LITTLE ROCK — On Wednesday, tight end Jack Tabb will decide whether he will play football at Arkansas, North Carolina or Iowa.
Tabb, 6-4, 250 pounds, 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Red Bank (N.J.) Catholic had more than 20 scholarships offers before narrowing his list to the three schools. He officially visited Fayetteville with his mother, Julie, an Arkansas native, on Dec. 10-12.
“It’s been awhile, and I feel like I’ve got a good handle on things,” said Tabb, who also made official visits to the other two schools he is considering. “All of the official visits gave me a good insight on what all of the schools are about, andI’m comfortable with the one I like the best.”
Tabb, who plans to major in broadcasting, gave a short rundown on each school, beginning with Arkansas.
“They play great football,” he said. “Coach K [Chris Klenakis], Coach [Bobby] Petrino and all of the coaches are great. They also have a great up and coming sports broadcasting program, which surprised me.”
Tabb said he thinks NorthCarolina has an outstanding broadcasting program along with a solid football program.
“They also have great academics and great football to offer,” he said. “But it’s not the SEC, either.”
Tabb, who said he wants to play tight end in college, praised Hawkeyes Coach Kirk Ferentz and assistant Darrell Wilson for their recruiting efforts.
“I really like how they run their football team and their program,” he said. “It’s hardnosed. They have a pretty good communication department as well. I’m not sure if they want me to play offense or defense. That’s a tossup right now.”
Tabb said he has enjoyed the recruiting process but isready to make his decision.
“It’s a great feeling. The process has been awesome,” he said. “It’s been great for me to be able to do something like this. But it’s also good to finally get it over with andknowing where I’ll be going to school.”
With his mother being from Arkansas, Tabb said he has numerous family members in the state giving him some friendly advice.
“They say, ‘It’s family out here. We’re out here and everyone is going to love you out here, so just come out here and take care of business,’ ” he said.
Tabb and his mother watched Arkansas’ 31-26 loss to Ohio State in Tuesday night’s Sugar Bowl.
“I thought they had it in the bag,” Tabb said. “She was in Maryland doing some work, and she called and she was like, ‘I can’t believe that just happened.’ ” RECEIVER READY
Highly-recruited receiver Quinta Funderburk plans to arrive in Fayetteville on Friday so he can start classes Jan. 17.
“I’m just ready to get there and hope I have an impact,” said Funderburk, who was primarily recruited by graduate assistant Marty Biagi. “I’m ready to work hard in the weight room and get to the weight they want me to be at. I think they’ll probably want me at 215-220 [pounds] or something like that.”
Funderburk, 6-4, 205, 4.5, of Chesapeake, (Va.) OscarSmith, chose Arkansas overmore than 20 other scholarship offers, including ones from Florida and Michigan. He caught 62 passes for 1,150 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior and finished his senior seasonwith 65 receptions for 1,464 yards and 15 touchdowns.
“I want to have a good spring game and show the coaches what I got and let them know I’m ready for college.” Funderburk said. “I want to be the best I can be.”
Funderburk said receivers coach Kris Cinkovich has been in steady contact with him.
“Coach Cink is a good coach. He seems like he knows his stuff,” Funderburk said. “He told me he would be hard on me. He said it’s going to be a long road. When I was making my decision, I didn’t want a coach that would soft on me like a player’s coach. I wanted a coach that’s hard on you when you need it.”
E-mail Richard Davenport at [email protected]
Sports, Pages 36 on 01/09/2011