Former LSU Coach Says He Offered Zion Williamson a Football Scholarship
Freshman forward Zion Williamson was recruited by more than a dozen schools before committing to Duke, but one offer was not like the others.
Eric Mateos, who is now the offensive line coach at Texas State, was the tight ends coach at LSU in fall 2016 when he saw Williamson's highlights. The high school star was garnering millions of views from clips of him dunking on YouTube.
So Mateos reached out, offering him a scholarship.
"I thought, hell, why not, he's probably the best damn tight end to ever live," Mateos told ESPN.
"Honestly, I just thought it would be really fun and would be good exposure for LSU if we offered him for football. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be too [interested]," Mateos said. "Coach [Ed Orgeron] said go recruit the best athletes in the country, and that's what I tried to do."
With skills like this, it's easy to see why.
But the 6-foot-7, 285-pound star told ESPN earlier this year that he never considered playing football at the next level.
"I didn't get this size until my junior year of high school," Williamson said. "And my school doesn't have a football team."
