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Former Gophers basketball player signs with NFL team's practice squad

Jack Wilson played both basketball and football in his college career.

Will Ragatz

Nov 30, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers center Jack Wilson (33) looks on during the second half against the New Orleans Privateers at Williams Arena.
Nov 30, 2023; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers center Jack Wilson (33) looks on during the second half against the New Orleans Privateers at Williams Arena. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
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Former Gophers basketball player Jack Wilson signed with the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad on Wednesday. He played both football and basketball in college and is trying to carve out an NFL career as an offensive tackle.

The 6'11" Wilson appeared in 50 career NCAA basketball games with Oregon State, Idaho, Washington State, and Minnesota from 2018-24. He played in seven games for Ben Johnson's Gophers last season, scoring 11 points with 6 rebounds and 11 fouls in 30 total minutes. Wilson also appeared in 25 career football games for WSU from 2020-22, mostly on special teams.

Despite having minimal playing experience in college, Wilson's potential is clearly intriguing to the Colts. At 6'11", he'd be one of the tallest players in NFL history if he were to ever appear in a regular season game. That remains a longshot, but the Colts will give him an opportunity to develop and show what he can do moving forward. He's obviously an excellent athlete, considering how rare it is for someone to play multiple sports at the Power Five level.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with Wilson's football career, but the California native landing on an NFL practice squad is already impressive in its own right.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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