragi Phillips that they plan to play Wilmore as a true freshman. Others envision him as a first-year redshirt. 

Whitehaven (23-7) plays at Bartlett at 7 p.m. Monday in a Class AAA sectional. All sectional winners advance to the TSSAA boys basketball state tournament held March 13-16 in Murfreesboro.

Whitehaven lost 60-44 to East on Thursday in the Region 8-AAA final where he was matched up with James Wiseman, a 7-foot Memphis signee who is the No. 1 player in the country for the Class of 2019, according to the 247Sports Composite. 

"He’s very raw, but he’s going to be good in the future," Wiseman said of Wilmore. "He just has to keep working. He’s going to be a good player."

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