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Ben Simmons to Les Miles: ‘I can play wideout’

Ben Simmons

(Getty Images)

Jonathan Daniel

It took a week for Les Miles’ invitation to travel from Baton Rogue to Australia, but on Thursday, the LSU football coach got a response from Ben Simmons.

Last week, Miles jokingly invited the five-star freshman to join the football team. When Miles was coaching at Oklahoma State, he discussed the idea of using basketball players on the gridiron with Cowboys coach Eddie Sutton. The 6-foot-8 Simmons, who is with the Tigers on their current foreign trip in Simmons’ native Australia, went along with the joke, accepting the invitation to lineup at wide receiver in a video he did for Bleacher Report.

“Coach Miles, I can play wideout,” Simmons said. “I been waiting for my opportunity for a little bit ... finally getting my opportunity to play football, so we’ll see what we can do. I’m not sure about the helmets, though. I’m not trying to cover all this [points to his face].”

While it would be interesting to see Simmons play on Saturdays, his skills will be kept on the hardwood, as he is projected as one of the top picks in the 2016 NBA Draft. Through four games in LSU’s foreign trip, Simmons is averaging 21.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists, 2.0 blocks and 4.0 steals per game, recording a double-double in his first outing with the Tigers.

LSU finishes its tour on Saturday night against Melbourne United.

Follow @terrence_payne