Erik Ainge talks hoop, Celtics

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge didn't hesitate when asked his favorite NBA team.

"I'm a huge Celtics fan," he told reporters here at the combine.

The reason, of course, is family ties. His uncle is Danny Ainge.

"Obviously I'm from a big basketball family," Ainge said.

So why did he choose to pursue football?

"I figure there's less 6-6 quarterbacks than there are shooting guards with average hops and OK defense," he said. "I can still shoot it though. Going into my senior year of high school, I played AAU ball all over the country and had to guard Sebastian Telfair and had to play against Al Jefferson and couldn't guard some of the guys that were at the elite level, and that's when I decided to play football or baseball. I ended up choosing football."