<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">With the Final Four in the past and graduation day approaching, George Mason senior Jai Lewis is winnowing down his career options. His prep school basketball coach has received inquiries from European teams about Lewis's interest in playing basketball overseas. "That's my so-called Plan C," Lewis said. "If I were an NFL scout, I'd be giving him very, very serious consideration," GMU Coach Jim Larranaga said of Jai Lewis, above. (By John Mcdonnell -- The Washington Post) He was invited to last week's pre-NBA draft Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, where he averaged 11.7 points and 6.7 rebounds and earned an interview with the Charlotte Bobcats. Playing professional basketball in North America is Plan B. But with the NFL draft approaching at the end of this month, and with about half the league's 32 teams having expressed interest in the burly forward, a professional football career is, for now, Plan A. So while Lewis recovers from the Patriots' NCAA tournament run and continues working toward a degree in sports management, he is hastily identifying a path toward that goal. Lewis began meeting with prospective agents this week and hired Jeff Jankovich of Capital Football Associates late last night. Now he will quickly begin working with a personal trainer, concentrating on the sort of football-specific drills that NFL scouts would like to see: a 20-yard shuttle run out of a football stance to display acceleration and flexibility, and a three-cone drill to demonstrate the ability to change directions at full speed while staying low to the ground. Within the next two weeks, Lewis plans to hold a one-man combine for those scouts, either on George Mason's campus or at a local gym, during which he will perform basic speed and strength tests. The NFL draft begins on April 29, four weeks to the day after Lewis's 13-point, 11-rebound showing in George Mason's national semifinal loss to Florida. "He has two to three weeks to do what other guys have been preparing for since January 1," Jankovich said. "His times are perhaps not going to be as good as some other guys, his techniques might not be as good, but they're looking for the burst, the speed, the strength. Technique, they can teach him. . . . The fact that scouts have come to look at him tells you something. They found him, and that means a lot." Roughly 10 NFL teams, including the Baltimore Ravens, have contacted Lewis directly, asking questions about his background in football and his life away from athletics. Several more, including the Washington Redskins, have spoken with George Mason Coach Jim Larranaga.</div> Source
I think he can excel at both. I think he would be a steal in the NBA Draft and a solid pick in the NFL.
