Laquon Treadwell recalls the time he successfully defended Jahlil Okafor in hoops
There’s a reason why rookie receiver Laquon Treadwell would ultimately “stick to football,” as he remembered often hearing from Chicago grade school and Amateur Athletic Union basketball opponents.
A three-year varsity starter at Crete-Monee High School, Treadwell was too aggressive for the sport, he said.
“Too many fouls,” Treadwell recalled. “Too many fouls.”
His style of play was better suited for the gridiron, where he played receiver and everywhere from defensive end to safety on the other side of the football. Not all of his basketball plays involved a blown whistle, however. A leading rebounder and shot blocker for his high school team, Treadwell moved between forward and guard depending on the season or AAU scrimmage.
So his defensive assignments were broad in a Chicago area chock full of talent. He recalled getting crossed over “all the way up the court” by the now 5-10 Tyler Ulis, a friend and former Kentucky guard selected by the Phoenix Suns in this year’s NBA Draft.
As he mimicked a sky hook, Treadwell also noted how Jahlil Okafor, taken third overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2015, would post him up in AAU games.
Though there was at least one time Treadwell got the better of the potential NBA star.
“[Okafor] probably won’t remember this,” Treadwell said. “But they tried to throw a lob play on me and I kind of deflected it a little bit. But he probably won’t remember it.”
Treadwell, taken 23rd-overall by the Vikings in this year’s NFL Draft, was an attractive pick for Minnesota because of the physical nature with which he plays.
The 6-2 receiver claimed his eyes weren’t wide staring up at the now 6-11 Okafor as they battled years ago in adolescent basketball.
“I was the same size,” Treadwell said. “He was the same size. He’d give me the drop in the rim, just drop it in sometimes. I never seen it as like he’s too big. It was fun. It was all fun to me because I was a football guy. They’d always tell me to ‘stick to football.’ Everybody.
“Everybody I played against in basketball, they were like ‘stick to football.’”