Commentary
Football or basketball?
Cornelius Elder excels at football, but basketball his true love
Originally Published: April 5, 2012
By Dave Hooker | ESPN RecruitingNation
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The term "athlete" is used in football recruiting as a way to describe a prospect who can play a number of different positions equally well.
For Nashville (Tenn.) Ensworth School's Cornelius Elder, it goes well beyond that.
Elder isn't even sure which sport he'll play.
Elder's first love was football until he discovered the AAU basketball world. He soon fell in love with the travel and the one-on-one game. Suddenly, basketball surpassed football as his main focus. But despite his passion for basketball, high school and college coaches tell him that football is his best path for success.
Dave Hooker/ESPN.com
Cornelius Elder has plenty of football offers, but is hoping for a few more basketball offers.
"It makes me just work harder and harder in basketball," Elder said. "When people say that it just makes me think they haven't really seen me play basketball."
The mailbox at Ensworth says it all. Football coach Paul Wade said of the 20 or so letters that Elder gets daily, about 75 percent are from football recruiters.
The scholarship offers tell the same tale. Programs from the SEC, ACC, Big East and others have offered Elder a scholarship. Ohio State did so this week. Basketball coaches haven't followed suit. Elder has some offers from smaller schools but is still waiting on at least a mid-major offer. Elder, who's 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds and plays guard in basketball, said he'll need an offer from an NCAA tournament contender to turn down those football offers. He's hoping the AAU circuit can provide that.
"I'm kind of small for a basketball player," Elder admitted. "Hopefully they see what I can do this summer and I can get some basketball offers but if I don't, I will play football."
But don't get Elder wrong. He would be happy to play college football and is flattered by the attention, as varied as it has been. See, even if Elder chooses football, his future is very much in question. Some schools are recruiting Elder to play offense as a slot receiver/scatback. Others are recruiting him to play cornerback.
Elder said he has no preference.
"When I get the ball in the open field, I know I can create and get the crowd going and get my team going," he said. "On defense, I can do the same thing, so either way."
Wade said schools that run a traditional power offense, like LSU, Tennessee, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, are recruiting Elder for defense. Schools who spread it out a little more, like Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Arkansas State, Ohio State and Oregon, are recruiting Elder to play offense.
cont...
