One of my favorite families in Twin Falls has five children — all boys. Both Mom and Dad are fairly short, so, needless to say, the kids are all vertically challenged. Despite that, they love sports, basketball in particular.

When of one of their boys was about 5, he proudly proclaimed: “I’m going to play basketball at Duke.”

His mom, knowing the academic and athletic standards of that institution sarcastically retorted: “First of all, you can barely read. Secondly, you’re the size of a hobbit.”

That got me thinking. I’m a fairly good reader. And I’m nearly the size of two hobbits. Maybe I could play at Duke.

My barometer: Duke-bound forward Carrick Felix.

The 6-foot-6 College of Southern Idaho sophomore verbally committed to Duke on March 16. He has — and knows — what it takes to play for Mike Krzyzewski’s crew.

I figured playing a little one-on-one would answer my question. My concerns: If I played Felix up tight defensively, he’d blow by me and dunk it. And with his vertical leap, I was worried about him swatting the shots of a 5-foot-11 guy who can barely clear a piece of paper on the floor.

I was spared all of that. Felix had a benign fatty tumor nearly the size of a golf ball removed from his right knee last Friday and is getting around on crutches for a week or two.

Still, he agreed to play me in a game of H.O.R.S.E., or in our case, D.U.K.E.

We convened at CSI Gymnasium. With me making more consecutive shots than any time I can remember and Felix playing on one leg, I claimed the first round of best-of-three. Felix called it a “warm-up.”

“Remember how I would struggle sometimes in the first half and have a big second half?” he asked.

If I’d forgotten, he reminded me by promptly taking the next two games, banking in an incredible 17-footer from a tough angle to cap it.

So maybe I’m not quite a Duke-caliber player. Unless the Blue Devils switch to a league for 30-somethings — both age and pounds overweight — I’ll probably have to stick to writing about college basketball.

I’ll leave the playing at Duke to Felix.

“They’re excited about my ability and the things I can do,” he said. All the more impressive, considering Duke is playing in the NCAA Final Four this weekend, its 11th trip to college basketball’s promised land under Coach K.

Felix’s plan for next year: “Get back to the Final Four and win another championship.”

After all, he’s already got one D.U.K.E. championship under his belt.

Mike Christensen may be reached at sports@magicvalley.com or 735-3239.