INDIANAPOLIS – With March Madness in full swing, the Colts did some hardwood work of their own on Thursday afternoon.
The Colts signed former college basketball player Demarco Cox, who just last week was competing in the ACC Basketball Tournament for Georgia Tech.
Cox stands 6-8 and 294 pounds and will get a crack as an offensive tackle at the NFL level. As a high school football star, Cox turned down gridiron offers from Alabama, LSU and Ohio State.
It was Cox's passion for basketball that took his athletic ability to the gym following high school.
The college career for Cox began at the University of Mississippi where he played basketball for four years. He was granted a medical redshirt in his junior season, allowing him to eventually transfer to Georgia Tech for his final season of eligibility
Playing as a fifth-year gradate student, Cox started all but one game for the Yellow Jackets and averaged 8.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
Recently, the NFL has had a history of seeing players successfully make the transition from basketball to football at a variety of positions.
New Jaguars offensive tackle Jeremy Parnell signed a five-year deal this offseason and just like Cox, he played basketball during his college days at Ole Miss.
Cox is the first cousin of Eagles defensive end, and former first-round pick, Fletcher Cox.
For the Colts, Joe Reitz had a very similar collegiate resume to that of Cox. Reitz played just basketball in college (Western Michigan), before heading back to football, where he was an All-State participant in high school.
Current Colts tight end Erik Swoope is trying to do the same thing as Reitz. Swoope played college basketball at the University of Miami and spent all of his 2014 rookie season on the Colts practice squad.
