FAYETTEVILLE — The stories of several Arkansas football stars — Knile Davis, Tyler Wilson, Tenarius Wright and Cobi Hamilton — are known throughout SEC country and much of the nation.

The story of the defensive tackle who was too small to earn an SEC scholarship and left Little Rock for the Mississippi Delta isn’t as well-known. Neither is the one about the basketball player from Little Rock, a high school teammate of the undersized defensive tackle, who joined his teammate to play in relative obscurity at Mississippi Valley State.

Now they are together on the Arkansas defense and poised to earn playing time as seniors.

Jared Green and Kaelon Kelleybrew go back almost as far as their memories can take them.

“It’s way past football,” Green said of their relationship. “We call each others’ mothers ‘Mom.’ That’s like my brother.”

Green, the son of Little Rock Central girls basketball Coach Michael Green, would have liked to come to Arkansas originally, but guys who need to stand on their tiptoes to reach 6 feet tall and weigh about 280 pounds have trouble earning scholarships as defensive tackles in the SEC.

“He was a really good football player, but from a height standpoint and a length standpoint, he probably wasn’t what we were looking for at that time in terms of a scholarship player,” Arkansas recruiting coordinator Tim Horton said.

Kelleybrew’s first love was basketball, and the 5-11, 180-pounder surprised friends when he stuck with football and earned a scholarship as a cornerback at Mississippi Valley State in tiny Itta Bena, Miss.

Kelleybrew played some on defense and returned kicks during parts of three seasons in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Green blossomed quickly into a star, racking up All-SWAC honors and being named to the FCS Fabulous Fifty All-America team by College Sporting News after recording 60 tackles and eight sacks as a sophomore in 2009.

Mississippi Valley State Coach Willie Totten and his staff were dismissed after that season and the school’s administration, concerned about severe financial issues at the school, advised players to consider looking elsewhere.

Green contacted Horton and jumped to the Razorbacks program as a walk-on in the spring of 2010, while Kelleybrew followed after that season.

“There was no guarantee we were going to have a team, so we had to call and make a couple of moves,” Kelleybrew said.

Green has been an impact player in practices since his arrival, and the stout 303-pounder registered five tackles last season. Kelleybrew had a big spring and is working with the second team at cornerback.

The longtime friends, who are still roommates, have a chance for memorable senior seasons.

“It shows what football is all about, really,” Arkansas Coach John L. Smith said. “If you have a big heart ... and you want to play and you work at it hard enough, then you’ll play.

“They came in here and said, ‘We’re going to play here’ and have spent their entire career proving that.”

Green has been awarded a scholarship for the sweat he’s put in for the Razorbacks.

“Jared Green is a guy that people are going to know his name after this season,” defensive tackles coach Kevin Peoples said. “He earned a scholarship.

“You look at the University of Arkansas and what this program means to the state, you’ve got a kid from Little Rock that walked on. He doesn’t look like a dang football player, but it means so much to him to play at this university and for this state that he has worked his butt off to get better.”

Green went from being a standout at Mississippi Valley State to a guy nobody paid much attention to for a couple of years.

“It just makes you humble,” Green said. “I feel like everything’s for a reason. I’m dealing with God’s plan. You get a little angry about it, but my family told me to just pray about it and I didn’t worry about it.”

Green has made a habit of breaking into the backfield and disrupting plays about once or twice per scrimmage since his arrival.

“I think I get low,” Green said. “I just try to get leverage up under. I got nice little speed on me, I’ll say. So I try to penetrate and have an eye for that ball.”

Green takes reps behind nose guards Byran Jones and Alfred Davis, but the Hogs are prepared to go three deep at both their inside spots.

“J. Green’s going to do us a great deal,” Davis said. “He works hard and he’s been positive ever since he got here. He’s worked his way up, and I think he deserves this chance.”

Kelleybrew might see time on punt returns as the short man in front of Dennis Johnson, and he’s on track to take reps at cornerback.

“You really like his competitiveness,” cornerbacks coach Bobby Allen said. “He’s got very quick feet and he has very good instincts. If he keeps on progressing, he should be a guy that we can count on to help us.”

Kelleybrew said the chance at making his mark at Arkansas feels like a blessing.

“Not too many people get the opportunity to come from a lower-division school to a major Division I school and maybe play and be on a contending team,” he said. “Basically, I haven’t had it all and this is the opportunity of a lifetime for me, so I’m just trying to take full advantage of what I’ve got.”

Sports, Pages 17 on 08/24/2012