BYU Football Players Show Off Basketball Skills In Three-Point Contest
Apr 11, 2021, 9:58 AM | Updated: 9:59 am
BYU Football tight end Isaac Rex shows off his three-point shooting skills at the Marriott Center Annex. (Screenshot courtesy of @BYUFootball/Twitter)
(Screenshot courtesy of @BYUFootball/Twitter)
PROVO, Utah – Back in March, I put out a piece on some of the best hoopers on the BYU football team. Coaches and players gave some good answers. The good news is that we are now getting a visual of how these guys hoop.
BYU football put out a fun social media video on their Twitter account highlight four players at the Marriott Center Annex. The four players were tight end Isaac Rex, offensive tackle Blake Freeland, cornerback D’Angelo Mandell, and defensive lineman Lorenzo Fauatea.
THREE POINT CHALLENGE 👌@ZFauatea vs @Dlo_Gunter vs @FreelandBlake vs Rex
Who ya got? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/KMPtkXlO37
— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) April 11, 2021
All four were participating in a three-point challenge at the Annex. BYU Director of Basketball Operations Bobby Horodyski was there to help out and was the coach of Team Mandell & Fauatea.
Football’s Director of Recruiting Jasen Ah You coached up Freeland & Rex.
One of the guys mentioned as a hooper back in March was Blake Freeland. A former quarterback in high school, Freeland also played basketball during his prep career. He had a smooth stroke from deep. But tight end Isaac Rex a.k.a. “The Elk,” stole the show.
In the Championship round against Mandell, Rex appeared to knock down 10 threes. As he said in the video, he was called Larry Bird, Steph Curry, and even Klay Thompson in high school. Does BYU basketball coach Mark Pope need to make a call to Kalani Sitake about getting Rex burying three’s for BYU Hoops? Probably not. But that was an impressive performance.
Rex was a multi-sport athlete in high school as well at San Clemente High in California. Rex played in four varsity basketball games, according to his MaxPreps page, and averaged 2.5 points in those four appearances.
On the gridiron, BYU’s offense will likely make Rex a big focal point again in 2021 and beyond. In relief of an injured Matt Bushman, Rex became the number one tight end and in his first full season as the starter recorded 12 touchdown grabs.
BYU’s Executive Coordinator of On-Campus Recruiting, Jack Damuni, teased some more three-point challenges with BYU football players soon, so we will be on the lookout for those when they drop.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
