"OMG, look how tall that man is" is something I hear every single day and in the past it was something that would bother me, but now it's something I embrace and I can honestly say I am proud to be 7ft tall.

Having a father standing 6ft8 and my mother just under 6ft it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to work out I was going to be pretty tall. Growing up I was always the tallest one in the class, standing at the back for photos and growing so fast my poor parents had to buy me new uniform every term.

At school I was always extremely enthusiastic about sport and started to realise being tall and always very strong gave me a bit of an advantage over others in my school. I was always happy to try my hand at any sport but my first real love came for boxing. This is a family tradition as both my Uncle and Grandad were Olympic boxers so it was only right I gave it a go. Doing this for many years and really dedicating a lot of time to the sport gave me great enjoyment and success.

It was around this time at the age of 16/17 when I was standing at 6'8, when a teacher at school told me about something called 'tall and talented'. A scheme where they were looking for tall athletes in order to be potential Olympians for Great Britain. After a few weeks of testing and trials they wanted me to try my hand at basketball so I did.

Right away I loved everything about it and made the big decision to give up boxing and pursue basketball, and what do you know, it turns out I am not so bad at it (I also grew another 4 inches which helped!). 5 years down the line I am currently playing professionally and I am a member of the Senior Men's Great Britain Squad.

Being in the position I am in and being so tall means I get recognised everywhere I go, after games fans wanting autographs and photos, which is something I enjoy as it has allowed me to meet so many amazing people. I never see it as a chore and will always give my time to say hello to people, speak to them about my height and my career in basketball. I wouldn't change my height for anything and always use it as a positive. My girlfriend might be of a different opinion though, as she stands 5ft3 which means we always get some funny stares ?