Northern Iowa's Lucas O'Rear gets drafted...

Lucas O'Rear doesn't look like an athlete.

6'7" and a hefty 256 lbs with a curly mini-fro and mutton chops that would impress Ambrose Burnside, O'Rear looks like he belongs serving pints of Guinness at McMurphy's, not on a D1 scholarship. As one friend so aptly put it, O'Rear is "the Irishman of Irishmen".

Believe it or not, O'Rear is one of the best athletes in the country.

He looks like a baseball player, doesn't he?
(photo credit: Bleacher Report)

O'Rear has won back-to-back Missouri Valley sixth man of the year awards for Northern Iowa, helping this year's team to a national ranking, an MVC regular season and tournament title, and an upset of Kansas in the second round on the NCAA Tournament which propelled the Panthers to the Sweet 16.

Graceful? Nope. Pretty? Uh-uh. Explosive? Not a chance.

But it was O'Rear's grit and hard work that made him such a valued member of the team. Whether it was setting a pick, taking a charge, battling for position in the paint, or grabbing a rebound, O'Rear was the guy that did UNI's dirty work.

O'Rear was also a member of the UNI baseball team. I say 'was', because UNI no longer has a baseball team, a victim to budget cuts back in 2009. As a sophomore, O'Rear appeared in 10 games, carrying a 4.67 era in 17.1 innings, although he did strike out 15 hitters. He was also able to hit low-90's on the radar gun, which, despite not playing collegiate baseball during the 2010 season, was enough to get him workouts from Major League teams.

O'Rear expected to get scooped up somewhere in the late rounds of Tuesday's MLB draft.

The Cincinnati Reds grabbed him up in the 13th round.

"I never thought the 13th round was in the equation, no way," O'Rear told FanHouse Tuesday night. "I would like to think the Reds took a chance on me. I don't think it's really sunk in yet, kind of like after we beat Kansas. It's probably going to take a few days, but it's also going to be fun to see how far I can take this."

Ironically, he got the news while participating in an off-season workout for the basketball team.

O'Rear said that he will likely return to finish his basketball eligibility and get his degree, but that doesn't mean baseball isn't in his future. He could play in the Reds minor league system this summer if he was so inclined.

O'Rear is going to need to put in the work to build his arm strength back up, but that's expected when you are forced to miss an entire baseball season.

A broad, 6'7", mutton-chopped pitcher throwing in the 90's?

O'Rear may just have a future in baseball.