This is awkward information for fans of both the Miami Heat and the Miami Hurricanes.
Turns out Urban Meyer, now head coach of Ohio State and formerly the head coach of the Florida Gators and wide receivers coach at Notre Dame, once offered LeBron James a scholarship to play football for the Fighting Irish. Thankfully, LeBron did not accept.
In addition to playing high school basketball, James also spent time on the football field as a wide receiver. He caught 42 passes for 820 yards and reached the end zone seven times as a sophomore, and then caught 61 passes for 1,245 yards and 16 touchdowns in his junior year.
That was good enough to get attention from college football recruiters, and apparently Meyer attempted to recruit James without knowing he was a basketball prodigy.
Reports The LA Times:
Meyer, who is now the new coach at Ohio State, recalled James' reaction to his offer.Meyer still believes that LeBron could have excelled in the NFL instead of the NBA if he chose football. Thankfully, for Heat fans, we'll never know.
"Thank you very much, I'll consider it," Meyer recently told reporters.
Then Meyer remembers hearing James' high school coach begin to laugh.
"I didn't know what he was laughing at," Meyer said, "so we went down and sat in a room and he said, 'Do you know who that is?' and I said, 'No' and he said, 'LeBron James' and I said, 'Who's LeBron James?' and he said, 'He'll be the next Michael Jordan' and I go, 'Come on.'"
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