Beware the Belgium Baller -- for starters, he’s 6 feet 11

When 6-foot-11 Gilles Dierickxwent home to Belgium for Thanksgiving, his former basketball teammates didn’t realize how much he had changed from spending a year in the San Fernando Valley until he got onto the court.

“All my old teammates were yelling at me, ‘Why are you making all these fouls? Stop making fouls.’ And I said, ‘That’s just how I play now.’ ”

Dierickx enrolled last January at West Hills Chaminade as a tall, lanky sophomore who wanted nothing to do with going into the key. He was comfortable shooting shots from the wing, which is typical for many European players.

He didn’t get to play last season at Chaminade because of eligibility rules, but after a year of preparation, he’s ready to make an impact at the varsity level. He’s set to play in his first varsity game on Jan. 25 against Encino Crespi. Until then, he’s playing junior varsity and seems to have embraced the American-style basketball for a big man.

“I kind of like to play physical and rough,” he said.

Call him the Belgium Baller.

Basketball is what brought him here. He went to a camp in Philadelphia and started looking for ways to stay. He eventually moved in with a family friend of his mother, then found a host family two minutes from Chaminade.

He has fit in well at a school known for its academic success. He speaks six languages, gets good grades and has a friendly smile. But it’s his size that attracted immediate attention.

Coach Todd Wolfson remembers getting a phone call from his principal.

“Todd, you better come down here, we’ve got a kid about 6-11 who’s touring our campus,” Wolfson recalled.

Dierickx, 17, played summer and fall ball for the varsity, averaging close to 15 points and eight rebounds. He has played this month for the JVs and is showing all the signs of being a versatile player who can dribble like a guard but is learning to assert himself inside.

“He’s starting to get his American game out,” Wolfson said. “He’s starting to get more physical.”

If Dierickx is able to draw fouls, he’s going to score lots of points because he’s an outstanding free-throw shooter who can make three-point shots if needed.

But Wolfson’s focus has been getting Dierickx to use his height inside while improving his strength. He has gone from 170 pounds to 195 pounds since he arrived.

He has visited Disneyland, traveled to Yosemite, eaten fast food and improved his English so well he might one day pass for a Valley boy.

But when he walks into a room, all eyes shoot up, and it’s his height and versatility that could enable him to have an extended stay in America.

Tournament frenzy

If you want to skip the post-Christmas sales, there’s lots of basketball to watch starting Saturday.

One of the best tournaments is at Westlake Village Oaks Christian, where Los Angeles Loyola, Thousand Oaks, Etiwanda, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Richmond Salesian and Sacramento lead a strong 16-team field.

In San Diego, No. 2-ranked Woodland Hills Taft, Los Angeles Price, Los Angeles Fairfax, Corona Centennial and Los Alamitos are playing in the MaxPreps Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines that also includes nationally ranked Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick.

No. 3 Santa Ana Mater Dei is in the Orange tournament at Chapman University.

One of the most interesting first-round games comes Saturday night in the Pasadena La Salle tournament. Lancaster Paraclete 5-8 guard Wesley McCurtis is averaging 29.4 points, with five games of 30 points or more. He’ll take on La Salle, whose 6-6 senior Matt Nolan has become a YouTube celebrity after shattering the glass backboard at Pasadena Poly with a dunk.

Edison is hot

Huntington Beach Edison is 10-0 in basketball, and a big reason is the return of guard Kyle Boswell, who missed much of last season because of a back injury. He has been MVP of two tournaments.

Happiest coach on Christmas

No coach should be happier about football season ending than Gardena Serra’s Dwan Hurt, who gets five players off the 15-0 football team to add to an already talented basketball squad that’s 7-1. The Cavaliers are playing in Las Vegas.

Little brother has grown up

Back when Pierce Brooks was starting as a freshman at Taft in 2004 and playing on a team led by Jordan Farmar, his younger brother, Julian, was serving as a ball boy and everyone kept making predictions whether he’d grow up to be a top football player or top basketball player.

He’s doing both at Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, where he’s a promising running back-linebacker and now starts for the basketball team.

He’s 6-1 and built tough.

I say he’ll be an NCAA Division I defensive back one day.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

twitter.com/LATSondheimer