Colin Granger put up 19 points for Coastal Carolina in a first-round loss to Southern Miss in the Sun Belt Conference tournament on March 4. Then the 6-foot-8, 245-pound center had a choice to make: Pursue a basketball career, likely overseas, or take a giant leap and transition to football, a sport he hadn't played since eighth grade.
Granger chose to leap.
Monday, he signed with the Carolina Panthers as a tight end.
The big man was recruited by veteran offensive lineman George Fant, who once transitioned from college basketball player to the NFL. Granger received an Instagram message from Fant and had to check to confirm it was real.
"So, I'm not being played; this is a real guy having the belief that he thinks I can do something like this," Granger told the Panthers' official team website. "Eventually, that sank in, and so I responded, and I said, 'I'm interested,' but that's all I said."
Fant plans to jumpstart a recruiting business to identify, train and guide players he believes might be able to move from basketball to football. Granger is his first recruit to sign.
"I had an idea of what I was looking for," Fant said Tuesday. "From there, I started looking at certain statistics that I thought could translate to football, so I started looking at offensive rebounds, blocked shots. Those are things that I think translate over. You got to be a physical player to get offensive rebounds and also understand you know how to use your body.
"So, Colin kind of checked those boxes."
After four years in basketball, Fant transitioned from basketball to football at Western Kentucky but played sparingly in his one season as a tight end. He went undrafted but had caught the eye of the brass in Seattle, who shifted him to O-line. Fant has started 75 games over nine years. He played in two games in 2024 after returning to Seattle.
"This is a program where we're going to be helping guys who play college basketball transition to football," Fant said. "I think the coolest thing about this program, this is not just like any guy that can reach out to me and get in the program, but this is hand selected, handpicked. These are guys who I think can really make that transition, and it kind of sucks that I'm not taking every player, but I think that kind of takes away from how exclusive this is and obviously from my background, being able to evaluate these players, I think that kind of will take away from that.
"So, you know, I just wanted to be that kind of program where we hit home runs, and we're not just taking guesses on guys and taking chances. These are guys who I think have the ability and the size and all the abilities and stuff to make the transition. I mean, this whole thing honestly has been moving fast, but our structure and everything is set; we just have to come up with a name, but right now, the most important thing was getting Colin ready for this transition."
Fant initially believed Granger could play offensive line, but once he saw the athleticism in person, he knew tight end was a better route. There is a history of basketball players excelling as tight ends, including Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham and Mo Alie-Cox.
The 32-year-old Fant and his crew helped set up a workout for Granger in Georgia. Five teams showed up: the Panthers, Vikings, Seahawks, Texans and Eagles.
On Monday, Carolina inked Granger, who was eligible to sign right away as a free agent since it had been more than four years since he graduated high school in 2020, and he didn't play college football.
"This has been a whirlwind," Granger laughed. "This has been the craziest month of my entire life. It's a blessing. I credit it all; I mean, I've been closer to God lately. I just think it's completely -- I couldn't do this without God. I couldn't do this without George. I couldn't do this without my family. I mean, it's amazing to me. It blows my mind every night. I mean, sometimes I sit there in shock at night."
Granger will join a Panthers tight ends room with Tommy Tremble, Ja'Tavion Sanders, Jordan Matthews, James Mitchell and Dominique Dafney.
The early signing will allow Granger to be involved when the team opens offseason workouts on April 21 and attend the post-draft rookie minicamp. The early start could be a boon for a raw prospect who needs as many reps as possible to make the transition.
