Dearman and Korn: living like giants

The two tallest Saluki basketball players find upside and downside to being lengthy

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They are not giants in the mythical sense, but they might as well be. Brad Korn and Jermaine Dearman, the tallest players on the SIU basketball team, tower over their opponents and their teammates as well.

Neither Korn, 6-foot-9, nor Dearman, 6-foot-8, were tall as they were growing up - but both have a different perspective than most on what defines tall.

"In grade school and middle school, I really wasn't that tall," Korn said. "I was only 5-foot-10. It isn't like I've been tall all my life.

"From my freshman year in high school to my sophomore year, I grew 8 inches. From 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-6. Ever since then, I grew like an inch a year until I came here. It's been pretty steady ever since."

Dearman found himself in a similar situation, but he said he might have been slightly smaller than some of the other kids.

"I think I may have hit a growth spurt around 12," Dearman said. "It came about the time I started playing basketball. It came at a good time. I was a lot bigger than the other kids. I was developing my skills a lot earlier."

Dearman jokingly attributed his growth to drinking a lot of milk. Growing so quickly had its problems for Dearman. He said his mom kept getting angry with him because she had to keep buying new shoes. Along with the shoes, the men have had trouble just buying clothes in general.

Korn said he cannot buy clothes that will fit him in stores. He has to order them out of catalogues.

"You have to pay for shipping," Korn said. "It's more money for bigger sizes. They just punish us bigger people."

Dearman has been having this problem since he was younger. "I could go into the older shops and even though I was a kid, I could buy the XXL shirts and tall pants," Dearman said. "Now, it's kind of hard. I can usually find my pants sizes everywhere, but a lot of my shirts don't fit. They are always big enough but they are never long enough. The sleeves will stop at my wrists and the shirt will stop at my stomach."

Despite the men's clothing problems, being as tall as they are brings a lot of attention from everyone.

Sometimes the attention is good, like when Dearman is seen above everyone else in a crowd. He did say that is a disadvantage sometimes.

Sometimes it is a huge disadvantage according to Korn, who said the attention can become annoying.

"I always get the question, 'What sport do you play?'" Korn said. "It gets a little old after a while. I guess they're curious. Not too many people see 6-foot-9 people walking around. People ask. I just hope they would have their own common sense and just think that I play basketball and not ask."

For these two giants, traveling on the road is more of a hindrance than it is for the rest of the team. Both Dearman and Korn said there isn't nearly enough leg room on planes and the baggage compartments are too low.

They also have problems with cars. At least, other people in the car with them have problems.

Beds in hotels are almost always too short as well. Dearman said he sometimes has to sleep diagonally.

There are also the obvious difficulties being tall brings, such as doorways and shower heads.

"I'm always ducking," Dearman said. "I don't have a chance to have my whole body under the shower. The shower is coming to maybe my shoulder or my back."

No matter how many positives and negatives being tall has, both men agreed they would not have it any other way.

"I wouldn't want to be short, that's for sure," Korn said.

Reporter Christopher Morrical can be reached at cmorrical@dailyegyptian.com