Wes Bunting on the NationalFootballPost.com has the Bucs selecting Auburn defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks in the second round. Not only is Marks a stud football player, it appears he plays a mean game of hoops too.

“… Sen’Derrick Marks.”

So says Wes Bunting of the NationalFootballPost.com.

Yesterday Joe linked to Bunting’s weeikly updated first round mock draft, but not sure how many caught Bunting’s pick for the Bucs in the second round. Marks is a defensive tackle from Auburn.

The 6-2, 296-pound junior was a pretty good high school basketball player, according to former Tampa Tribune scribe and current SI.com columnist Andy Staples. In fact, fomer Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville offered Marks a scholarship after watching him practice on the basketball floor, and before seeing him play a down of football.

In December 2004, Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville traveled to the Mobile area to check in on some prospects. An assistant suggested Tuberville head to Vigor High (Prichard, Ala.), where Coach Kerry Stevenson wanted to show him a player. Tuberville wasn’t interested in anyone at Vigor, but a little “P.R. work” never hurt. A coach never knows where the next hot prospect will emerge, so a few hours’ detour wouldn’t hurt if it kept Tuberville on a high school coach’s good side.

When Tuberville arrived, Stevenson brought him to the gym, where the boys’ basketball team was practicing. As the men made small talk, the basketball players lined up for a three-man weave drill.

“Coach,” Stevenson said. “Let’s see if you can pick him out.”

Seconds later, Vigor’s 260-pound power forward tore down the floor and unleashed a vicious dunk. Tuberville turned to Stevenson. “Who was that?” he asked. “That,” Stevenson said, “is Sen’Derrick Marks.” Tuberville offered Marks a scholarship on the spot, Stevenson said.

This story tells Joe that Marks is a helluva athlete with good footwork. If the Bucs can land him in the second round, Joe would be content.