Recruiting
By The Associated Press (AP) –
SPRINGDALE, Ark. — The most important thing to understand about last year’s Har-Ber Wildcats is that they weren’t about glamour.
They won the championship in Arkansas’ top high school class with a stout defense and an offense led by players like Brey Cook, a 6-foot-7, 300-pound offensive lineman who is probably the state’s top prospect in 2010.
“We kind of went as he went,” coach Chris Wood said. “He was a pretty important piece of the puzzle.”
Even as a 10th grader, Cook was big enough to draw attention — but it takes more than size to succeed at the college level. Cook’s agility is also impressive, and as he enters his senior season, his skills and mobility will be on display for all to see as he tries to lead his team to another state championship.
“He’s just athletic for his size,” Wood said. “He’s got great feet.”
Cook has verbally committed to Arkansas, which plays home games about 20 minutes from his high school. If Razorbacks fans want a glimpse of the future, they might want to set aside a Friday night or two to check out Cook.
The Razorbacks were known for their powerful offensive lines when Houston Nutt roamed the sidelines and Darren McFadden was in the backfield. Bobby Petrino is the Razorbacks’ coach now, and he’s revamped the passing game — but strong offensive line play is no less important.
Blocking Southeastern Conference defensive linemen isn’t easy, but if any high school player in the state is ready, it’s Cook.
And Wood says his attitude will be a boost to any college team.
“He’s a great guy — real humble kid,” Wood said. “He’s the type of guy you want in the program.”
Jashaud Sims, a 6′5″ 217 ATH with 4.5 speed committed to the Hogs yesterday. He’s going into his senior year at Dickinson, TX High School and has primarily played safety and cornerback thus far, but Arkansas is recruiting him to play wide receiver. His numbers at safety are pretty impressive: 110 tackles, 18 pass breakups, and 3 interceptions. Sims is currently dinged up, recovering from a grade-two tear to the medial collateral ligament in his right knee.
“It’s the (Southeastern Conference), so I’d love to play there,” Sims said. “I’m still getting interest from Texas, Missouri and Colorado, but I’m going to go ahead and commit to Arkansas for now.”
After moving Sims from free safety to cornerback, Dickinson head coach Warren Trahan is expecting big things from the 6-foot-4 senior. Trahan even said he believes Sims will be the best cornerback in the Gulf Coast area by the time the season is over.
Of course, commitments are non-binding until signing day and that bit about committing to Arkansas “for now” doesn’t provide much comfort. But another article states that he’s “solid” to Arkansas and wants to get out of Texas. It also comments on how he wants to play against the best in the SEC.
Rivals.com lists him with no other offers, but being evaluated by Baylor, Colorado, Missouri, and Texas as well as others
ESPN has video of him. Sorry…not embeddable.
The Hogs picked up a big defensive tackle commitment last weekend in Demarcus Hodge. Hodge is 6′1 and 300 lbs with a 5.0 40 time. He also sports a 315 lb bench press and 480 lb squat. Rivals ranks him as the #20 DT in the country.
Hodge chose the Hogs over other finalists TCU and Mississippi State, but also had offers from Memphis, Ole Miss, Missouri, Tennesse, Texas A&M, and others. He’s the 16th commitment for the 2011 class.
HogDB.com’s Demarcus Hodge profile page.
For the second straight year, the Razorbacks have gone into Missouri and picked up a top running back. Last year it was Ronnie Wingo. This year it’s Jefferson City’s Kody Walker. Walker checks in at 6′2″ and 230 lbs with a 4.7 40 time. Rivals ranks him as the #30 RB in the country. He ran for 1,536 yards with 16 touchdowns during his junior year.
HogDB.com’s Kody Walker profile page.
Here’s video of his commitment.
Reeltown senior linebacker Shaquille Roberson, last year’s Class 2A Lineman of the Year has committed to play at Arkansas.
“I like the coaches. I enjoyed talking to them,”Roberson said. “They told me what they wanted, and what they wanted is pretty much what I can do.”
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Roberson recorded 152 tackles and 12 sacks for the Rebels last year on the way to their first state championship since 2001.
He also had offers from Memphis and UAB.
“I didn’t feel like waiting around on the bigger schools like Auburn and Alabama,” he said. “At first, I really wanted to wait until Signing Day. But I didn’t see the point of it, really. It’s something I felt like I needed to do.”
Roberson is a two-star recruit according to Scout.com, and does not have a rating on Rivals.com.
He said Arkansas inside linebackers coach Reggie Johnson came to see him the first day of Reeltown’s spring practice in May, he sent Johnson a tape, and Johnson offered him the next day.
Arkansas coaches have talked with him about playing inside, outside or at a rush end, Roberson said.
Roderick Ryles from Orlando Dr Phillips high school committed to the Hogs this morning. He was part of the massive group that was camping at Arkansas this weekend. At 6′1″ 185 with a 4.5 forty time, he’s rated the #29 Safety in the country by Rivals.com. Dr Phillips high has a reputation for producing BCS level talent and would be a great pipeline for the Hogs. Ryles is the 12th commitment for the Hogs so far this year.
Read more in the Ryles Commits thread.
Also camping from Dr Phillips was ATH LaQuentin Smith. Scout has him ranked as the #25 Athlete in the country. Hopefully he’ll join his buddy Ryles as a Razorback.
Smith was interviewed by Shawn and Wally last Thursday. Listen to the interview.
Har-Ber offensive lineman Brey Cook made it official today. He verbally committed to Arkansas, over Oklahoma, and 16 other schools.
“As it comes down to it, I grew up a Razorbacks fan,” said Cook just before making his decision. “I went to all the games, wore all the jerseys. I was a HUGE Razorback fan. (When) this recruiting thing started, I had to keep an open mind. I had to go to these places, and see what they had to offer. ”
One such that kept Cook interested, was the next closest BCS school geographically, the University of Oklahoma. They were also the 1st big school to offer Cook after he attended their camp last summer.
“I went to Oklahoma. You know, that was something really special. You know, they’ve got the great staff up there, they’ve got great facilities, and they’re just an awesome program,” Cook continued. ” How can you compete with something like that?”
The Sooners turned Cooks head, but not his heart, which is firmly implanted with his family in Springdale, and the University of Arkansas.
” I kind of took a break this summer, I kind of sat down, and thought about it, and prayed about it with my family, and when it came down to it, I knew I had to stay at home, there was no way I was going to be able to leave,” conceded Cook, the newest pledge of the Arkansas Razorbacks. Read more…
FAYETTEVILLE — Garrick McGee has developed an easy-to-follow recruiting philosophy. It also happens to be a tad risky.
“I tell the truth,” McGee said.
See. Told you it’s risky.
McGee, Arkansas’ offensive coordinator, is regarded as one of the top recruiters not just on the Arkansas staff, but in the country. Yet, McGee’s style isn’t for everybody.
Razorback fans should be aware of this.
Recruiting has developed into a process that primarily centers on appealing to emotion and, well, ego. From this seat, recruiting appears to have become less about the promise of growing as a football player and person and more about limousines and karaoke contests and pep rallies.
McGee, as best as I can tell from a recent visit with the rising coaching star, wants the focus back on the football field. That can be a shock to the system of high school players who encounter much different approaches elsewhere. And it leads some fans to worry about what exactly Arkansas is doing in recruiting when a four- or five-star prospect commits elsewhere. Read more…
Isiah Wiley
The Hogs picked up a JUCO cornerback commitment today with Arizona Western’s Isiah Wiley. He’s listed at 6′1″, 185 pounds and sub 4.4 speed. Originally from West Monroe, LA. His offers, other than Arkansas, are listed as New Mexico and North Texas. He visited LSU earlier this year and was being evaluated by Oregon. USC also had him on their list of potential prospects. Lastly, he was identified as one of the top 35 preseason JUCO players to watch.
Wiley, a member of West Monroe’s Class 5A state championship team as a sophomore in 2005, failed to qualify academically out of high school because of a low core grade point average. Instead of being able to sign with Alabama, TCU or Connecticut, Wiley wound up signing with Arizona Western where he was recruited by defensive coordinator Jerry Dominguez.
He redshirted his first year at Western Arizona, so he’ll have two years to play two. Projected as a December graduate, he’ll be here for 2011 spring practice.
If you never venture down to the recruiting forum, there’s a thread there that lists all football recruits with offers from Arkansas. They’re listed by position and give the vital stats along with a link to each player’s profile on Rivals. We list who all they have offers from and if they have committed…who they’ve committed to. It’s a good place to see information on them all at one place.
