INDIANAPOLIS -- Go back about seven years and the last thing Malik Hooker wanted to do was play organized football.

It's not that Indianapolis Colts first-round pick didn't believe in his athletic ability. Hooker just didn't want to play football anymore after he broke his collarbone playing the sport in eighth grade.

Malik Hooker's basketball skills have served him quite nicely on the gridiron. Joe Maiorana/USA TODAY Sports

Basketball was Hooker's sport.

Hooker had NCAA Division I basketball coaches believing he had the scoring and defensive ability to play at that level. Basketball was also the sport where the Pennsylvania native had a Sportscenter top-10 play after a one-handed dunk against Lower Merion, Kobe Bryant's alma mater, in a game in March 2013. Hooker's family members say that Kobe himself tweeted about it.

Hooker's uncle, John Cox, had no problem with his nephew playing basketball. But he wanted Hooker to give football another shot.

Cox asked Hooker to play freshman year in high school.

Nope.

Cox, who had coached Hooker in AAU basketball, baseball and also in Pop Warner football growing up, tried again the next year.

Nope, again.

"He was adamant in saying no more football, he only wanted to play basketball," Cox said. "I told him I was going to give him a year, but then he kept saying no. I tried to get his mom to help me convince him to play and she wasn't having it, either."

Why the persistence from Cox?

"Because he was a natural on the football field," he said. "The way he played the sport. The way he adjusted on the field. You could have put him at almost any position truthfully."

It wasn't until Hooker's junior year that he agreed to play football after a new coach was hired at New Castle (Pennsylvania) High School. Hooker had a message for his uncle after New Castle lost in the first round of the playoffs.

"He looked up at me and said he had some unfinished business to handle," said Cox, who was also a father figure for Hooker growing up. "That's what I wanted to hear from him."

Hooker realized if he was going to play at the professional level, it would be in football, not basketball.

"The reason why I chose football over basketball is simply because I'm not 6-6 and that’s the average height for a point guard now," Hooker said. "For football, for me to be a 6-3, 210-pound safety -- that's unheard of for the most part. I feel like it was plus-plus for football and just minus for basketball."

The football recruiting for Hooker picked up after New Castle played Central Valley, which featured receiver Robert Foster, an Alabama signee. Central Valley won the game 31-7, but Hooker, according to Cox, "completely shut" Foster down all game.

The schools started reaching out after that.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Malik Hooker might be undersized for an NBA point guard, but he's big for an NFL safety. Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire

Temple, Penn State, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers were a few.

Then cam the call from Ohio State coach Urban Meyer.

"He answered the phone and I thought something happened," Cox said. "He goes, 'Ohio State is coming to my basketball game.' I thought he was talking about the Ohio State hoop coaches and he told me it was the football coaches. He had like 30-something points that game with coach Meyer there watching."

But what about basketball?

"When I started getting offers from Ohio State and stuff like that, I just about threw basketball out the window," Hooker said.

Hooker only had two years of high school football experience when he stepped foot on the Ohio State campus. The lack of experience combined with being homesick caused a rough start for him. He overcame those minor obstacles to emerge last season as a sophomore. Hooker returned three of his seven interceptions back for touchdowns last season, leading to him being told to enter the NFL early. Hooker was the No. 15 pick in last weekend's draft and immediately compared to former Baltimore Ravens safety Ed Reed. All of that happened after 13 career starts at Ohio State.

That's not too bad for somebody who was once more interested in dunking a basketball than intercepting a pass.

"I feel like a lot of guys, they've played their whole life playing football," Hooker said. "They were sort of just eased into it. As for me, it was like I had to cram everything in a short time. That's why I feel like with my preparation, I'm a lot more prepared than a lot of other players."