Basketball and football have always been connected in one way or another. Al Davis openly admitted that John Wooden’s defensive style was the biggest influence on his usage of the bump and run. For whatever reason every football player thinks he can ball. And for good measure these days most power forwards seem to think they can play football too.

That’s just one of the reasons why the Raiders are taking a chance on Cal State Fullerton power forward Andre Hardy. Though he’s never played a snap of collegiate football the Raiders signed the soon to be NFL tight end today. For a breakdown on Hardy you can check JBB’s draft analysis of him from earlier this week.

Collegiate hoopsters turning into NFL pass catchers are nothing new under the sun, especially not in the AFC West and definitely not for the Raiders.

Naturally the conversation begins with man most refer to as perhaps the best tight to end ever play. Before Tony Gonzalez was terrorizing the AFC West as a Chief he was a two sport stud at UC Berkley.

As for the Raiders, this isn’t unfamiliar territory at all. Al Davis once took a tight end from Ohio State with the ninth pick in the draft named Rickey Dudley who just so happened to also play hoops for the Buckeyes. In more recent years Stanford alum Teyo Johnson was a second round pick as a tight end that doubled as a forward for the Cardinal hoops squad.

Between the two Dudley had the better career though he never lived up to his top 10 draft status. Johnson was out of the NFL in three years largely due to his JaMarcus Russell-esque work ethic but mainly due to his T.O.-like attitude.

While we’re on the subject might as well mention Ronald Curry who played quarterback and point guard for the University of North Carolina before becoming a wide receiver in Oakland.

Of course the man that really brought the hoops to football conversion into the modern era was San Diego Charger Antonio Gates. Here is where the Raiders are hoping to catch lightening in a bottle. Like Hardy, Gates played no collegiate football whatsoever yet was unearthed by the San Diego scouting department. He has sine gone on to become one of the most dangerous weapons in the history of the position.

Perhaps influenced by  Gates’ transition, Hardy no doubt saw him play for the Bolts as he went to high school in San Diego. Hardy’s father also has a football background playing for three different franchises during his brief NFL career in the 80′s.

Recently New Orleans record setter Jimmy Graham has taken a similar route.

So, just because Reggie McKenzie is doing away with many of the Al Davis practices doesn’t mean the Davis philosophies aren’t still alive and well. Rolling the dice on an unproven yet athletically gifted player with potential is right out of the Davis playbook. Unless Hardy can beat out David Ausberry, Richard Gordon or Brandon Myers then chances are Hardy will be a practice squad player if he makes it to the final roster cuts and clears waivers. That is unless Dennis Allen goes Hue Jackson and carries four tight ends on the 53-man.

Look no further than the position of tight end and you’ll see a very direct link to hoops. In modern football the position of tight end has been transformed from extra offensive lineman to hyper-productive pass catcher. Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and one-time Raider Rickey Dudley all came to the NFL with a basketball background. But it’s not just the tight ends. We’re seeing bigger, stronger and faster wide receivers that can simply use their height to win 50-50 balls in the back of the end zone.

You see it’s not just the size and skill set hoops offers in way of making a great NFL tight end or wide receiver. It’s also the very hoops-centric idea of exploiting matchups that makes the receiving positions so valuable these days.

Put a slow plodding linebacker on an athletic freak likes Gates and it’s a bigger no contest than Albert Haynesworth in court on assault charges.

Put any 5’9” corner on Larry Fitzgerald in the red zone and watch that DB’s 45-inch vertical mean less than Donovan McNabb’s contract in Washington.

Which brings us to the newest toy in Al’s collection – Terrelle Pryor.
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