The Punjab village behind India's NBA hoop dream

(CNN) -- Satnam Singh stands 7-feet-1, wears a size 19 shoe, and is likely to grow taller because he is just 16-years old.
In the game of basketball, his height gives him an advantage. Like many young basketball players, he wants to make it to the National Basketball Association and is training in the United States.
What sets Satnam apart, however, is that if he makes it to the NBA, he will become the first ever from his country to do so.
Satnam is from India and more specifically from the proud state of Punjab -- home of turbaned Sikh men and Banghra music.
Unlike many of the cocky ball players of today whose names are as much about show boating and play acting as they are about physical skill, Satnam couldn't be more humble.

"I wish to become the greatest player in the world. I want to uphold the honor of India, the USA and of my coach and make basketball a prominent sport in India," Singh said.
Singh is from Billoke village. Population 1,400. It's a place where people drive bikes on dirt roads and make cow patty piles as high as a standard basketball hoop.
But basketball didn't really exist in the minds of the villagers here until a sharp-eyed sports enthusiast, Rajender Singh, saw the potential in his friend's son.
At just 9-years old, Singh was 5 feet 9 inches tall.
"I could make out from his height that he could become a good player. I took him to the ground to practice then. Day by day he excelled and touched greater heights," family friend Rajender Singh said.
Where did he get his height? From his father Balbir Singh who is a gentle giant standing 7 feet 1 inches tall, just like his teenage son.

Considering the average height of an Indian man is 5 feet 3 1/2 inches, both father and son are nearly 2 feet taller than just about everyone they meet.
They stick out in the village to say the least, but were never teased or taunted for it. When Balibir saw his first born son he knew he had a big boy on his hands.
"When my child, Satnam, was born, I could tell he would be as tall I am. He started gaining height when he was just one. By age four he was of good height. Then I started thinking about his future. It occurred to me that it was my duty to get him into a career."
He is hoping that career is as a player in the National Basketball Association, something his father had never even heard of as a child.