THE RECRUITING GUY

Rapport with top recruit gives Hogs shot

Arkansas has made a strong push to recruit Ohio under Coach Bret Bielema, and the Hogs are taking advantage of the connections of cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson, shown, and graduate assistant Nick Caley, who are from Cincinnati and Canton, Ohio, respectively.
Arkansas has made a strong push to recruit Ohio under Coach Bret Bielema, and the Hogs are taking advantage of the connections of cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson, shown, and graduate assistant Nick Caley, who are from Cincinnati and Canton, Ohio, respectively.

Arkansas is one of the top options for highly recruited defensive lineman Poona Ford, whose coach calls him the best he’s ever coached.

Ford, 6-1, 290, 4.86 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Hilton Head, S.C., has approximately 20 scholarship offers, including Arkansas, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ole Miss.

“I’ve coached 20, 25 Division I guys and four guys that have gone on to the NFL,” Hilton Head Coach B.J. Payne said. “He’s by far the best I’ve ever coached.”

Ford had planned to visit the Hogs on Saturday but became ill after attending a recent Nike Combine in Charlotte, N.C. Payne said a visit by Ford is still in the works.

“We’re hoping in the next couple of weeks, obviously before the summer time, to get him out there,” Payne said.

Payne said Arkansas, Tennessee, South Carolina and Ole Miss appear to have the best shot at signing Ford.

“They’re in that four he talks about all the time,” Payne said of the Hogs.

Payne said one of the pluses for Arkansas is the relationship between Ford and Hogs assistant coach Taver Johnson.

“To be honest with you I think a huge part of that is Taver Johnson,” said Payne, who once coached in Ohio and has known Johnson for seven years. “Taver has done a tremendous job recruiting him as far as Poona calling him and talking to him. He really likes the relationship they’ve started to build.”

He recorded 154 tackles, including 44 tackles for loss and 11 sacks, as a junior while also playing fullback and on special teams.

“He can move,” Payne said. “I know he’s been timed in the high 4.2’s in the pro-agility. He’s a 34 [inch] vertical and he’s a 630 [pound] squat. He’s freaky. He has an 80-inch wing span, so he has the wing span of a 6-8 guy.”

Payne said Johnson has always made it a habit to stop by the school even when there aren’t any Division I prospects on the team.

“He’s an incredible, incredible person,” Payne said. “I was happy to see him remain there and stay on staff. He’s one of the best people I’ve met going through the recruiting process. I’m not just talking about recruiting my kids but in general terms as far as what type of person he is.”

SKIPPER DROPPING BY

When offensive lineman Dan Skipper made his official visit Jan. 17-19 to Fayetteville, he and his parents, Ken and Brigid, were on a fact-finding mission to determine where he would play his college football.

Later tonight, Skipper, now an Arkansas signee, will arrive in Fayetteville for a two-day visit in a more relaxed mode.

“It’s going to be awesome to just be able to go in and not try to evaluate everything and get a chance to start making real relationships with some of the other coaches and the people I’ll be around as well as teammates,” Skipper said. “There’s no pressure. There’s no evaluation. It’s simply going and having a good weekend at the place I’ll be at in less than two months.”

Skipper, 6-10, 305, 4.97 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Arvada (Colo.) Ralston Valley was one of the nation’s top offensive line prospects and was rated a four-star prospect by national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network. He picked the Razorbacks over Tennessee, Michigan, Ohio State and Ole Miss.

Adapting to a complex offense and a thick playbook will be one of the major adjustments for Skipper.

“We had nine plays for high school so I never had a playbook,” said Skipper, whose lead recruiter was offensive line coach Sam Pittman. “I never had to look through that sort of stuff. I’m just trying to get the study habits, so I can be on my feet running as quickly possible when I get down there.”

Skipper, who will graduate May 25 and will wrap up his baseball season the 27th, is still working out a date when he reports to Fayetteville. He’s pitched three games in addition to playing first base.”

“I threw a one-hitter my first game,” Skipper said. “The next game I only threw four innings but four shutout innings. I gave up a couple of hits but it was basically a blizzard. I think it was like 25 (degrees). By the end of the game, the snow was coming in sideways and you couldn’t see the grass.” E-mail Richard Davenport at

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Sports, Pages 18 on 04/05/2013

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