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“US Basketballer Hops To Kangaroos”: Former Buckeye’s Cross-Sport Migration Inspires Legendary Headline

Eric Wallace came to Ohio State in 2007 as a top-flight basketball prospect, but now 23 years old, he just signed a 10-day contract with the Australian Football League’s North Melbourne Kangaroos, following brief stops at DePaul and Seattle University.

According to CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman, DraftExpress’s Jonathan Givony (yes, the NBA draft analyst), working as an AFL consultant, recommended Wallace and scored him a spot at a pre-draft camp.

Wallace apparently “didn’t know anything about the AFL,” but studied tape and got the hang of things well enough to impress scouts at the camp.

The 6-foot-6 ½, 230-pound Wallace… was fourth in the vertical, top 10 in the sprint and (sic) tested well in most of the other events.

“He’s going up against guys that are 6-1 and 6-2 and he’s faster,” Givony said. “They are shocked because guys his size don’t usually test this well. They love him here. They can’t get enough of him…”

The money isn’t what Wallace admittedly envisioned years ago while all the big boys were in pursuit. It’s not comparable to an NBA salary, but Givony said that Wallace could make $70,000-80,000 if he is signed to an initial contract. An average league salary is around $300,000 and stars even make in excess of $1 million per season.

It’s the oft-discussed story of the talented American athlete being able to dominate a foreign sport, and it’s not all that shocking, despite the rarity of its actual occurrence.

I just have to say it: couldn’t Tebow actually be good at Austrailian Rules Football?

/removes troll-wig

But seriously?

[AFL.com]

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