Inside life of 219cm teen basketball rising star Rocco Zikarsky
He turns heads everywhere he goes with his imposing stature and this Queensland junior basketball could soon be among the game’s greatest. Here’s what it’s like to be one of the world’s tallest teen athletes.
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Extended beds, a struggle to find clothes that fit, size 18 shoes and turning heads wherever he goes – life can be difficult at times for towering Queenslander Rocco Zikarsky.
But that is what comes with being a 219cm teenage basketball star.
The 16-year-old stands at seven-foot-two in the old scale and has established himself as one of the best young prospects in the world with the bright lights of the NBA and the Olympics already in his sights.
Zikarsky is coming off another big year, being named Basketball Queensland’s male athlete of the year, under-18 national champion and having his Queensland South side winning team of the year at the Queensland Sports Awards.
But as the Sunshine Coast product continues to climb the ranks, he has started to embrace the attention which comes with being a giant figure – something he has dealt with since he eclipsed seven-foot before the age of 14.
“I definitely get a lot of stares, no matter where I am, whether it’s in the mall, I could be just walking around the campus and I get a lot of questions,” Zikarsky, who currently lives at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra to attend the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence said.
“For the first few years of being absurdly tall it was definitely a change I had to adjust to.
“I’ve kind of embraced it a little more and realised most of the time it’s not a bad thing that people are looking.
“It’s not every day you see someone who’s seven-foot-two but when you hit them with the 16-years-old, it becomes a lot more extreme to them.
“It’s not as bad as what I make it out to be.”
Zikarsky is the youngest of four siblings and his mum, Kylie, said their family home was “chaos” at times.
“Every day the house was filled with high energy, lots of action and of course loads of food,” she said.
“Roc was often the life of the party, the house clown so to speak, definitely the loudest and definitely entertaining.
“He does eat a lot that’s for sure, however he has his favourites so he is easy to feed, he loves Honey Crunch and Weetbix Bites so I always stock up on those when he comes home.
“Chocolate milk is also his favourite drink, he drinks litres of it.”
But Kylie said her son being so tall at such a young age made many every day things difficult.
“Sleeping comfortably in a normal size bed is pretty impossible and buying clothes is a nightmare, you don’t buy off the rack when you are his height,” she said.
“For the recent awards, I was in a panic as to what he could possibly wear to a formal event, thank goodness we found Doubs Clothing, who specialise in tall men’s clothing in Melbourne and saved the day.
“I’ve been teaching Roc to drive and finding a car for him to comfortably sit in is difficult, he folds himself up to make it work but it’s not ideal or very comfortable.”
NBA Global Academy mentor Marty Clarke, who noticed Zikarsky when he was 12, said having attitude, where he could deal with these difficulties, was an area he had seen huge growth in during his time at Canberra.
“Being that tall, it’s just not the same life that a normal human lives,” he said.
“But Roc knows that now and he really embraces everything that comes with it, which is a big part of being a high level athlete.
“Of course he has his ups and downs on and off the court but he has the resilience to deal with those things now.”
Clarke also said he had seen the self-belief grow within Zikarsky over the past 18 months.
“He comes down here and he’s our youngest player, so he may not be going up against people taller than him but he’s going up against older guys, who have more mature bodies,” he said.
“Roc really gets tested but he has the belief in himself know that he gets knocked down and he’s bouncing right back up - he gives as good as he gets now and trust me he gets a lot.
“He’s going through that period now where you go from being a good player because you’re tall to being a good player because you’re just really good at basketball.”
The former Brisbane Grammar School student already knows what it takes to be an elite athlete with his dad, Born, an Olympic swimmer for Germany and his mum, Kylie, a triathlete and surf lifesaver.
With Brisbane to host the 2032 Olympic Games, Zikarsky said he would be lying if he hadn’t thought following in his dad’s footsteps and becoming an Olympian on home soil.
“I remember when I heard the news that 2032 was going to be in Brisbane and it was a huge moment to me,” he said.
“I was like I have a chance not only to represent my country at such a high level but to do it while at home in front of friends, family and people I’ve grown up with.
“It would be a crazy, crazy honour to put on the green and gold and play for the Boomers, especially in Brisbane.
“That’s definitely up there in my top long term goals, to make that a reality.”
Having already been a national champion in swimming, Zikarsky said he had not thought about returning to the pool competitively but if he did, the former 50m freestyle king said he believed he could be an Olympic swimmer.
Zikarsky was a quiet but noticeable figure on the court during his first few seasons of representative basketball before something clicked and a new-found aggression helped spark a new mentality and prepared him for his pursuit of playing in the NBA.
“The big changing point for me was falling in love with the game,” he said.
“The start of my junior playing days, I wasn’t really fully on basketball, it was more swimming but then I realised I could be the biggest guy out there and have the biggest voice.
“I can influence the game in more ways than just my height and that aggressiveness comes from the passion of wanting to play well, wanting to win and being able to bring my team up with my energy.”
Eligible for the NBA Draft from 2025, Zikarsky could join the recent influx of Australians in the league in the coming years.
“It’s high praise to be labelled as a future NBA player but right now it’s about really focusing on what I need to do to accomplish that goal and dream,” he said.
“The amount of Australians we have there who are performing at a high level, has been really good, scouts have started looking at Australia a lot more, there’s a lot of interest in who the next Australian player is.
“That’s good not only for me but for every kid in Australia who wants to reach the NBA.”
Clarke said everyone around international basketball, including scouts and coaches, knew who Zikarsky was.
The current Northside Wizards junior is yet to decide whether he follows the same pathway to the NBA as the likes of Oklahoma City star Josh Giddey by playing in the NBL, going to college or another route.
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Originally published as Inside life of 219cm teen basketball rising star Rocco Zikarsky
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