THE RECRUITING GUY : Razorbacks trying to make impression on Walton
Posted on Friday, August 1, 2008
Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey and his staff arrived back in Fayetteville late Thursday night after being on the road since July 22 evaluating players.
Pelphrey traveled back and forth between Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., for summer tournaments over the past week, watching the top in-state talent for the 2009, 2010 and 2011 classes.
Arkansas has made it known that Little Rock Hall point guard A. J. Walton is a priority for the 2009 recruiting class, and Walton has narrowed his list to Arkansas, Baylor, Marquette and Kentucky.
Pelphrey has been relentless in trying to convince Walton to be a Razorback, and his efforts haven't gone unnoticed by Arkansas Wings Coach Ron Crawford.
"Coach Pelphrey was at every game that A. J. played this summer," Crawford said. "Even the Baylor head coach was not there, probably less than half the time. I noticed conspicuously that a lot of the other head coaches were not at the games.
" Coach Pelphrey made an all-out effort to impress A. J. and his family on how badly he wants him to be a Razorback."
Crawford said ESPN national recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons described Walton as the bestkept secret at point guard in America.
Walton showed his toughness in leading the Wings to a victory over the Detroit Family. The Wings overcame a 20-point first-quarter deficit — the biggest come-from-behind victory in 29 years of Wings basketball.
Walton will attend the Arkansas Elite camp this weekend and will no doubt have the eyes of the coaching staff on him.
Other top athletes expected to attend the camp include 2009 prospects Clarence Trent, a 6-8, 230-pound forward from Henderson (Nev. ); shooting guard Shawn Williams, 6-6, 190, of Desoto, Texas, and power forward Marshawn Powell, 6-8, 220, of Charlottesville, Va.
Powell orally committed to the Hogs in late May but has since reopened his recruiting.
Several 2011 in-state prospects will be there as well, including Arkansas commitment Aaron Ross, a 6-7, 205-pound guard / forward from Little Rock Parkview. Others with offers from the Hogs who plan to make the camp are guard Kye Madden, 6-4, 170, of East Poinsett County and center Hunter Mickelson, 6-9, 175, of Jonesboro Westside. Talented Forrest City guard Davyon McKinney, 6-2, 170, and center Hooper Vint, 6-10, 190, of Van Buren also are expected. Mardrecus Wade, a 6-2 guard from Mitchell High School in Memphis, also hopes to attend the camp. He is a member of the 2010 class.
LOOKING AT LOGAN
The importance of attending football camps on college campuses was emphasized when relatively unknown Lafayette County athlete Rickey Hughey was offered a scholarship after his showing at the Arkansas camp July 19.
One Louisiana prospect whom Arkansas has interest in did the same last weekend at the LSU camp and is no longer a secret. Defensive end Bennie Logan, 6-2, 240, 4. 7, of Coushatta (La. ) Red River has offers from Louisiana-Monroe and Northwestern State, but that's likely to change.
"I showed what I'm capable of and I should be rated higher than I'm rated now," Logan said. "I went up against some of the highly rated offensive linemen and I got the best of them. It was a good experience for me."
Logan got the best of highly touted offensive lineman Xavier Su'a Filo, 6-4, 290, 5. 2, of Provo, Utah, in 1-on-1 drills. Su'a Filo is considered one of the top linemen in the country.
Other schools showing interest in Logan include Ole Miss, Tennessee, LSU, Texas A &M, Tulane, Connecticut and Louisiana Tech.
He said the Hogs have his highlight tape and have plans to see him play this fall. Arkansas may have an advantage should it offer because Logan has family in Little Rock and Magnolia and he said he hears good things about the Razorbacks.
"It's a SEC school, and I like their program," Logan said. "I've looked at their facilities on the Internet and I like what I saw." Logan, who bench presses 365 pounds and squats 480, recorded 93 tackles (15 for losses ) last year, when he made the Class 2 A All-State team.
EYE ON WINGO
One of Arkansas' main recruiting targets for the 2009 class, highly regarded running back Ronnie Wingo Jr., made his last unofficial visit of the summer Tuesday and Wednesday when he went to Missouri. Wingo, 6-3, 212, 4. 41, of St. Louis University High School, rushed for more than 1, 500 yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior and 1, 475 yards his sophomore year. Wingo's father, Ronnie Wingo Sr., said his son visited Alabama a few weeks earlier. He said his son will make official visits to Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama and Illinois before deciding where to attend college. No decision has been made on when he'll take his official visits.
Wingo Sr. said he called last weekend and spoke with recruiting coordinator Tim Horton, Coach Bobby Petrino and quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee.
"It was pretty much touching bases, seeing how they're doing," said Wingo, who said he usually talks to the coaches once every two weeks. "It's just something that normally happens during the recruiting process."
Wingo Jr. sounded glad that his summer travels are over but said he enjoyed it. "I'm just getting ready for football now," said Wingo Jr., who has been invited to play in the U. S. Army All-American game in San Antonio. "It's been a lot of driving and a lot of traveling. It's been fun going to places I've never been to like Arkansas, Oklahoma, and spending time with my family."
WINSTON INJURY
Highly recruited Helena-West Helena Central cornerback Darius Winston tore tendons in the little finger on his left hand during a recent workout. Winston had surgery Wednesday and will be limited to noncontact drills when practice starts Monday, but he should be able to participate in full-contact drills after a week. E-mail Richard Davenport at: rdavenport@arkansasonline. com Read Richard Davenport's RECRUITING BLOG arkansasonline. com / recruiting
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
