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 2007.
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MORE CROSSOVER SERIES:
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
(2004) Dwight Howard vs. Adrian Peterson
(2005): Gerald Green vs. Derrick Williams
(2006) Greg Oden vs. Percy Harvin
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Basketball: Michael Beasley
Bossi’s take: A member of one of the best high school classes that Rivals.com has ever covered, Beasley was No. 1 of a group that included others like Derrick Rose, James Harden and Blake Griffin. Beasley had one incredible season at Kansas State when he was the Big 12 Player of the Year and a first team All-American averaging 26.2 points and 12.4 rebounds per game before being selected No. 2 by the Miami Heat in the 2008 NBA Draft. As a pro, Beasley has averaged 12.4 points per game.
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Football: Jimmy Clausen
Farrell’s take: Clausen was very hyped coming out of high school and was labeled as the LeBron James of high school football by one famous quarterback guru. Clausen's career at Notre Dame was a solid one despite a poor offensive line and often having to run for his life. He was a second-round pick and carved out a short but solid NFL career, mostly as a backup.
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And the winner is ...
Due to a more impactful career as a pro, Beasley gets the nod over Clausen here. While Beasley may not have fully maximized his potential, he’s still had a pretty good run and earned over $40 million after making All-Rookie in 2008 and playing 11 seasons in the NBA.
