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Tennessee football may have found the next Bo Jackson

By Colton Pickard

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers brings his team onto the field prior to a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers brings his team onto the field prior to a game against the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers at Neyland Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennesee won the game 59-3. (Photo by Donald Page/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football had a successful National Signing Day and might have found the next Bo Jackson in two-sport athlete Malachi Wideman.

Malachi Wideman is a two-sport athlete, and on National Signing Day, he decided to continue his career with Tennessee football.

With his success at the high school level at both football and basketball, he also brings the possibility of being a two-sport athlete for the Vols.

Now I don’t know if Jeremy Pruitt or Rick Barnes would allow that because the injury risk quickly skyrockets if Wideman were to join the basketball team, but it is a unique possibility.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel went into detail with this potentially being the case for Wideman and Dee Beckwith, who both signed with Tennessee on National Signing Day.

Beckwith flipped from Florida to Tennessee, and Wideman followed flipping his commitment from Florida State to Tennessee.

Wideman is 6-foot-4 and 197 pounds and will likely contribute as a wide receiver on the football field, and when Jeremy Pruitt went to watch him play basketball, he noticed the talent and gave Tennessee basketball head coach Rick Barnes a call to share what he thought.

"“The guy is an unbelievable athlete,” Pruitt said. “You see the athleticism. He could probably play three or four positions on the basketball court.”"

I don’t know how well he would perform at the college level, much less the professional level but there aren’t many great two-sport athletes left in Division I Power five athletics, so if Wideman can be successful at one or both sports, then this could be another big play for Pruitt in recruiting.

There are a lot of two-sport athletes at the high school level, but Wideman is no ordinary athlete. Pruitt went after him for a reason, and that’s because he’s extremely athletic and can play whatever position the Vols need him to play on the gridiron and the basketball court.

Wideman is special and has the potential to be the next great major two-sport athlete, and he could do it in the Tennessee Orange.

Next. Jeremy Pruitt is taking Tennessee football to the next level. dark

I think Wideman has a bright future in both football and basketball, and if Pruitt can develop him correctly, then we could see him excel in both sports at the collegiate level.

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