NATIONAL Under-21 net-baller Marvadene Anderson on Monday appeared as a guest on the Oprah Winfrey talk show hosted by the celebrated American broadcaster and entrepreneur.

Anderson — who was a member of Jamaica’s victorious teams at the 2008 and 2009 Jean Pierre Under-16 Caribbean Championships, where she was voted the top goal-shooter both times, was featured because of her incredible height, which is said to be 6 feet 10 inches.

To put that into context, it means the 16-year-old stands four inches taller than basketball superstar Michael Jordan (6’6″) and two inches above Lebron James (6’8″).

Anderson has been attending Rutgers Prep School in New Jersey since September 2009 after she was signed on the spot by team coach Mary Klinger and awarded a basketball scholarship to play for the school team the ‘Argonauts’.

Klinger had high praises for Anderson: “She has been a quick understudy; she’s absorbed, learned, and now she’s a major part of

our programme.”

Anderson, who turns 17 in May, told Winfrey she has not had a problem fitting into her new environment: “Just trying to fit in clothes, that’s the only problem

that I have,” she said with a touch

of humour.

She added that as a youth living in Jamaica, she sometimes felt out of place after discovering at age 12 that she was “different”.

“I felt bad. You can use your height here for other things, but in Jamaica it’s not that attractive.”

Anderson, who said she wants to be a paediatrician as well as play professional basketball, had some advice for youngsters who are different themselves.

“They should appreciate themselves, they should be happy for what they have because God gave it them for a reason, and if they just appreciate themselves then they will get appreciation from

other people.”

The former Edwin Allen High School student was also last year featured on a TLC (The Learning Channel) documentary entitled — The World’s Tallest Children.

“It’s a good thing for Jamaica and netball… a wonderful day for us,” Jamaica Netball Association

(JNA) president Marva Bernard told the Observer.

Oprah also featured classical violinist David Garrett, who is in the Guinness Book of Records for being the world’s fastest player, as well as the world’s fastest painter, who finger-painted a portrait of physicist Albert Einstein in less than two minutes.

The programme will be aired on CVM TV on Sunday at 6:00 pm.