Running back Johnathan Thomas of Danvers (Mass.) St. John’s Prep was thrilled to hear Arkansas running backs coach Joel Thomas offer him a scholarship Tuesday.
“I was very excited because this isn’t a regular school,this is a SEC school,” said Thomas, who rushed for 1,812 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior. “That’s big-time football. I’m just very excited and blessed to get this offer.”
Thomas, 5-11, 205 pounds, 4.47 in the 40-yard dash, already had been offered by Boston College, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Holy Cross. He said he and Thomas have been talking for about a month.
“He sounds like a great guy,” Thomas said. “I don’t know him personally, but I’m getting to know him a little bit better now that we’re talking more often.”
Thomas said the SEC’s record of putting players in the NFL and its streak of winning seven consecutive national championships are impressive.
“That’s where the majority of the best players go,” Thomas said. “There’s a bunch of talent. Everybody is good, and if you’re not ready to work somebody else will take your position.”
A visit to Fayetteville also could be in the works.
“It’s going to be soon if I do,” Thomas said. “I have to talk things over with my parents.”
Thomas said he figured out a few years ago that football would be his best opportunity for a college scholarship and decided to quit running track and field.
“I stopped playing basketball in my freshman year, too,” Thomas said. “I knew I wasn’t going to college for basketball. I knew I was going to college for football. I just stopped and did a lot of speed training and worked on my speed and football stuff.”
OK, HE’LL TAKE A LOOK
Cornerback Grant Haley of Lovett High School in Atlanta said he wasn’t seriously considering Arkansas until the Hogs offered him a scholarship Monday.
“I’ve never really had them on my radar, but when we go check it out I’ll see if I have a good connection there and see what it’s like,” Haley said. “We’re going to try and visit probably at the end of May.”
Haley, 5-10, 180 pounds, 4.52 seconds in the 40-yard dash, also has scholarship offers from Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.
He said Arkansas cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson, his lead recruiter, told him the Razorbacks are short on numbers at his position.
“He talked about how I was a good player and how they need a lot of good DBs coming in,” Haley said. “He said there was an opportunity for me to come and actually get on the field.”
Haley, whose parents are physicians, said he has a good idea what will win him over.
“My parents come from an academic background,” said Haley, who reports a 3.1 grade point average and is planning to major in journalism and broadcasting in college. “Tradition is like huge because I would love to be at a place where the tradition is strong and the fans are good. Probably the SEC is where I mostly want to play.”
PARTRIDGE CONNECTION
The relationship that Arkansas defensive line coach Charlie Partridge built with defensive lineman Edgar Cerenord when Partridge was still at Wisconsin is paying dividends.
“I have a good level of interest in Arkansas,” said Cerenord, who plays at Fort Lauderdale, (Fla.) American Heritage and has scholarship offer from Arkansas and Western Michigan.
“They have good facilities. I really like the facilities because that’s mainly where football players hang out. I have a good connection with Coach Partridge. He and I go back to when he was at Wisconsin.”
Cerenord, 6-1½ , 290 pounds, 5.2 seconds in the 40-yard dash, said he’ll probably visit the Hogs during the summer. Cerenoid said he admires Partridge’s way of recruiting.
“I think it’s because he gets straight to the point,” said Cerenord, who reports a 3.7 grade-point average. “He doesn’t like to sugarcoat anything. He gets straight to the point and tells me what he needs and what he wants out of me as a player.”
Cerenord, who has a 340-pound bench press and a 430-pound squat, has been timed at 4.52 seconds in the pro-shuttle.
“Our team splits us up between skills and big guys,” Cerenord said, explaining his pro-shuttle time. “I usually like to run and do stuff with the skill players because usually they’re doing everything faster, so my footwork is like top-notch.”
E-mail Richard Davenport at [email protected]
Sports, Pages 33 on 04/21/2013