I know it is likely wishful thinking, but I would love to see Kawann Short step on tot he basketball court for Matt Painter's Boilermakers after a bowl appearance. We wouldn't expect a lot from him, but he would be a bruising 6'3" forward that is athletic enough to dunk, get rebounds, set picks, and generally be an enforcer. He wants to play, too. I asked him about it after the spring game this year and he said, "If my coach let's me." Yes, the NFL is likely in his future, but let's just borrow him for two years, please? It wouldn't even cost a basketball scholarship, and we'll trade Patrick Bade as a tight end prospect back to football.
Kawann Short - Jr. (RS)
Hometown: East Chicago, IN (East Chicago Central)
Defensive Tackle
6'4", 305
2011 Projection: Starter at Defensive Tackle
Kawann Short is expected to fill a major role with the departure of Ryan Kerrigan, but truth be told, he was good enough last year to attract plenty of attention and free up Kerrigan at times. It is anticipated that he will be one of the top defensive tackles in the Big Ten by the end of the season. He's big, but he's also extremely agile for his size. That is evidenced by the fact that he has two career interceptions. Both of those came in 2009 during his redshirt freshman season when he notched 48 tackles while starting all 12 games. He is disruptive int he backfield as well.
Last season Kawann had 41 tackles, but 12.5 were for a loss and six of those were sacks. He was second on the team only to Superman himself. For good measure he added eight pass breakups and blocked a pair of kicks. He is disruptive in the passing game not only because he can get to the quarterback, but because he always has his hands up looking to bat the ball down.
Let's sign off for the day by looking at the big man throwing down during his basketball days:
Here is some video of his blocked kicks at Northwestern as well: