At 6’1″ and nearly 335 pounds, Elijah Simmons stands out in a crowd, but the signee of the Tennessee Volunteers college football program also stands out on the basketball court too — and has proved it in an amazing viral video.
It all started when the Pearl Cohn High School student promised the head coach of the Volunteers, Jeremy Pruitt, that he was able to dunk.
After posting a video of performing an alley-oop in December, the coach asked Simmons, who was 350 pounds at the time, to shave off 25 pounds by the time he reports in on campus and to dunk with one hand, according to the Volunteers’ community sports website, Rocky Top Talk, and The Tennessean.
And in response, Simmons outdid himself.
Not only did he dunk with one hand in the video, he then took the basketball, threw it at the other basket from full-court and sunk the shot.
Thank’s for the support y’all I GOT EXEMPTED
I said I got y’all with the full dunk and I kept my word
#Vols #RockyTop #T19 #Tennessee #BigmanGotHops pic.twitter.com/yIqWjjecdP
— Elijah simmons (@901_hollywood_e) May 15, 2019
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In addition to his incredible video, Simmons provided the caption: “Thank’s for the support y’all I GOT EXEMPTED I said I got y’all with the full dunk and I kept my word
#Vols #RockyTop #T19 #Tennessee #BigmanGotHops.”
“(Pruitt) wants me to come in ready to perform,” Simmons, who was 335 pounds as of last week, told The Tennessean. “He said I have the opportunity to start as a freshman.”
“I’ve been ready (to get to school) since I first got the offer,” Simmons added. “I’ve got a little more work to do.”
As for how he reaches his goal weight, Simmons is focusing on conditioning and cardio — namely by running on the track, doing ladder drills and running on stairs. Simmons continued, “Right now, I’m doing as much conditioning as I can. Mainly, I’m running.”
Everybody been waiting to see @BIGE91234 dunk that @CoachJPruitt raved about #VFL #VolTwitter @UTFB_Recruiting @3DHarris @Coach_AD615 @bigcorch pic.twitter.com/ZYGIKPrIPi
— Pearl Cohn Football (@PCHS_Firebirds) December 20, 2018
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And not only is Simmons skilled on the court and the gridiron — he was crowned the Region 5-3A Defensive MVP this past season with 54 tackles — he’s an accomplished track star.
A year ago, Simmons won state titles in the shot put and discus.
And when Simmons appeared on stage as part of the NFL Draft celebrations, Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt tweeted, “Can we draft #72 from the Tennessee metro high school team? Kid looks like a beast.”
from PEOPLE.com http://bit.ly/2YyHB04
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