Bryan Gasser has been a tight ends coach at three different schools, and at each stop, he had the same rule: no recruiting non-basketball players.
“I think there’s a long list of reasons why,” said Gasser, who’s in his first season as Toledo’s recruiting coordinator and director of player personnel after a previous stint at UT from 2010 to 2015.
The leveraging, body positioning, natural athletic ability, and ball skills that a post player exhibits on the basketball court translate to the football field. NFL tight ends Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, and Jimmy Graham all played college basketball, and they’ve combined for 27 Pro Bowls.
In an era of sport specialization, with the youth sports industrial complex contributing to the rapid rise of single-sport athletes, Jason Candle and other college football coaches are looking the other way in recruiting. Increasingly, they are seeking out multi-sport athletes who are often more coachable, possess elevated competitiveness, and, according to most coaches, have higher performance ceilings.
“I think it definitely helps from an evaluation standpoint,” Candle said. “But my personal stance is if it was my son, play as many sports as you possibly can. You only get to be a high school freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior one time in your life, so why wouldn’t you want to play? I’m not into the world of sport specialization and you need a quarterback coach to train you year-round. I understand the value, and I understand the reasoning. But if you’re really committed to that sport, you’ll find a way to do it on the side anyway. Play football, play basketball, get out on the track, get a baseball glove on your hand. Have fun being a high school player.”
In 2021, Eric Holley committed to Akron to play ... football and men’s basketball. The Akron East standout thrived at quarterback and wide receiver and averaged nearly 30 points per game as a guard. He once had a 51-point outburst that included eight 3s.
However, Holley’s two-sport college dream was derailed when Akron football coach Tom Arth was fired.
“[Playing two sports] helped me,” said Holley, a redshirt freshman wide receiver for the Rockets. “The benefit is just doing other sports. In soccer, you can learn footwork. For one, you’re staying in shape. Basketball is almost like track because you’re constantly running. It definitely helped my endurance.”
All but three members of Toledo’s 2023 recruiting class were multi-sport athletes, and the Rockets are trending in the same direction in 2024.
A quick glance at the current roster yields notable accomplishments: Holley’s basketball exploits, Jacquez Stuart’s 100-meter and 400-relay state championships in Florida, Connor Walendzak was a once-time baseball commit to Purdue, Thomas Zsiros starred in basketball and track at St. John’s Jesuit, and Larry Stephens could have played college basketball.
“It tells you a lot about who that kid is,” Gasser said. “It also gives those guys a chance to compete year-round. There are a lot of skills that translate from one sport to the other. From an evaluation standpoint, it’s good to see what a guy can do in track to validate times, power, and explosion. In basketball, it’s good to see what guys look like and the ability to change directions. I think there’s a lot of value.”
In a study published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine, research shows that sport specialization actually contributes to a higher injury rate due to an overuse of the same skills. The author also notes more burnout in athletes who play a single sport.
Spreading the year out over multiple sports allows youth and teen athletes to reset their bodies and their minds. It can increase strength and fitness because each sport requires an athlete to use different muscles and motions. Some experts believe multi-sport athletes are faster and have better hand-eye coordination, endurance, and balance.
“It shows your athleticism, and it helps with football,” Stuart said, noting that any sport can benefit football players. “Everything relates to the game. Speed kills, and that’s what track helped me with.”
While sport specialization grows, the NFL draft is proof that adding basketball, track, soccer, or even golf to the docket can pay off. Over the past decade, about 90 percent of first-round draft picks were multi-sport high school athletes, according to the scouting research site Tracking Football.
Coaches often see multi-sport athletes display better leadership traits, positive reactions to adversity, a higher level of confidence, and strong sports IQs. Something as small as where a recruit bats in the lineup or if their coach chooses them to shoot technical free throws offers a window into their place on a team.
“If you come across a guy who’s a captain in three different sports, what does that tell you about leadership traits and who that kid is off the field?” Gasser said.
In some areas of the country, specialization is unavoidable — i.e., Texas and football. But Florida purposely starts spring football until after track because there’s significant overlap in athletes. In Ohio, where there’s a battle about the merits of spring football, coaches are pushing back because it would slash an opportunity for athletes to be involved in other sports.
The next time you’re at a high school basketball, baseball, or track event, keep a watchful eye out for a future college football star.
“Some of our best players have been multi-sport guys,” Candle said. “If Eric Page didn’t play football here at Toledo, he’d probably be a second baseman for the Cubs. The skills translate and the competitive nature of playing multiple sports, I’m a fan of that.”
First Published August 16, 2023, 6:35 p.m.
