As a high school senior in Birmingham, Ala., De’Runnya Wilson was a basketball star who dabbled in football. Now, three years later, Wilson is on the verge of being selected in the NFL draft.
Wilson played wide receiver as a senior at Birmingham’s Wenonah High; he also had played football as a ninth-grader before giving it up to concentrate on basketball. He averaged a double-double as a power forward as a high school senior, but his football ceiling appeared higher than his basketball upside – after all, 6-foot-5 basketball players are a dime a dozen, but there aren’t that many 6-5 wide receivers – so he signed a football scholarship with Mississippi State.