Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold assesses possibility of playing football and basketball next year

Terrion Arnold is a special athlete, regardless of sport. Right now, his focus is on football and for a good reason. Arnold was a highly rated four-star prospect in the 2021 recruiting class, ranking at No. 35 in the country and committing to Alabama.

But Nick Saban is not the only head coach that was antsy to get his hands on Arnold. Alabama basketball’s Nate Oats wants the redshirt freshman on the hardwood for this upcoming year. Arnold said basketball has “always” been his first love and football never came into the picture until recently.

“I didn’t really start focusing on football until now,” Arnold said. “Until I got to college. I’ve always been a hooper.”

According to Arnold, he recently had a conversation with Oats about him possibly playing basketball this season. The thought was danced around last year but the defensive back knew he had to get into the flow of football before thinking about hooping. A year later, Arnold thinks he can pull off being a dual-sport athlete.

“I just talked to Coach Oats the other day,” Arnold said. “He was like ‘so, we talked about you doing it last year’ and I was like ‘Coach, I had to find my groove but I’m going to do it this year. I’m going to play this year for real.'”

Arnold did not see playing time on the football field last season, taking a redshirt season. After all, Alabama consistently has a stacked defensive backfield. Seeing more action should be part of the plan for 2022 as Arnold was listed as a safety coming out of high school but could also play cornerback.

Terrion Arnold explains Nate Oats’ message

At the end of the day, Oats understands where he is coaching basketball. It’s never going to be the top priority, even for potential two-way players. Arnold said the message received from the head coach was a simple one — get into the gym whenever you can and he will install the youngster into the system.

“Most definitely it’s going to be difficult,” Arnold said about possibly playing both sports. “You already know what people are going to say. ‘We didn’t meet expectations last year. You got the be solely focused on this. You need to be laser-focused, fully locked in on this’ but at the same time, Coach Oats — I mean, he’s a real, real chill dude.

“He’s like ‘I know how it is with football. Just when you have free time, get over here so we can get you in the plays. Learn this, learn the system.’ I mean, we’ll go from there.”

Putting the plan into action is the next step for Arnold. Hype around playing basketball may excite him and even fans, but getting onto the court at Coleman Colesium will be when Arnold knows he can truly pull it off.

“I say I’m going to do it, people say he might do it, he might not do it, but the main thing is just — I know once I get out there and just get dressed out and I’m in warmup lines and find myself, and then I’m like ‘okay, okay, okay, I can do it.'”

In early April, Arnold posted a Twitter video of himself throwing down a between-the-legs dunk in Tuscaloosa, proving he’s still got it. Football may be the main focus but nobody can deny you of your first true love. Arnold seems keen on getting back into basketball.