If Rico Gathers really has NFL potential, the New Orleans Saints might be the first team to know it.
The Baylor basketball player's pursuit of an NFL career made a stop at the Saints' local pro day workout Friday, according to ESPN. NFL clubs are permitted to hold a workout for prospects from area colleges and high schools, and Gathers was eligible having attended Riverside Academy in Reserve, La.
Gathers is eligible to be selected in the 2016 NFL Draft, but with no experience at the college or even high school level, an undrafted free-agent opportunity is his more likely path.
The Baylor power forward averaged 11.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game for a Bears team that was ousted by Yale, 79-75, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. At 6-foot-8 and 275 pounds, he is looking to make an NFL roster as a tight end, following in the path of basketball-to-football successes such as Jimmy Graham and Antonio Gates.
He's also eligible to return to Baylor this fall as a football player, and as of three weeks ago, Baylor coach Art Briles acknowledged he would be glad to add Gathers to the roster.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
