It seems Jalen Suggs was one of those transcendent high school athletes, with an outrageously succesful career in basketball and football.
The Gonzaga star stole the show in the Final Four of the men’s NCAA tournament on Saturday. He nailed a game-winning three-point shot at the buzzer from nearly half court to send the Bulldogs to the national championship with a 93-90 win over UCLA.
And as the internet is prone to do, folks began to dig up whatever information it could about the 19-year-old star, considered one of the best prospects in college basketball. Turns out, he was also an elite quarterback prospect in high school. Georgia and Ohio State offered him scholarships after he served as a two-year starter at Minnehaha Academy, which had a 25-1 record (and a state championships) with Suggs at QB.
Here is his highlight reel.
It’s wild that Jalen Suggs was an absolute beast on the football field also.
He had offers from Georgia, Ohio St., Michigan St., and more.
pic.twitter.com/jkvgOD0AGR— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) April 4, 2021
It’s not totally clear if Suggs would’ve have remained at quarterback, had he joined one of these big programs. Most high school quarterbacks move to a new position in college. But Ohio State coach Ryan Day certainly seemed interested.
“We offered him, and in the end, just didn’t feel like he was going to throw it well enough to come in and play right away,” coach Ryan Day said, in an interview with Yahoo Sports. “I felt like if he spent 100% of his time on football, he had a chance to develop as a quarterback. He was just raw.”
Alabama coach Nick Saban suggested Suggs was on his radar, but didn’t get into the game of second guessing Suggs’ decision.
“Well I vaguely do recall him as a player and he was a really good player. He’s a really good basketball player, you know, too, so I can’t argue with anybody about the choice that he made.”
Suggs clearly made the right call, bypassing football in favor of basketball. The NBA draft is likely to make Suggs a very rich young man with a bright future.
