Massive Baylor sophomore power forward Rico Gathers said that he might consider the school’s football team after his college basketball career finishes.
Gathers, a 6-foot-8, 270-pounder, appears to have been sculpted from central casting to fill the role. His combination of size, power and brute strength has caught Baylor defensive coordinator Phil Bennett’s attention.
“Send him,” said Bennett, who coached at Pittsburgh with Sam Clancy, a similar college basketball player who emerged into an NFL defensive end. “I would be very open.”
Baylor wide receiver Levi Norwood dabbled with a basketball career with the Bears, appearing in a 2011 game before concentrating on football.
Norwood said that Gathers could help Baylor’s football program.
“I think he could be a real good player,” Norwood said. “A lot of people have gone four years and then in their fifth year played football and been successful and then played in the NFL. I could imagine after watching him that he’s someone who could do it.”
Defensive end Shawn Oakman is a similar size as Gathers at 6-foot-9 and 270 pounds. He has watched Gathers play basketball and would welcome him if he was interested.
“I say he should play football,” Oakman said. “He’s around my size, but should have his hand in the dirt 100 percent like us.”
Former Baylor cornerback Demetri Goodson made the transformation from a point guard at Gonzaga to a starting cornerback for the Bears. He is expected to be drafted by an NFL team after a strong effort at the combines in Indianapolis last month.
Oakman said that Gathers would be physically challenged joining the football team, but might find an opportunity if he could handle the demands of the more physical sport.
“Everybody can’t do what we do,” Oakman said. “Everybody isn’t built for (Baylor football strength coach) Kaz (Kazadi) and they aren’t built for waking up at 5 a.m. every morning. It’s a lot of different things that come with playing football.”
The disruptive Oakman’s basketball career ended in high school and he can’t imagine playing for Scott Drew’s basketball team with the Bears.
“I couldn’t do it in college,” Oakman said. “I did it in high school, but my attitude is too bad. If it’s between the lines, I’m a different person (in basketball). They won’t like that.”
But still, Oakman said he fashioned himself kind of like his old NBA idol Karl Malone with a similarly rough-and-tumble playing style.
“I’d be a nasty type not taking nothing from nobody,” Oakman said. “I’m old-school and it strictly would be a battle. I don’t like the new NBA, the touchy fouls. I like the old school.”
