Riley Leonard’s athleticism goes way beyond the football field. The Indianapolis Colts’ sixth-round pick (No. 189 overall) already signals a significant belief in his football abilities, making his late selection all the more intriguing.
But a particular resurfaced clip from his high school days at Fairhope is gaining a lot of traction lately, generating a buzz. Intriguingly, it’s a clip of Leonard shooting hoops instead of tossing the pigskin.
Riley Leonard’s Basketball Skills Leaves Fans in Awe
At Fairhope High, in Alabama, Leonard didn’t just play basketball; he was a standout player. FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz compares the high school basketball player Leonard, having a perfect dunk after dunk, to “Mac McClung.” The clip was enough to impress any NBA scout, one that could easily compete with a collegiate tape.
As a junior at Fairhope, Leonard averaged 20.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, numbers so good that they earned him recognition as one of three finalists for Class 7A Player of the Year honors in Alabama. Given his basketball brilliance, several top Division I basketball programs, including Missouri State, North Alabama, Samford, and St. Mary’s, were eager to recruit Leonard.
Partial credit for it goes to his father, Chad Leonard, as he gave him the crucial guiding hand to develop his clean skills. Chad was a basketball player himself, having once played at The Citadel, Charleston, S.C., from 1992 to 1995.
Leonard’s Father on His Son’s Basketball Career
Although Riley was excellent in both football and basketball, his father had assumed that his son would follow in his footsteps and pursue basketball in college.
“I never pushed him to play basketball, but I always kind of thought he would end up playing basketball in college,” Chad told People magazine. “But then COVID happened, and the football offers he was getting, he just couldn’t ignore.”
As a high-school prospect who passed for 1,900 yards and 25 touchdowns and had 500 rushing yards in his varsity career, Leonard had football scholarships lined up from top universities like Syracuse, Tulane, Nebraska, and Duke.
Although football was against what Chad thought about his son’s career, he was “kind of relieved” that he had gone with football, the reason being his body was more suited to the sport.
“I felt for a long time that he had a quarterback’s body,” he said. “His personality was built for the quarterback position. He’s been a quarterback since he was little. The position comes natural to him. He’s a freak athlete, and combine that his natural talent for the position, and it’s a perfect fit.”
Leonard is already excelling in football and will likely have an impressive NFL run, but had he chosen to play basketball instead of football, there would have been no doubts about his success as well.