First, Mason Cox played soccer. Did it well, too. Won two state titles for Flower Mound (Texas) High in 2007 and 2008.
Then, Cox played basketball at Oklahoma State. Perhaps a little less successfully. Certainly less prolifically. He played a total of 56 minutes, appearing in 21 games over two seasons for the Cowboys. He once got three rebounds in a game against Tennessee Tech. Check out his bio from two-year career at Oklahoma State. Don’t worry, it won’t take you long.
But hey, no reason to tease that much. Cox did graduate from OSU in three years with an engineering degree and was named to the Big 12 Conference All-Academic team, too.
But Cox gave up both sports and tried something new — football. Not that kind of football or that kind of football, but football Australian Rules-style, a game he had never heard of until right before he showed up at the Australian Rules Football Combine, where the 6-foot-10 Cox became the tallest player ever measured there.
Now, he’s impressing crowds and announcers with plays like this:
It’s an interesting twist for a former walk-on with the Cowboys basketball team who got noticed when an NBA scout was watching Oklahoma State stars Le’Bryan Nash, Markel Brown and Marcus Smart. The scout, Jonathan Givony, also helps determine if athletes would fit Australian football. Turns out, Givony was right.
So, Cox showed up at the combine, impressed enough folks and now plays for the Collingwood Football Club Magpies. Check out Cox here with his ‘Pies jersey on.
He made his debut for the Pies at the end of April and now is part of one of the most successful teams in Australian Football, having won 15 titles. He has even picked up the nickname “American Pie.”
“I was just playing basketball for the heck of it. I played soccer because I thought it was cool,” Cox previously told The Tulsa World about his long athletic career.
Over the last week, Cox scored impressive goals for the Pies, albeit wearing the shortest shorts you’ve seen since Michael Jordan was at North Carolina. His efforts were written up on Deadspin.
Make sure to enjoy the “Stifler and his mom” reference in the above link’s video, too. It’s even better when said with an Aussie accent.
