FISHERS, Ind. -- Western Michigan men's basketball standout Joe Reitz agreed to a free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League on Sunday.

It was a big weekend for Reitz as he received his degree from WMU at Saturday's graduation ceremonies and then saw his dreams of having a chance in the NFL realized with a phone call on Sunday night.

"I'm very excited for this opportunity to have another chance at playing football," Reitz said. "The Ravens have shown the most interest throughout this journey and I feel that they will give me the best chance to grow and develop and hopefully become a contributor down the line. I can't wait to get to Baltimore and get started."

Reitz was an all-state football player at Hamilton Southeastern High School and received recruiting interest for both college football and basketball and eventually chose basketball at WMU over a potential football scholarship at Indiana of the Big Ten.

Reitz was a two-time ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American, three-time Academic All-Mid-American Conference honoree and four-time All-MAC recipient (All-Freshman Team: 2005; Second Team All-MAC: 2006, 2007; First Team All-MAC: 2008). He finished his career third all-time in scoring (1,713 points) and rebounding (939 rebounds), while also setting new school records for free throws made and attempted (576-820). His free throws made mark is also a MAC record.

Reitz will report to Baltimore next week for mini-camp and will begin his NFL career at tight end.