Recruiting
Ricardo Ratliffe Visiting
Ratliffe is generally considered to be the #1 JUCO prospect in the country and he’s coming to Arkansas for his first official visit. At 6′9″-240 pounds, he would definitely fill the physical void left by the departing Michael Washington. His current list of offers are Arkansas, Alabama, Cincinnati, Clemson, Florida, Missouri, and South Carolina. Those are programs that we can compete with for his services.
Some of the bigger programs are interested but haven’t extended an offer. One really big thing we have going for us is he has said that as an incoming junior, he doesn’t have time to sit on the bench and he’s going to go somewhere that he can play immediately. As a high profile recruit, he will get the chance to do that.
Ratliffe is currently averaging 27 points and 12 rebounds a game. He’s not just another player that dominates underneath the boards. “He’s extremely effective around the basket. Really strong and really skilled,” said Central Florida Community College Tim Ryan, noting that Ratliffe can also step outside and hit the three at a 40 percent clip.
Ratliffe is a good friend of and a former teammate of Marshawn Powell. Seeing what Powell has done this year as a true freshman should drive home the point that he has a great shot at a significant amount of playing time. Think about two of them on the floor at the same time.
So if you’re going to the Ole Miss game on Saturday, make a sign with his name on it and show him some love. The Hogs could really use him.
Class of 2011 Offers
This is a list of all players with an Arkansas offer, as listed on Rivals.com. It will be updated over time so check back every now and then.
Offense:
Brandon Allen: 6′2″/214/4.7 Pro-style Quarterback from Fayetteville, AR (Committed to Arkansas)
Chris Barnett: 6′6″/245/4.52 Tight End from Euless, TX. (Committed to Oklahoma)
Austin Beck: 6′8″/285 Offensive Tackle from Nowata, OK
Mike Bellamy: 5′10″/174/4.4 Running Back from Punta Gorda, FL
Trey Braun: 6′5″/270 Offensive Tackle from Tallahassee, FL
Jake Brendel: 6′4″/260/4.9 Offensive Tackle from Plano, TX
Malcolm Brown: 6′0″/210 Running Back from Cibolo,TX
Josh Cochran: 6′6″/270 Offensive Tackle from Hallsville, TX (Committed to Texas)
Brey Cook: 6′7″/314/5.2 Offensive Tackle from Springdale, AR
Marcus Danenhauer: 6′5″/315/5.4 Offensive Guard from Bentonville, AR
Demetrius Dean: 6′3″/245/4.7 Wide Receiver from Fayetteville, AR (Committed to Arkansas)
Dylan Dismuke: 6′6″/292 Offensive Tackle from Duncan, OK
Spencer Drango: 6′6″/264/5.1 Offensive Tackle from Cedar Park, TX
Kiehl Frazier: 6′3″/212/4.59 Dual Threat QB from Springdale, AR
Jafus Gaines: 6′0″/170/4.5 Wide Receiver from Houston, TX
Marcus Hutchins: 6′3″/254 Offensive Tackle from DeSoto, TX (Committed to Texas)
Matt Keifer: 6′3″/283 Offensive Tackle from Chattahoochee, GA
Marquis Jackson: 6′0″/205/4.4 Wide Receiver from Fort Worth, TX
Kyler Kerbyson: 6′5″/290 Offensive Tackle from Knoxville, TN
Daniel Lasco: 6′1″/190/4.4 Running Back from The Woodlands, TX
Jay Lee: 6′2″/191/4.95 Wide Receiver from Allen, TX
Eric McClain: 6′5″/267 Tight End from Fayetteville, NC
Dayvon McKinney: 6′1″/166 Wide Receiver from Forrest City, AR
Trey Metoyer: 6′2″/198/4.42 Wide Receiver from Whitehouse, TX
K.C. Nlemchi: 6′0″/215/4.6 Running Back from Katy, TX
Miles Onyegbule: 6′4″/200/4.54 Wide Receiver from Arlington, TX (Committed to Texas)
Gregory Robinson: 6′5″/296 Offensive Tackle from Thibodeaux, LA
Jermichael Selders: 5′11″/177 Running Back from Houston, TX
Herschel Sims: 5′10″/190/4.4 Running Back from Abilene, TX
Mitch Smothers: 6′4″/280 Offensive Lineman from Springdale, AR
Derrick Thorpe: 6′4″/250 Offensive Tackle from Neptune Beach, FL
Kody Walker: 6′0″/228/4.7 Running Back from Jefferson City, TX
Christian Westerman: 6′5″/288/5.0 Offensive Tackle from Chandler, AZ
Kasen Williams: 6′2″/197/4.6 Wide Receiver from Sammamish, WA
Defense:
Jimmy Bean: 6′5″/215/4.6 Strongside Defensive End from Denton, TX (Committed to Oklahoma State)
Artez Brown: 6′1″/175/4.5 Cornerback from Newport, AR
Devonta Brown: 6′4″/265 Defensive Tackle from Fayetteville, NC
Steve Edmond: 6′3″/225 Linebacker from Daingerfield, TX. (Committed to Texas)
Deshazor Everett: 6′0″/170/4.5 Safety from DeRidder, LA
Erique Florence: 6′2″/181/4.47 Safety from Valley, AL
Lonnie Gosha: 6′3″/245 Defensive Tackle from Lake Butler, FL
Jalen Grimble: 6′3″/250/4.89 Weakside Defensive End from Las Vegas, NV
Zeph Grimes: 6′0″/205/4.5 Safety from Bamberg, CS
Rob Hankins: 6′1″/215/4.5 Inside Linebacker from Dallas, TX
Nathan Hughes: 6′5″/245 Strongside Defensive End from Klein, TX
Desmond Jackson: 6′1″/278/5.0 Defensive Tackle from Houston, TX (Committed to Texas)
A.J. Johnson: 6′3″/226/4.65 Inside Linebacker from Gainesville, GA.
Lyndell Johnson: 6′3″/190/4.45 Safety from Plano, TX
Mickey Johnson: 6′1″/310/5 Defensive Tackle from Covington, LA
Kellen Jones: 6′1″/206/4.6 Outside Linebacker from Houston, TX
Jeffery Lark: 6′2″/207/4.4 Safety from Ashburnham, MA
Pat Martin: 5′11″/196/4.6 Safety from Greenville, SC
Tremayne McNair: 6′2″/225/4.6 Outside Linebacker from Jacksonville, NC
Jordan Montgomery: 6′1″/195/4.5 Safety from Groveland, FL
Grady Ollison: 6′5″/273/4.9 Strongside Defensive End from Malvern, AR
Nico Ornelas: 6′3″/190/4.65 Outside Linebacker from North Richland Hills, TX
Jermauria Rasco: 6′3″/227 Strongside Defensive End from Shreveport, LA
Cedric Reed: 6′5″/240/4.9 Strongside Defensive End from Cleveland, TX
Sheldon Richardson: 6′4″/290 Defensive Tackle from College of the Sequoias, Visalia, CA (Committed to Missouri)
Quayshun Smith: 5′8″/145/4.4 Cornerback from Tallahassee, FL
Terrell Stanley: 6′0″/242 Strongside Defensive End from Southport, North Carolina
Tony Steward: 6′2″/225 Outside Linebacker from St. Augustine, FL
Bernard Thomas: 5′11″/172/4.4 Cornerback from Blue Springs, MO
Robert Thomas: 6′1″/310 Defensive Tackle from Coffeyville CC, KS (Committed to Arkansas)
Kendall Thompson: 6′3″/232/4.65 Inside Linebacker from Carthage, TX
Josh Turner: 6′0″/185/4.45 Cornerback from Oklahoma City, OK
Nick Waisome: 5′10″/171/4.4 Cornerback from Groveland, FL
Anthony Wallace: 6′2″/220/4.55 Inside Linebacker from Dallas, TX
Athletes:
Artez Brown: 5′11″/175/4.4 Athlete from Newport, AR
Quandre Diggs: 5′10″/188/4.4 Athlete from Angleton, TX
Kelvin Fisher, Jr.: 5′10/182/4.55 Athlete from Gilbert, AZ
Hakeem Flowers: 6′2″/173 Athlete from Greenville, SC (No longer with an offer)
Desmond Roland: 6′2″/199/4.64 Athlete from Dallas, TX
Tino Thomas: 6′0″/190 Athlete from Memphis, TN
Walt Williams, Pinnacle Preps Sued
For Breach of Contract and Fraud. Lindsey Smart of Rogers signed his son, DJ Smart, up for the services of Pinnacle Preps. According to the complaint, Pinnacle Preps didn’t live up to their end of the deal.
I consider this a PSA for all parents that may be considering using Pinnacle Preps services in marketing their student-athlete children.
Walt Williams runs Pinnacle Preps.
Recruiting Rankings Don't Matter? Inexactly.
It’s that time of year again; the time for college football fans to love or hate their coaches for how well they did at convincing 18 year old kids to come hang out with them. It’s the time for fans that are happy with their class to brag to everyone else about how many 5-star or 4-star players they signed. It’s the time for fans that didn’t sign a lot of 5-stars to brag about how well they added depth and met needs.
No matter what your opinion is of the most recent group of recruits, you have to have some facts to back it up. The most obvious way fans do this is with the “star system” of their favorite recruiting site. The problem is, recruiting is an inexact science. While one site may list a class as one of the best, another will list that same as one of the worst. And beyond that, none of the ranking systems take into account how a team met their needs, which is really the ultimate goal of recruiting.
To dig into this a little more, I wanted to look at some various ranking sites and see how they varied.
First, we’ll look at national class rankings from 4 major websites. ESPN, Max Emfinger, Scout.com, and Rivals.com.
I notice two things about this right away.
First of all, the top 10 is almost a consensus. While the teams are in a different order, each of the four services have almost identical lists for the top 10. The only exceptions being:
- Scout.com has Penn State in the top ten, and Tennessee at #15.
- The other three all have Tennessee in the top 10, and Penn State at #11 or #12.
It makes sense, but it would seem that the services, despite their varying techniques for rating teams, are pretty much in agreement on the top 10.
The next thing that pops out, is how different the rankings are once you get past the top 10. For instance:
- North Carolina, Arkansas, Texas Tech, Georgia Tech, BYU, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Missouri, and Nebraska each show up on one of the lists of 25, but nowhere on the other three lists of 25.
- Washington is at #11 from Scout and #20 from ESPN, but doesn’t make the top 25 of the other 2 lists.
- California is at #11 on Rivals, #15 on ESPN and #13 on Emfinger, but doesn’t show up at all on Scout’s top 25 list.
- Oregon is all the way up to #13 on Scout and Rivals, but they are only #22 on ESPN and don’t even show up on Emfinger’s top 25.
- Oklahoma State shows up at #17 on Emfinger and #18 on Scout, but not at all on ESPN or Rivals.
There are a few more examples, but those are the ones that stick out the most. Clearly, these 4 sites are very much in disagreement about the #11-#25 classes, and there is no discernible relationship between any of them. When I started digging in to the numbers I expected some services to have similar results all the way down, but it’s interesting that one service might list “Team A” high and “Team B” not at all, but another service will list “Team A” high and “Team B” equally high. It seems like a logical conclusion that the top 10 is pretty solid, but after that it is mostly a guess.
Next, we will take a quick look at how the same four recruiting services ranked the top 10 players in the country. This seems like a small sample, but when you consider most of these only give out a 5-star ranking to 3 or 4 per position at the most, and about 20 overall, 10 is a reasonable sample to look at.
- In these 4 lists of top 10 players, there are over 20 different players listed.
- Jordan Hicks, Lamarcus Joyner, Matt Elam and Jonathan Dowling show up in the ESPN rankings but none others.
- Demarcus Millner only shows up in the Emfinger rankings
- Jake Heaps is #1 on Scout but doesn’t show up in the top 10 anywhere else. Scout also includes Xavier Grimble, Jake Matthews, Chris Martin and Mike Hull who are not in any other top 10 lists.
- Rivals.com includes Da’Rick Rogers, while he doesn’t show up in any other list.
As you can see, these 4 services can’t even agree with the top 10 players in the country, naming a total of 11 players that don’t show up on any other list. How can Jake Heaps be the number one player in the country with one service, but not even be top ten with anyone else? Clearly, these rankings are inexact and should be taken that way. While useful for message board discussion, they should not be seen as proof of a player’s quality. Obviously, a big problem with this is the sheer number of recruits across the country and the fact many of them never play each other. How do you compare a QB in Issaquah, Washington with a DE in Moreno Vally, California? There is no real comparison of the two positions or the competition faced, yet the services have to choose some players to give the top ranking, and none of them can agree on which player deserves that mark.
Beyond the lack of continuity between the various recruiting services, there are a many other factors involved in a recruit that these services could never measure. Using Arkansas as an example, their class received a great boost on signing day when DT Calvin Barnett, who Rivals had as a 4-star recruit and the #1 player in Oklahoma. However, there is a great chance he will not qualify and will have to go to a JUCO or Prep school. It’s possible he may never step foot in the UofA locker rooms, and he certainly won’t for at least a year, yet he brought their recruiting class up significantly in the rankings.
There is also the problem of character. A player might qualify but then get in trouble and get kicked off. Or, a player might never get to play and transfer. Jevan Snead helped Texas’ ranking as a HS senior, yet he ended up at Ole Miss.
This brings me to my final and most important point. Recruiting is not about signing a big name player or pleasing the fans. It is about building a team. A team with 6 RBs on their team can sign a 5 Star RB and get a boost in the rankings, but it doesn’t really help their team. A team can recruit 6 QBs in one year and only have 2 of those end up playing. This helps recruiting rankings but not the team. I have never seen a recruiting ranking system that includes team depth and needs in their rankings, yet this is the whole point of recruiting.
Sure recruiting is fun to keep up with and the only real way to compare classes is with an online service’s rankings, but in the end that is all for the fans to talk about, not for actual results. They don’t give out trophies or bowl bids in February, it’s what you do in the fall that really matters. Just like any other sport, winning cures all and recruiting rankings are fun but they’re just that…something fun for discussion, and a very inexact science.
So am I saying recruiting rankings aren’t important? Inexactly.
You Wanted Defensive Tackles?
Well, you got ‘em. After weeks of woe is me in the Recruiting Forum about how the Razorback commitment list was woefully short on defensive linemen, Bobby Petrino closed like the freight train that most of us expected. At the end of the day, Rivals ranks Arkansas’ DT class as #3 in the nation.
Jeremiah Jackson was the first of the group to commit back in June of 2009. Ranked the #45 DT by Rivals, Max Emfinger listed him on his top 100 list. You always lust after the four-star guys but Jackson was thought of as a solid start. Coming from Hoover (Spain Park), AL, he played in the Alabama-Mississippi All Star game and had a really good practice week, outshining some higher rated players there. Jackson had three tackles and an assist on a tackle for loss. With his performance bringing him more to the forefront, there was worry that he’d end up switching to a different SEC school. It was definitely a possibility as he had offers from Auburn, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Vanderbilt. Jeremiah stayed true to his commitment and was one of the first commits to send his LOI in.
LaCraig Brown committed on 12/18 and is an unranked three star prospect by Rivals. His senior year, he had 51 tackles, nine sacks, and twelve tackles for a loss. He has really good height for his position at 6′4″. With that height, you have to wonder if his future is at DE or DT. He’s the right size for an end, but his 40 time is 4.9, which isn’t as quick as one would want.
The “whew” moment came when four star and #19 ranked Byran Jones of Junction City. Hog fans have hoped for a long time that he would be a Razorback, but his status was uncertain until the day before signing day. Auburn fans thought he was going to be a Tiger. Jones was named to the ArkansasVarsity.com’s All Decade team for the 2000’s. He was also named the 2A state championship game MVP as a junior and a senior.
CBS’ Tom Lemmings rates him the #5 DT and the #67 player in the country regardless of position. At 6′3″ 300, he comes in with the size to play immediately. Typically I wouldn’t expect a true freshman to contribute on the defensive line, but with Zach Stadther and D.D. Jones’ performances the last two years, I don’t see why he can’t be an impact player right off the bat.
Calvin Barnett signing with Arkansas was one of Rivals.com’s top five surprises on signing day, flipping from Oklahoma State. Hog fans had hoped that Barnett would end up a Razorback and always held onto whatever they could that supported that feeling. Barnett never really seemed to waiver, but then he couldn’t make it to Stillwater on the last official visit weekend due to weather. Then word started leaking out that he was going to sign with Arkansas. He made it official on signing day.
Barnett was one of three four star recruits to sign. He’s the #1 ranked player in Oklahoma and the #13 ranked DT by Rivals. He’s even bigger than Byran Jones, coming in at 6′3″ and 330 pounds. He would be a force as an interior defensive lineman.
“He and Byran Jones could give them one of the best defensive tackle combos in the country,” Lemming said of Barnett, who played in the U.S.Army All-American Bowl in January. “Calvin really looked good for us down in San Antonio. He’s a big kid but with exceptionally quick feet.”
I’d look for at least one of these guys to contribute immediately, maybe two (guess which). There’s no question that this DT class, plus Stadther’s experience and D.D. Jones quickly becoming a vital cog in the defense, will be a strength for the Razorback defense very soon.
2010 Football Signees
Here’s a list of all of the 2010 Razorback Football Signees. Clicking each player’s name will take you to his profile page.
Calvin Barnett: 6-3/330 DT from Tulsa OK.
Jatashun Beachum: 6-2/275 ATH from Dallas, TX.
Eric Bennett: 5-10/176 ATH from Tulsa, OK.
LaCraig Brown: 6-4/261 DT from Monroe, LA.
Eduardo Camara: 5-8/155 K from Cedar Hill, TX.
Daunte Carr: 6-3/207 S from Gainesville, GA.
Luke Charpentier: 6-4/305 OL from River Ridge, LA.
Cam Feldt: 6-5/290 OL from Pilot Point, TX.
Courtney Gaston: 6-3/205 OLB from Fort Gibson, OK.
Brad Hefley: 6-5/255 ATH from Joplin, MO.
Jay Herndon: 6-1/170 WR from Jacksonville, FL.
Zach Hocker: 6-0/165 K from Russellville, AR.
Julian Horton: 6-1/182 ATH from Norcross, GA.
Maudrecus Humphrey: 6-2/185 WR from Hoover, AL.
Jeremiah Jackson: 6-2/265 DT from Hoover, AL.
Byran Jones: 6-3/300 DT from Junction City, AR.
Jarrett Lake: 6-2/205 ATH from Jenks, OK.
Braylon Mitchell: 6-2/210 ATH from Heber Springs, AR.
Denton Simek: 6-6/260 OL from Prague, OK.
Chris Smith: 6-2/230 DE from Mount Ulla, NC.
Darrell Smith: 6-2/185 S from Port Saint Joe, FL.
Alan Turner: 5-11/181 ATH from Junction City, AR.
Garrett Uekman: 6-4/235 TE from Little Rock, AR.
Marquel Wade: 5-11/180 WR from Jacksonville, FL.
Jacoby Walker: 6-2/210 QB from Spring, TX.
2010 Signing Day
We’ve got a couple of Signing Day threads going on the board. One is the Letter of Intent thread where we’re posting who has signed LOI’s. The other is just Signing Day Discussion. Things are going to be very interesting. Will we fill those critical positions? Will we get any high profile flips or surprises. Come check things out.
Since the traffic is always high on Signing Day, board access is for registered members.
Guest Access Turned Off
We’re shutting down guest access to the board. Not because we’re trying to get our member numbers up. We couldn’t care less about that number. Signing Day is always a really heavy day on the board and instead of trying to manage it when things get slow, we’re going ahead and turning it off. We aren’t going to have the best information of the day, we’re just a place that people look for it.
Especially with the news that Michael Dyer and Dakota Moseley have requested LOI’s from the University of Arkansas.
Recruiting Update: February 1, 2010
As expected getting this close to signing day, things are changing.
Over the weekend, two of the Hog commitments switched to different schools. William Russ, the kicker from Shreveport Evangel flipped to Texas. Most reports say the reason for the switch was that at Texas, the starting job for all kicking roles is his to lose. I get that. What I don’t get is that he was quoted saying that Texas didn’t have the program he wanted to major in, Turf Management. I guess being able to kick for Texas is worth changing what you want to do for a living.
Armand Williams committed to Arkansas last week and it appeared that we were stealing an undervalued recruit out of Louisiana. He’s ranked the #98 WR by Rivals but is so athletic that his upside was huge. LSU came in at the last minute and offered him and he switched. It’s obvious that LSU was always his top school and when they didn’t get commits from other WRs, he got the offer he was looking for.
Today we find out Deonte Welch, an unranked three star WR from Williston, FL seems to have switched to USF. When he committed, talk on the board was “why in the world did we offer him?” Now there’s a bit of hand wringing that we lost him.
Now, the good news. We offered Zach Hocker from Russellville and he flipped from Arkansas State. He’s not regarded as highly as Russ was, but we already have a really good kicker coming in with Eduardo Camara. I’m just glad the coaching staff is working hard to create competition at one of the team’s weakest positions. Here’s a video of Hocker booming a 48 yard FG with plenty of room to spare.
And keep up with the scuttlebutt in the Recruiting forum.
Sheisse! Russ to Texas
Apparently, William Russ has flipped his commitment from Arkansas…to fricking Texass 
. That’s a bummer, but not the end of the world. We seemed to have our kicker problems worked out with Eduardo Camara. Russ was somewhat icing and would have definitely worked into the mix at the punter spot. If he wants to wear the burnt orange of Texass , then don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.
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