Football

A former college basketball player will be part of the San Francisco 49ers draft for this season. Onye Ibekwe who now signed a free agent contract for the NFL team, used to play basketball at Oklahoma State (OSU). He played as a Cowboy for two years. During this time he played 11 games throughout the 2002-2003 season. Ibekwe also performed at Long Beach State. Ibekwe hadn’t played football since he was a sophomore because he wanted to dedicate more time and concentration to basketball. Ibekwe saw that Antonio Gates did well last season on the NFL, more specifically with the San Diego Chargers, even though Gates had never played football in college. Gates was a basketball player at Kent State before he entered the NFL draft. Inexperience didn't seem to stop Antonio Gates, who generated 81 catches in his second NFL season and 89 receptions last season.

But they are not the only ones that have changed one sport to another. Other sports swingers are Marcus Pollard who is a former Bradley basketball player and has played 11 NFL seasons as a tight end with the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions. The St. Louis Rams Jai Lewis, who assisted George Mason to reach the 2006 Final Four and Connecticut basketball player Ed Nelson who signed with The New York Giants also belong to this list.

Ibekwe was described by the San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Nolan as a bright, eloquent person, and a “great developmental project”. Everybody is expecting to see what kind of football player he turns out to be.Ibekwe is likely to perform as a tight end but he is up to play receiver or special teams or whatever position coaches want him to try.

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