Pryor looks to star at football and basketball in college

	Freak athlete Terrelle Pryor will look to succeed where Ronald Curry failed. Courtesy of Rivals.com

By Mike Farrell, Special to SI.com, Rivals.com

Jeannette, Pa., quarterback Terrelle Pryor wants to succeed where others have failed, or at least where others haven't excelled as much as expected.

Despite being the nation's No. 1 prospect in football, Pryor isn't ready to focus solely on improving on the gridiron.

Why?

Because he's also one of the best basketball prospect in the country. Pryor feels he can be that rare player who can play both sports at a high level in college.

Pryor is a 6-foot-6, 225-pound thing of beauty. He has long arms, a muscled torso and he can jump out of the building. He's a dynamic player on the football field. He can just as easily run for a 90-yard touchdown as throw a 70-yard TD pass.

On defense, he's a rangy safety who blitzes like a linebacker and hits like a truck. It's scary to imagine where he'll be in a couple years when it comes to football, since he's still very raw and will get bigger and stronger.

Pryor rushed for 1,676 yards and 29 touchdowns while passing for 1,732 yards and 15 more scores as a junior.

Pryor is even more polished on the basketball court and would likely be ranked in the top 15 if he gave up football. He's currently ranked 27th in the nation Rivals.com. Pryor averaged 21.2 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists per game as a junior.

Despite his limitless potential in each sport, the question has to be asked: Can Pryor play both at this same high level in college? It seems unlikely. The two best examples of high-profile players trying to do both over the last 15 years are Ronald Curry and Charlie Ward.

Curry was named the national player of the year in football and basketball during his senior year in 1997. He had a hand in 185 touchdowns during his high school career at Hampton (Va.) High School. He also averaged 17.9 points per game on the hardwood.

In the McDonald's All-American basketball game following his senior year, Curry won the MVP Award. He also won the slam dunk contest against the likes of Corey Maggette, Tayshaun Prince, Quentin Richardson and Al Harrington. Each of those guys averaged more than 10 points per game this past season in the NBA.