North Carolina Tar Heels: Neil Fingleton Passes Away
The North Carolina Tar Heels lost a family member on February 27 with the death of Neil Fingleton.
The North Carolina Tar Heels have had a history of bringing in tall prospects and foreign players into the program. This was more true in the Dean Smith era and has more or less disappeared under current coach Roy Williams. It does not take much effort to remember players like Serge Zwikker, Vasco Evtimov, and down to perhaps Damion Grant.
In the middle of that group was Neil Fingleton. Fingleton was a seven foot seven inches tall player from Great Britain. Fingleton came to Chapel Hill in the first Matt Doherty recruiting class of 2000. He redshirted that year and prepared for action in 2001. His better known classmates would have been Jawad Williams, Melvin Scott, Byron Sanders, and Jackie Manuel. They were Doherty’s first attempt to justify his hiring. They were also the freshmen of the 8-20 team.
Fingleton did not have much impact on that as he only came off the bench for one game. He was a project, but at Chapel Hill he was competing for minutes with Kris Lang, Williams, and Sanders. The situation did not project to get better either as Sean May was added to the big signing class of the next year. Fingleton transferred to Holy Cross where he graduated in 2004.
More from North Carolina Tar Heels
- NC Colleges Provide Coronavirus Results from Athletic Departments
- UNC Football gets Commitment from Top Cornerback
- Four North Carolina players selected in first round of MLB Draft
- UNC Destroyed by Coach Duggs and Tennessee in NCAA Football 14
- UNC Basketball: Former Tar Heel star calls out Roy Williams
Most people probably remember Fingleton more for his acting career rather than his playing days. Fingleton became attached to projects that needed big people. His best known role was Mag the Mighty on the HBO series ‘Game of Thrones.’ Like many Thrones characters, Fingleton was killed off in the series.
The unfortunate thing is that Fingleton has now passed in real life as well. The thirty-six year old passed just a few days ago due to heart complications. No doubt powering that massive body was hard on that central organ. Hopefully the tallest man ever born on the British Isles is getting to act or ball out in a better place.