Aaron Durley

Aaron Durley (born July 21, 1993) is a former Little League World Series baseball player known for his exceptional size, a former all-state high school basketball player, and a former player for Texas Christian University's basketball team (TCU).

Durley was born in Houston, Texas. He first became the object of media attention in 2005 (though garnered much more in 2006 when he had grown 4 more inches to 6' 8"),[1] when he played first base[2][3] and pitched[4] and batted fifth[1] in the Little League World Series for the Arabian American team from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, which is composed of the children of expatriate employees of Saudi Aramco (the Saudi national oil company), many from the United States.[5][6][7][8][9] At 6' 9", 245, Durley is the biggest player in Little League World Series history.[10][11] He was taller than the average NBA player.[12]

He had previously played for the Arabian American team in the 2005 Little League World Series. By 2008, Durley was 6'10", weighed 265 pounds, and wore a size 17 shoe.[13][14] In August 2009, Durley was 6'11" tall, weighed 250 lbs.,[11] and wore a size 18 shoe.

Aaron received some of his shoes from big time basketball players such as NBA Houston Rockets star Yao Ming, and University of Texas center Dexter Pittman. For five years, Durley lived with his parents in Saudi Arabia, where his 6'8" father worked for Saudi Aramco and coached his Dhahran team.[15] His mother, Dana, is just under 6 feet tall.[1][15] Previous to that, he lived in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where his father had moved from Texas.[16]

Aaron attended high school in Houston at St. Thomas High School and lived with his grandparents.[17][18] Described by the Houston Chronicle in November 2008 as a "freshman phenom", he got 16 points in his first game with the team.[17] In 2010, he was named by the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools to its second-team Class 5A All-State Boys Basketball Team.[19] Aaron left St. Thomas High School for Houston-area Fort Bend Bush High School, graduating in 2011 as a three-star recruit according to Rivals.com and Scout.com.[20]

Having previously committed to Marquette University on October 26, 2011,[21] he later signed with Texas Christian University (TCU) and redshirted his freshmen year after suffering a major knee injury in preseason workouts. After nine months of rehabilitation, Aaron re-tore his ACL during a layup drill prior to an exhibition game in Canada at the start of the 2013-14 season. Durley and the TCU coaching staff agreed that it was best for Aaron to take a break from basketball for the sake of his long-term health.[22] Aaron graduated from TCU with a major in Sports Broadcasting in May 2016.[23]

His brother Cameron Durley participated in the 2008 Little League World Series, also as a member of the Dhahran, Saudi Arabia team. Cameron was 6'2" and 228 lbs. at 12 years of age at the time.[24] His grandfather, Wilson Graham, played college basketball in Ohio, and his father played at East Texas State.[16] His aunt is former WNBA player Margo Graham.[25]

References
  1. "Dhahran's first baseman casts long shadow at LLWS". ESPN. August 24, 2006. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  2. Steve Rushin (September 18, 2006). "The Absurdity Of Height". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  3. Rusty Bryan. "Saudi Arabia gets off to quick start in Little League tourney". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  4. Rusty Bryan. "Little League baseball: Naples, Ramstein on brink of elimination". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  5. Time. Time Incorporated. 2006.
  6. "Saudi Arabia has Tower of Power," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
  7. "Little big man; Durley, 13, stands above LLWS competition", Chicago Tribune
  8. "JAPAN TOPS SAUDI ARABIA, 4-1", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  9. "Durley Can Play With the Big Boys", The Washington Post
  10. "Big, friendly giant". SignOnSanDiego.com. August 20, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  11. Don Norcross (August 25, 2009). ""The 6-foot-2 Little Brother" by Chasing the Dream". Signonsandiego.com. Archived from the original on August 30, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  12. "2-minute drill". Recordnet.com. August 19, 2006. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  13. "WORLD SERIES NOTEBOOK; Saturday's attendance sets record at 30,443". Patriot-News. August 18, 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-04-04. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  14. "CNMI All-Stars falls to KSA, 9-1". Saipan Tribune. August 22, 2006. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  15. "Japan beats Saudis to advance in Little League World Series". The China Post. August 26, 2006. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  16. "Arabia's biggest export". Yahoo! Sports. October 3, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  17. Jenkins, Jeff (November 18, 2008). "Boys basketball: Hopes high at St. Thomas". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  18. "LLWS notes: Staten Island team reprimanded for on-air obscenities". USA Today. August 21, 2006. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  19. Jenkins, Jeff (March 12, 2010). "Defense, pitching hurt Spartans | Heights news". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  20. "TCU Athletics Men's Basketball Aaron Durley". TCU Athletics. 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  21. Enlund, Tom (April 20, 2012). "Recruit Durley won't go to Marquette". Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  22. Jones, Patrick (April 28, 2015). "Ex-basketball player hopes to stay at TCU for the long haul". TCU Athletics. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  23. "Aaron Durley". Facebook. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  24. "Arabian American Little League; Dhahran, Saudi Arabia". Littleleague.org. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved October 6, 2010.
  25. Rose, Derek (August 22, 2006). "6-FEET-8 & ON TOP OF WORLD". NY Daily News. Retrieved October 7, 2010.

Sources
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