At a height of 7 ft 7.26 in (2.32 m), he was measured as the tallest living person from the United Kingdom by Guinness World Records in November 2011.

[1] Sturgess was "drafted" by the Harlem Globetrotters in August 2011[2] and is the tallest ever to play for the team, earning him the nickname "Tiny".

[6][7] He was the second-tallest man in the UK until the death of actor and fellow basketball player Neil Fingleton, who was 7 ft 7.56 in (2.33 m) tall, in 2017.

[8] He featured prominently in the 2007 ITV1 documentary Supersize Kids: Britain's Tallest Teens when he was 19 and playing at the Florida Institute of Technology.

[13] Following the end of his basketball career in 2015, Sturgess became a motivational speaker, mostly for children of primary school age.