Hard-Hitting Influence From Ex-College Hoopers on First Round of NFL Draft
Did you know that WR DeAndre Hopkins, a first-round draft selection in 2013, played basketball for Clemson in 2010-11? Hopkins led the NFL in touchdown catches with 13 in 2017 and supplied at least 96 receptions in five of the previous nine seasons and at least 75 catches in eight of first 11 campaigns. Historically, the first 15 NFL drafts from 1936 through 1950 had a former college basketball regular selected among the top 10 picks. Four of the top six choices and five of the top 11 in the 1957 draft were ex-college hoopers. To our knowledge, none of them featured the excess baggage of Jameis "Crab Legs" Winston, the #1 selection several years ago who was also a versatile athlete but in baseball.
Back in 1963 when men were men before social scholar kneeling knuckleheads, commissioner hugging plus all of the ESPC-contrived Sam Who I Am draft-day crying/kissing and diversity sensitivity training (#BringBackOurMen), six of the top 22 picks, including five from schools that have always been or subsequently became members of the Big Ten Conference, were in the same category. Ex-hoopers for Notre Dame provided five top seven NFL draft choices in 23-year span from 1946 through 1968. Baylor, Michigan and Ohio State have had four former hoopers chosen in the opening round of NFL draft.
Six overall #1 choices were former college hoopers (Oregon State's Terry Baker, Syracuse's Ernie Davis, Michigan's Tom Harmon, Rice's King Hill, Notre Dame's Paul Hornung and Tennessee State's Ed "Too Tall" Jones). In the average NFL draft, nearly half of the athletes selected also competed in basketball in high school. Joe Stydahar, a tackle from West Virginia, appears to be the first former hooper selected in the NFL's inaugural draft in 1936 (sixth pick overall by Chicago Bears). Former Michigan State hooper Keon Coleman came close in 2024 as the wide receiver was 33rd pick overall after transferring to Florida State. There might not have been a former college hooper selected in opening round of this year's NFL draft, but following is an alphabetical list of first-round draft choices who played varsity college basketball for a current NCAA Division I university:
| Hooper/1st-Round Choice | Pos. | College | Selected in Draft By | NFL Pick Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Don Allard | QB | Boston College | Washington Redskins | 4th in 1959 |
| Neill Armstrong | OE-DB | Oklahoma A&M | Philadelphia Eagles | 8th in 1947 |
| Doug Atkins | DE | Tennessee | Cleveland Browns | 11th in 1953 |
| Terry Baker | QB-RB | Oregon State | Los Angeles Rams | 1st in 1963 |
| Sammy Baugh | QB | Texas Christian | Boston Redskins | 6th in 1937 |
| *Hub Bechtol | E | Texas Tech/Texas | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5th in 1947 |
| Johnny Bright | RB | Drake | Philadelphia Eagles | 5th in 1952 |
| Jim Brown | RB | Syracuse | Cleveland Browns | 6th in 1957 |
| Ray Buivid | QB | Marquette | Chicago Cardinals | 3rd in 1937 |
| Bob Carey | WR | Michigan State | Los Angeles Rams | 13th in 1952 |
| Fred Carr | LB | Texas Western | Green Bay Packers | 5th in 1968 |
| Shante Carver | DE | Arizona State | Dallas Cowboys | 23rd in 1994 |
| Lynn Chandnois | HB | Michigan State | Pittsburgh Steelers | 8th in 1950 |
| George Connor | OL-DT-LB | Notre Dame | New York Giants | 5th in 1946 |
| Olie Cordill | HB | Rice | Cleveland Browns | 5th in 1940 |
| Ernie Davis | HB | Syracuse | Washington Redskins | 1st in 1962 |
| Glenn Davis | HB | Army | Detroit Lions | 2nd in 1947 |
| Len Dawson | QB | Purdue | Pittsburgh Steelers | 5th in 1957 |
| Joseph "Bill" Dellastatious | B | Missouri | Detroit Lions | 8th in 1946 |
| Mike Ditka | TE | Pittsburgh | Chicago Bears | 5th in 1961 |
| Rickey Dudley | TE | Ohio State | Oakland Raiders | 9th in 1996 |
| Billy Joe Dupree | TE | Michigan State | Dallas Cowboys | 20th in 1973 |
| Ray Evans | TB-DB | Kansas | Chicago Bears | 9th in 1944 |
| James Francis | LB | Baylor | Cincinnati Bengals | 12th in 1990 |
| Reuben Gant | TE | Oklahoma State | Buffalo Bills | 18th in 1974 |
| Tony Gonzalez | TE | California | Kansas City Chiefs | 13th in 1996 |
| Otto Graham | QB | Northwestern | Detroit Lions | 4th in 1944 |
| Harry "Bud" Grant | E | Minnesota | Philadelphia Eagles | 14th in 1950 |
| Bob Griese | QB | Purdue | Miami Dolphins | 4th in 1967 |
| Linus "Parker" Hall | TB-P | Mississippi | Cleveland Rams | 3rd in 1939 |
| Kevin Hardy | DL | Notre Dame | New Orleans Saints | 7th in 1968 |
| Tom Harmon | HB-DB | Michigan | Chicago Bears | 1st in 1941 |
| Napoleon Harris | LB | Northwestern | Oakland Raiders | 23rd in 2002 |
| Todd Heap | TE | Arizona State | Baltimore Ravens | 31st in 2001 |
| King Hill | QB | Rice | Chicago Cardinals | 1st as bonus pick in 1958 |
| Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch | OE | Michigan | Cleveland Rams | 5th in 1945 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | WR | Clemson | Houston Texans | 27th in 2013 |
| Paul Hornung | RB | Notre Dame | Green Bay Packers | 1st as bonus pick in 1957 |
| Jack Jenkins | FB-LB | Vanderbilt | Washington Redskins | 10th in 1943 |
| Ed "Too Tall" Jones | DL | Tennessee State | Dallas Cowboys | 1st in 1974 |
| Matt Jones | E | Arkansas | Jacksonville Jaquars | 21st in 2005 |
| Billy Kilmer | QB | UCLA | San Francisco 49ers | 11th in 1961 |
| Ron Kramer | WR | Michigan | Green Bay Packers | 4th in 1957 |
| Johnny Lattner | HB | Notre Dame | Pittsburgh Steelers | 7th in 1954 |
| Bobby Layne | QB | Texas | Chicago Bears | 3rd in 1948 |
| Marcedes Lewis | TE | UCLA | Jacksonville Jaguars | 28th in 2006 |
| Ronnie Lott | DB | Southern California | San Francisco 49ers | 8th in 1981 |
| Johnny Lujack | QB | Notre Dame | Chicago Bears | 4th in 1946 |
| Don Lund | FB-LB | Michigan | Chicago Bears | 7th in 1945 |
| Bob MacLeod | B | Dartmouth | Brooklyn Dodgers | 5th in 1939 |
| Jim McDonald | B | Ohio State | Philadelphia Eagles | 2nd in 1938 |
| Banks McFadden | HB | Clemson | Brooklyn Dodgers | 3rd in 1940 |
| Rich McGeorge | TE | Elon | Green Bay Packers | 16th in 1970 |
| Donovan McNabb | QB | Syracuse | Philadelphia Eagles | 2nd in 1999 |
| R.W. McQuarters | CB | Oklahoma State | San Francisco 49ers | 28th in 1998 |
| Leonard Mitchell | DE | Houston | Philadelphia Eagles | 27th in 1981 |
| Mack Mitchell | DE | Houston | Cleveland Browns | 5th in 1975 |
| Julius Peppers | DE | North Carolina | Carolina Panthers | 2nd in 2002 |
| Pat Richter | TE | Wisconsin | Washington Redskins | 7th in 1962 |
| Andre Rison | WR | Michigan State | Indianapolis Colts | 22nd in 1989 |
| Jack Robbins | QB | Arkansas | Chicago Cardinals | 5th in 1938 |
| Dave Robinson | LB | Penn State | Green Bay Packers | 14th in 1963 |
| Reggie Rogers | DL | Washington | Detroit Lions | 7th in 1987 |
| Art Schlichter | QB | Ohio State | Baltimore Colts | 4th in 1982 |
| Don Scott | HB | Ohio State | Chicago Bears | 9th in 1941 |
| Del Shofner | E | Baylor | Los Angeles Rams | 11th in 1957 |
| Norm Snead | QB | Wake Forest | Washington Redskins | 2nd in 1961 |
| Joe Stydahar | T | West Virginia | Chicago Bears | 6th in 1936 |
| David Verser | WR-KR | Kansas | Cincinnati Bengals | 10th in 1981 |
| Doak Walker | HB-DB | Southern Methodist | New York Bulldogs | 3rd in 1949 |
| Byron "Whizzer" White | B | Colorado | Pittsburgh Steelers | 4th in 1938 |
| Alfred Williams | DE | Colorado | Cincinnati Bengals | 18th in 1991 |
| Jack Wilson | HB | Baylor | Cleveland Browns | 2nd in 1942 |
| Kendall Wright | WR | Baylor | Tennessee Titans | 20th in 2012 |
*Bechtol played in the AAFC, where he was a second-round pick (9th overall).