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Former Eastern Washington football players take their games from the gridiron to the asphalt for Hoopfest

Eastern Washington football player Stu Stiles, with ball, drives to the basket during a Hoopfest game on Saturday, June 30, 2018, in Spokane, Washington. Stiles teamed with fellow Eagles Nick Ellison and Shaq Hill, along with Western Washington basketball player and Trevor Jasinsky on team Spirit of the Goat. (Ryan Collingwood / The Spokesman-Review)
By Ryan Collingwood ryanc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5473

A day after being released by the Edmonton Eskimos, former Eastern Washington wide receiver Shaq Hill posted on Twitter that his services were available for Hoopfest.

Ex-EWU football players Stu Stiles and Nick Ellison, who recently exhausted their eligibility, were also interested in playing world’s largest 3-on-3 basketball tournament.

The three opted to reunite in Hoopfest elite men’s division, and added a college hooper in Western Washington guard Trevor Jasinsky.

Ellison, an All-Big Sky Conference offensive lineman, was a standout prep basketball player at Moscow High, where his 6-foot-7 frame also caught the attention of college basketball recruiters.

The fleet-footed Hill and Stiles were also solid basketball high school players before accepting football scholarships from Eastern, where they were trusty targets for quarterback Gage Gubrud.

“We’re playing with three guards, and we also have height,” said Hill, the shortest of the four at 5-foot-9. “We can do a little bit of everything. I got some time now, so I am going to enjoy Hoopfest and wait for the call (from a professional football team).”

The team, which was being cheered on Saturday by dozens of Eastern student-athletes and coaches, was eliminated after a 1-2 showing in the tournament’s toughest bracket.

Their team, Spirit of the Goat, was able to get its lone win against a familiar face, however, in California wide recievers coach Nick Edwards – the former EWU and receiver and coach.

Edwards’ squad, Be Easy, exchanged buckets with his former football pupils before Hill ended the game with an athletic layup.

“We played so much one-on-one together, I know his moves,” Stiles said of Edwards. “I knew exactly what he was trying to do. Our offseason workout was playing one-on-one.”

Former EWU and Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Michael Roos was back for Hoopfest for the second straight year. His team, Cooked as a Goat, included ex-EWU offensive lineman Paul Terrell, Craig Burns and Jeff Christiansen.

Roos’ team was also eliminated Saturday after a 1-2 showing,