LITTLE ROCK — On June 15, new rules put in place by the NCAA allowed college basketball coaches to make unlimited calls and text messages to recruits that have completed their sophomore years in high school.
Jonesboro junior point guard Kahron Ross found out about the new rules when Arkansas assistant coach Matt Zimmerman called him at 12:02 a.m. June 15.
“I was just excited,” said Ross, who plays for the Arkansas Hawks during the spring and summer. “He said remember that he was the first college to call. We kind of laughed about it, and then he was telling me about Arkansas and there was going to be positions opened in 2014. They were going to have like four scholarships open in that class.”
Ross, 5-10, 142 pounds, is one of the top 2014 prospects in the state and is drawing interest from Arkansas, Mississippi State, Memphis, Auburn and Tennessee. He said the Bulldogs called soon after his conversation with Zimmerman.
In addition to Zimmerman, Ross has also received a call from Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson and has been in communication with associate head coach Melvin Watkins.
“I have a very high interest,” Ross said of the Hogs. “Coach Anderson is a very good coach. What he did in Missouri, he told me he was ready to do that in Arkansas, so I have big interest in Arkansas.”
Ross, who averaged 12.5 points, 6.2 assists, 2.1 rebounds and 3 steals per game as a sophomore for the Class 6A state runners-up. Hurricane Coach Wes Swift said Ross doesn’t play like most on the court.
“The best way to describe him is that everybody usually around him 15, 16, 17 years old use their athleticism to beat you,” Swift said. “He has plenty of it, but Kahron is always out there playing chess, what I call chess on the floor. He plays about a second to two seconds ahead of everybody else - not only on the offensive end but on the defensive end, too.”
LOOKING IN CALI
Arkansas is looking hard at the junior college ranks for immediate help at linebacker, and California prospect Ivan McLennan, who has committed to Washington State, said he is interested in the Hogs because of the hard work of defensive tackles coach Kevin Peoples.
“I have good interest [in Arkansas], but right now I’ve verbally committed to Washington State,” McLennan said.“But I’m still going on my [official] visit to Arkansas to see what’s up. The reason I committed to Washington State was because they’ve been there first. But Coach Peoples keeps talking to me and showing me love. I have to go on a visit just to show love to him.”
McLennan, 6-3, 220 pounds, 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., reports scholarship offers from Washington State, Arkansas and Oregon. He is also receiving interest from San Diego State, Nevada and Miami.
“He said they’re in the SEC and I’ll be playing against the best competition,” McLennan said of Peoples. “I believe the SEC is the best conference, and I just have to weigh it out. I’m not going to rush to any decision.”
He knows the Hogs and Cougars will get official visits while the Ducks are also a possibility.
“I guess Oregon coaches they’re going to set that up later too.”
VOL LEGACY
Arkansas looks to be in line for a summer visit from Florida junior linebacker Dillon Bates, who said he is also planning to visit Tennessee, where his father Bill Bates played before going on to play for the Dallas Cowboys in 1983-1997.
“We haven’t made a date yet, but we’re thinking about driving up to Tennessee and going to see a bunch of schools up there and going to the Carolinas,” Bates said. “But we’ll definitely try and make a stop up to Arkansas.”
Bates, 6-3, 218, 4.65, of Ponte Vedra, Fla., reports 11scholarship offers, including ones from Oklahoma, South Carolina, Wake Forest, Virginia and Miami. The Volunteers and the Hogs have yet to offer.
He said despite obvious ties to Tennessee, the Volunteers aren’t a shoo-in for him,should they offer a scholarship.
“It’s definitely been a top school, a school I’ve always been watching at home with the family and always rooting for,” Bates said. “So it would definitely be cool to get a chance or have an opportunity to go there, but I have to keep my mind open to everything. I’m definitely not locked into that, but it’s definitely a cool thing to think about.”
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Sports, Pages 23 on 06/29/2012