Rivals Crossover 2015: No. 1s Byron Cowart vs. Skal Labissiere
The Rivals Crossover Series is a weeklong look at some historic figures in football and basketball, merging our two sports into one storyline.
In this piece, national football recruiting director Mike Farrell and national basketball analyst Eric Bossi look at the No. 1 player from each sport and compare their national influence and success. Here we look at the class of 2015.
MORE CROSSOVER SERIES:
Who would have been better at football, LeBron or Zion?
The top 10 football-basketball combo prospects
The top 10 football-basketball combo schools
No. 1 vs. No. 1 (2003): LeBron James vs. Ernie Sims
No. 1 vs. No. 1 (2004): Dwight Howard vs. Adrian Peterson
No. 1 vs. No.1 (2005): Gerald Green vs. Derrick Williams
No. 1 vs. No. 1 (2006): Greg Oden vs. Percy Harvin
No. 1 vs. No. 1 (2007): Michael Beasley vs. Jimmy Clausen
No. 1 vs. No. 1 (2008): B.J. Mullens vs. Terrelle Pryor
No. 1 vs. No. 1 (2009): John Wall vs. Bryce Brown
No. 1 vs. No. 1 (2010): Josh Shelby vs. Ronald Powell
No. 1 vs. No. 1 (2011): Austin Rivers vs. Jadeveon Clowney
No. 1 vs. No. 1 (2012): Shabazz Muhammad vs. Dorial Green-Beckham
BASKETBALL: Skal Labissiere
Bossi’s take: In one of the poorest decisions in Rivals.com history – basketball or football – Labissiere beat out Ben Simmons for the No. 1 spot. A native of Haiti, Labissiere spent one season at Kentucky where he was largely disappointing but he still managed to get taken in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns, who traded him to Sacramento on draft night. His best NBA season came in 2018 with the Kings, when he averaged 8.7 points, 4.8 rebounds in just over 20 minutes per game. He's made 148 appearances in four seasons.
FOOTBALL: Byron Cowart
Farrell’s take: Cowart was a physical beast out of high school who was very raw but had all the makings of a superstar. He failed at Auburn and had one solid year at Maryland and is now in the NFL but, like Hand before him, our No. 2 should have been No. 1 as Josh Rosen at least went on to become a first-round draft pick. Cowart found minimal playing time as a rookie with the Patriots last season and is no lock to make this year's team.
And the winner is ... This one isn’t easy as both Labissiere and Cowart were busts relative to expectations on the college level. Cowart still has time to reclaim some glory in the NFL, but given that he’s at least carved himself out a career that should last several more years as a role player in the NBA, we have to give the edge to Labissiere.