Mason's Lewis Is Prepared To Tackle Pro Football

By Dan Steinberg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 14, 2006

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.

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.

"I think one of the objectives of any professional organization is to find diamonds in the rough, what they affectionately call 'sleepers,' somebody that no one else knows about," Larranaga said. "Jai Lewis is as talented an athlete as I've ever been around. His hand quickness and foot quickness are incredible. If I were an NFL scout, I'd be giving him very, very serious consideration."

The Chicago Bears sent a representative to a George Mason game during Lewis's junior year, soon after Lewis and Larranaga fired off letters to all 32 NFL teams laying out the 6-foot-7 forward's football aspirations. The Buffalo Bills sent a scout to a team workout this fall, before the Patriots' season even started, and have stayed in regular contact with Larranaga. The Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars sent representatives to games. All this for a 23-year-old prospect who has not played a down of football in more than five years.

"Playing basketball for the last four years and not having any college experience in football, at first I just thought a couple teams would show a little interest," Lewis said this week. "But having so many teams call, the door is just opening wider and wider, and I think it's possible I could play."

Such an option elicits inevitable comparisons to Antonio Gates, comparisons Lewis has heard many times. The former power forward at Kent State never played college football, and as a senior he led his basketball team to the region final in the 2002 NCAA tournament before switching sports. He has made two consecutive Pro Bowls as a tight end with the San Diego Chargers.

Last season, rookie Wesley Duke played tight end for the Denver Broncos and caught a touchdown pass; he, too, was a college basketball star, at Mercer, but didn't play college football. The Redskins worked out two college basketball players -- Pittsburgh's Chevy Troutman and Miami's Will Frisby -- as potential tight ends last spring.

"A lot of personnel people have asked where all of the tight ends, defensive ends, pass rushers and outside linebacker-type guys have gone, and a lot of them have gone to play basketball," said Scott Campbell, the Redskins' director of college scouting. "So there are similar physical requirements as far as athletic ability: quickness, being big and strong, and being athletic-type playmakers. There is a correlation between the two."

Lewis's weight was listed as 275 pounds this season, but he said this week he weighs about 290 pounds. NFL personnel have told him he is being projected as either a defensive lineman or tight end.

"I don't think he's a guy who would be drafted, but I'm sure someone would sign him and give him a look in camp to try to make the roster if he decides he wants to play," one NFL general manager said this week.

Lewis played defensive end, nose guard, tight end, fullback and punter at Aberdeen (Md.) High, where he also starred in basketball and lacrosse. He rarely caught passes in his senior year, when his quarterback was current Maryland linebacker Erin Henderson, the younger brother of Minnesota Vikings linebacker E.J. Henderson. But Lewis could be a dominant blocker on offense and a force on defense, according to his high school coach, Joe Harbert.

"He couldn't be handled," Harbert said. "When we put him in the middle he disrupted the center so much, because he was so big, that it took two guys to take him on, or sometimes three guys, and our linebackers just had a field day."

Lewis was recruited by several football programs, including Virginia Tech and East Carolina, but a combination of academic problems, a coaching change at Aberdeen and uncertainty over Lewis's future as a basketball prospect kept the interest lower than it might have been, Harbert said. When he didn't meet NCAA qualifying standards, Lewis headed to Maine Central Institute to play basketball, and from there to George Mason.

He finished his basketball career having played more games than anyone in George Mason history, and was twice named first-team all-Colonial Athletic Association. Lewis said he never had a preference for football or basketball in high school, and that he still doesn't today. The NFL is first on his career-planning list because the draft is rapidly approaching and because of the burgeoning interest he has received. He solicited NFL advice from E.J. Henderson this week, and said he's looking forward to the sort of physical contact that boxing out for a rebound can't provide.

"Once I get the pads on, I've just got to take that first hit to get me back in football mode," he said. "I definitely don't regret the route I went. I went that route for a reason. Now I'm just blessed to have this opportunity come back and present itself. So I'm definitely going to try to take that opportunity as far as I can."

Staff writers Jason La Canfora and Mark Maske contributed to this report.