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Report: Top 50 recruit Reid Travis quits football to focus on hoops

Minnesota Boys All State Basketball

In this March 21, 2013, photo, DeLaSalle’s Reid Travis dunks against St. Paul Johnson during the first half of their Class 3A high school basketball semifinal game in Minneapolis. Travis was named Monday, March 25, the co-winner of the Minnesota Associated Press Player of the Year award for high school boys basketball. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, Elizabeth Flores) MANDATORY CREDIT; ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; TWIN CITIES TV OUT

AP

Reid Travis wasn’t exactly a secret heading into this summer’s grassroots hoops circuit, but thanks to a growth spurt that added a couple of inches to his now 6-foot-7, 235 pound frame, Travis has some of the best programs in the country chasing him down.

He’s already visited Gonzaga officially and currently has Michigan State, UCLA and Stanford knocking down his door while also receiving heavy interest from Minnesota as they try to keep the local kid local.

Those extra couple of inches also may have forced Travis’ hand in terms of the sport that he will play in college. Travis is not only a high major hoops prospect, but he was being recruited by the likes of Minnesota, Boston College, Iowa and Rutgers to play football. He was listed as a “pro-style quarterback” by Rivals, but those extra inches combined with the coordination and soft hands that he’s developed as a basketball player made him an ideal tight end prospect.

Over the summer, Travis told NBCSports.com that if he wasn’t playing quarterback in college, he wasn’t playing football in college. And it looks like Travis has come to the realization that his destiny may have been as a tight end.

The No. 40 prospect in the Class of 2014 announced on Wednesday night that he would not be playing football as a senior at DeLaSalle HS, instead focusing on his basketball career.

“When he got back from the adidas Nations (basketball tournament), he said he was just missing too much of the skill stuff they were doing,” Nate Travis, Reid’s father, told the Pioneer Press. “Football is one of those sports where you just can’t get out there without getting your body and your mind on track. If he wasn’t going to do it in college, then maybe he should focus more on the basketball aspect.”

That may be the best option for Travis from a health perspective, as football can take a toll on an athlete’s body.

And besides, if he doesn’t end up becoming a pro in basketball down the road, he can always follow the trail blazed by the likes of Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham.

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