At 64 years old, Randy Gearding does not understand all the hoopla around this “6-7” business.
Never mind that his grandson, Taylen Kinney, is at the heart of the meme that’s captivated social media and taken on a life of its own with Gen Alpha and Gen Z, launching Kinney to internet immortality. Kinney, or “TK” to those who know him, amassed more than 1 million followers between TikTok and Instagram, all because of a song lyric.
Take those stats, add the frenzy that follows Kinney into every basketball gym he enters, and the launch of Kinney’s “6-7” canned water brand, and you start to understand why Google identifies the 17-year-old as an “internet personality.”
It’s not that Kinney, the No. 17 overall player in the 2026 class according to the 247Sports Composite, minds being well-known online. But lost in all the fuss about his “6-7” renown is that Kinney really cares about basketball. You don’t get scholarship offers from dozens of high major programs — Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana, Oregon, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas and Miami are his finalists — and enjoy midnight home visits on the first day of the recruiting period from coaches like Kentucky’s Mark Pope and Louisville’s Pat Kelsey unless you’ve got game.
