Rivals Crossover: No. 1s from 2017, Najee Harris vs. Michael Porter
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 2017.
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: Michael Porter Jr.
Bossi’s take: Before a back injury cost him his lone season at Missouri (where his father was hired as a coach), Porter Jr. was one of the most skilled basketball prospects that Rivals.com has ever seen at the high school level. Despite concerns over his back injury, Porter Jr. was taken No. 14 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft by Denver. After sitting out his first year to get healthy, he’s had some eye-popping minutes – including 25 points in just 23 minutes against the Pacers – as a reserve for a very good Nuggets squad while averaging 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds in only 14 minutes per game.
FOOTBALL: Najee Harris
Farrell’s take: Harris has become an elite college running back who decided to come back for his senior season and could dominate college football. As a junior, he rushed for 1,224 yards and 20 scores overall as a runner and receiver and he’s a potential first-rounder. He was a big, athletic three-down back in high school who toyed with opponents.
And the winner is ... Porter Jr. probably gets the slight edge here because of the potential that he has shown on the biggest stage. However, Harris is coming on strong and could flip this argument with another great year at Alabama before making his way to the NFL.