Most college basketball players never make it to the NBA, but that doesn't mean they can't make it in the world of sports.

Phil Heath, a guard for the University of Denver men's basketball team from 1998 to 2002, was known as a defensive specialist, which is a polite way of saying he didn't have much of a jump shot. Heath averaged 1.3 points per game and shot just 33 percent from the floor in his four years with the Pioneers.

The 5-11 guard gave up basketball after playing 66 games in college to focus on the professional sport of bodybuilding.

To say Heath, who weighed 180 pounds in college, made the right choice would be an understatement. The 31-year-old from Seattle beat out four-time winner Jay Cutler (not the Bears QB) to win the 2011 Mr. Olympia contest in Las Vegas over the weekend.

"I feel awesome," Heath told the bodybuilding site flexonline.com. "Words cannot describe how I feel right now. I'm so happy I was able to do it and able to have fun while doing it.

Heath, nicknamed "The Gift," became only the 13th different winner since the iron-pumping event began back in 1965, according to CBS 4 Denver.

Competing in only his his fourth Mr. Olympia contest, the former baller joins iconic muscle legends Lee Haney and Arnold Schwarzenegger as kings of bodybuilding.

As the 2011 Mr. Olympia, Heath picked up a sweet trophy and a nice check for $200,000. Of course that's still less than the minimum salary in the NBA, which is $473,604.

But at least Heath is working this fall.



