LITTLE ROCK — West Memphis swingman Jalen Jackson became the second in-state junior to receive a scholarship offer from Arkansas. Guard Archie Goodwin of Sylvan Hills was offered by the Razorbacks on June 16.
Jackson, 6-5, 190, averaged about 13 points and 7 rebounds for the 18-8 Blue Devils last season. He’s also receiving interest from Ole Miss, Memphis, Wichita State, Tennessee and others.
“It was an honor to get an offer from Arkansas,” said Johnson, who received the offer Friday. “When I found out, I was very excited. It was a big surprise to me. I like Arkansas a lot. I was able to tour their gym, and it was nice.”
Jackson, who’s a member of the 16-under Arkansas Wings Elite, scored 15 points in a 62-47 victory over Florida SEBA Select on Monday morning in the national AAU tournament in Orlando, Fla.
Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey and assistant coach Brett Nelson were among more than 30 college coaches in the stands.
Jackson is knowledgeable about Arkansas’ recent and past history.
“I used to watch Arkansas when they had Joe Johnson, Ronnie Brewer and all those good players,” Jackson said. “I know about Sidney Moncrief and all the other players that came through ... Ronnie Brewer’s dad.”
Arkansas is the only school Jackson has visited, but heplans to hold off on a decision and look around.
“I want to visit some more schools and see what else is out there,” Jackson said. “Right now, Arkansas is at the top.”
PELPHREY FINDS WINGS
Arkansas basketball Coach John Pelphrey and his coaching staff have used the summer evaluation periods (July 6-15 and July 22-31) to scout players across the country, most recently making their presence known at the national AAU tournament in Orlando, Fla.
Pelphrey’s reputation as a tireless recruiter was reinforced by the effort he put in Saturday night to watch the 17-under Arkansas Wings-Elite in action. The Wings-Elite features UA commitments Aaron Ross and Hunter Mickelson and East Poinsett County’s Rashad Madden, who is also being recruited by Arkansas.
Wings founder Ron Crawford said the Wings were scheduled to play at 9:20 p.m. Eastern time at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex, but at 8:50 p.m., he was notified the game had to be moved to Winter Park, which is about 25 miles away, due to multiple overtime games played during the day. Tipoff at Winter Park was pushed back to 9:50 p.m.
“It’s in the boonies, we didn’t think anyone would follow us out there,” Crawford said.
That was until Pelphrey strolled into the gym.
“Here he shows up at the end of the first quarter,” Crawford said. “That shows a lot of commitment at 10 o’clock at night to go to about 25 miles to Winter Park, Fla., to watch three quarters of a game. I was shocked.”
The game ended at 11:20 p.m. with the Wings defeating Chicago Mean Streets.
LINEMAN PONDERS VISIT
Arkansas is in the hunt for Derrick Thorpe of Neptune Beach Fletcher High School, one of the more athletic offensive lineman in Florida.
Thorpe, 6-4, 270 pounds, 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has about 15 scholarship offers, including Arkansas, South Carolina, Clemson, South Florida, Illinois and Maryland, while drawing interest from Florida.
“They’re probably in my top five right now,” Thorpe said of the Razorbacks. “I’m trying to stay close to home, but they’re trying to get me pretty hard, and they said I had a chance to play early.”
Thorpe said Arkansas receivers coach Kris Cinkovich has been relentless in his pursuit.
“Coach Cink is trying real hard,” said Thorpe, who reports doing 13 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.“I’ve talked to him every once in a while over the phone. I might take an official visit there because it’s so far away. I like the offensive line coach.”
Thorpe reports a 3.14 grade point average and is considering business as a major. He said South Florida, Florida, South Carolina and Clemson would probably round out his top five.
Thorpe said he plans to take his five allotted official visits and announce his decision on signing day.
“I’m probably going to try and takes the ones that are far away that I’m interested in because I can drive to the ones that are close,” Thorpe said.
E-mail Richard Davenport at [email protected]
Sports, Pages 15 on 07/27/2010