LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas signed six Texas prospects for its 2012 recruiting class and are seeking to add more Texans for the 2013 class.
Defensive lineman Justin Manning is not only atop recruit in the Lone Star State but also nationally. He said the Hogs have “a big chance” to get one of his five official visits.
“There’s a lot of interest because they’re a powerhouse school,” Manning said of Arkansas.
Manning, 6-2, 285 pounds, 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Dallas Kimball, reports having 24 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan and LSU. Arkansas secondary coach Bobby Allen keeps him informed about the Razorbacks.
“He pretty much tells me everything, like how they really need a top defensive lineman,” Manning said. “And how much they can really use me.”
Manning, who reports a 405-pound bench press, said he likes how the Hogs compete in the SEC and the way the league can help him achieve his goal of playing in the NFL.
“They’re consistently winning in the SEC, and the SEC is like the mini-NFL,” Manning said. “If you can make it in the SEC, there’s a good chance you’ll make it in the NFL.”
Manning, who plans to take all five of his NCAA-allotted official visits, said being comfortable with a school’s coaching staff and environment are vital to him.
SEEING THE TRADITION
Arkansas hosted one of the nation’s top sophomore basketball prospects, shooting guard King McClure, on an unofficial visit about three weeks ago.
McClure, 6-3, 200, of Triple A Academy in Dallas, is rated the No. 7 prospect in the country in the 2015 class and the No. 2 shooting guard by future150.com. His father, Leroy, is a Conway native and was a member of Conway High School’s basketball team that went 36-0 in 1976.
With it being nearly 20 years since Arkansas won the 1994 national championship, Leroy McClure said he felt his son needed to see the Razorbacks’ rich basketball tradition.
“The key to King is to make certain is that he understands the history of the program,” said Leroy McClure, who also said his son has approximately 35 scholarship offers, including one from Arkansas. “By going there and having the opportunity to go into the Walton coliseum and seeing the museum and some of the players that played with the Razorbacks, it helped him see there is history.”
Razorbacks Coach Mike Anderson’s track record of success at Alabama-Birmingham and Missouri has Leroy McClure optimistic about the future at Arkansas.
“We believe Coach Anderson in the next couple of years is going to change that program,” Leroy McClure said.
“He’s already doing it, but we’re going to see more evidence of it and get back to the way it used to be when you had the Triplets and when they won the national [championship].”
Leroy McClure is the founder, chief executive officer and superintendent of FOCUS Academy that consists of charter schools, Focus Learning, pre-K to sixth grade and Triple A Academy, seventh through 12th grades.
“I also want to make certain that King allows Arkansas to be in his top five,” Leroy McClure said.
“The best way to do that is to make sure to make that unofficial visit was as soon as possible.”
King, who averaged 22.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.5 assists per game as a freshman, was named Newcomer of the Year by the Dallas Morning News.
READY TO DECIDE
Jacksonville guard/forward Jessica Jackson, who received her first scholarship offers from Arkansas and Texas A&M in the ninth grade, will announce her long-awaited college decision Monday at 9:30 a.m. today at the school gymnasium.
Jackson, 6-2, is rated the No. 7 recruit in the nation by Dan Olson of Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and has more than 30 scholarship offers. She will choose from Arkansas, Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Kentucky.
She’s the most sought after prospect in the state since Morrilton’s Shekinna Stricklen, who was a McDonald’s All American and first team USA Today All-American in 2008 before signing with Tennessee.
Jackson is looking to life after her decision.
“It will be different because I won’t have to go out to the mailbox and look in the mail,” she said. “I won’t have a lot of coaches calling me.”
E-mail Richard Davenport at [email protected]
Sports, Pages 30 on 08/26/2012