Meet Jalen Suggs, the best 2020 two-sport athlete in the country

RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK: Top 10 for class of 2020 revealed | Mind of Mike

Minneapolis’ Jalen Suggs is a five-star basketball recruit and a Rivals250 football recruit. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound two-sport star has his pick of playing point guard or quarterback at a big-time level, or he may decide to try his hand at both. Rivals.com basketball analyst Eric Bossi and football analyst Josh Helmholdt debate which sport Suggs might choose, while the rising junior contemplates that decision himself.

“I don’t know which (sport) is better, right now, for me,” Suggs said. “That is going to be something me and my family will have to decide when that time comes. For right now I am just enjoying them both, continuing to get better each day and putting myself in the best situation for when I have to make that decision.”

RANKINGS: Football | Basketball

Early football-specific offers have come in from Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio State. Suggs recently worked out for Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer at the Buckeyes' summer camp and received strong, positive feedback after that performance. It’s coincidental that Suggs’ recent football-specific performances was at Ohio State because one of the more compelling comparisons for Suggs is former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who himself was a standout on the basketball court in high school. Pryor’s size set him apart and although Suggs has good size for the position, he does not have a frame that matches Pryor’s at the same stage. Style-wise, though, there are similarities. Both Pryor and Suggs possess(ed) that bouncy athleticism that football players with a basketball background tend to possess, and both bring the ability to hurt defenses through the air and on the ground to the table. Suggs is not a finished product as a quarterback, but he oozes potential and has the dual-threat abilities most college programs want.

More players are drafted into the NFL than the NBA and there are three times as many players on NFL rosters as NBA rosters, but between the Developmental League and overseas the professional opportunities between the two sports is negligible. And, at the end of the day, there are only 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL compared to 30 starting point guards in the NBA. So, with Suggs, the better question would be what can he become if he focuses strictly on football? As mentioned, he is far from a finished product as a quarterback and greater emphasis in the off-season – when he currently primarily plays basketball – would allow him to reach that potential sooner. Were he to focus on football exclusively, Suggs’ offer list would explode – he is that good. His arm is better than most Power Five dual-threat quarterbacks, and his overall athleticism is on the plus-side of the ledgers as well.

Could Suggs be that rare prospect who chooses football over basketball in college? The chance he does, or at least tries to juggle both sports at the next level, is out there as a possibility even if these decisions usually go in the favor of basketball. - Josh Helmholdt, Rivals.com Midwest Recruiting Analyst

"The one factor that would get me to just play football is if I started to hear things about how I would have better opportunities if I just played football. That if I continued with just that in college I would set myself up better for the future. Unless I start hearing that and that changes, I will focus on basketball and football."

Suggs has been well-known on the basketball court since before he even reached his freshman year in high school. Rivals.com first saw him play as an eighth grader competing against high school juniors and seniors, and he was the best player on the court. Suggs had already grown pretty close to his current size by then and displayed outstanding court vision, ability to score off the dribble and leadership qualities. As he has grown older, Suggs has continued to evolve. The vision and creativity are still there but he’s become a powerful guard and one who loves to play through contact. He’s clearly a high-major point guard and the five-star floor general has already drawn offers from Arizona State, Baylor, Iowa, Iowa State, Marquette, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, UCLA, UNLV, Wake Forest and Xavier, among others.

Looking at the landscape of great NBA point guards, there’s not one guy that sticks out as a perfect comparison. Suggs has the size and strength of a John Wall but isn’t quite as speedy. He’s crafty and tough off the dribble like a Kyle Lowry but maybe not quite as clever, and he’s got some of the fire and explosiveness of an Eric Bledsoe.

With such great options in both football and basketball, the question becomes why should Suggs choose basketball over football? For one, he already seems to have placed much more emphasis on basketball. While he’s done some football training during the spring and summer, he’s spent much more time playing grassroots basketball, traveling with USA Basketball and hitting elite hoops camps. That right there suggests that his heart is with basketball and in terms of long-term impact to his body, basketball is certainly the safer route.

Ultimately, though, Suggs' desire is to be a professional and the path toward an NBA career has proven to be a bit more likely, direct and faster for a player ranked as highly in basketball as Suggs is than it has for a player who is ranked where he is on the football field. Also, should hoops not work out, football would be an easier sport to make a return to than would basketball from football. - Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting Analyst Eric Bossi

"Its kind of the same thing (as football) when it comes down to those two sports, whichever sport has more opportunity for me and is setting me up better than the other for the future and the rest of my life is the one that I will focus on and spend more time on. But I love basketball and I love football so that's going to be a tough decision."