THE RECRUITING GUY

Receiver commitment visits on wing and a prayer

Arkansas receiver commitment Torrance Mosley.
Arkansas receiver commitment Torrance Mosley.

The recruiting process affords a prospect an opportunity to experience new things.

Arkansas wide receiver commitment Torrance Mosley did that Friday when he flew for the first time for his official visit to Fayetteville.

He said he grew nervous moments before takeoff when a flight attendant demonstrated what to do doing an emergency, including losing cabin pressure.

“I was like, ‘Man, what you talking about?’ ” Mosley said. “I was just hoping we don’t go down.”

Mosley, 5-10, 175 pounds, 4.4 seconds in the 40 yard dash of Geismar (La.) Dutchtown, committed to the Hogs in July over scholarship offers from Arizona State, Western Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Tulane and others. He was prayerful while enduring his first plane ride.

“Before, during and after,” Mosley said.

He said his mind raced with several unsettling thoughts during the flight.

“The f irst 10 minutes when I was looking down, I was thinking, ‘I am really off the ground,’ ” Mosley said. “I was as scared as heck. Then after it started smooth sailing, I was like, ‘This is pretty cool.’ But about 15 minutes before we landed, my ears started hurting. I thought I was going deaf or something.”

Once he landed, Mosley said he enjoyed the trip, including a banquet held Friday night in which Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema and his staff honored the Razorbacks seniors.

“Coach B was saying that he felt like he failed himself because of the season,” said Mosley, who was joined on the visit by his teammate, Arkansas receiver commitment Corey McBride. “But things happen and that just showed me he cares about his players more than anything.”

The people in Fayetteville and the university made him feel at ease, he said.

“It was pretty nice and I liked the people out here,” Mosley said. “They showed me different things…..That was pretty cool. I like it out here.” CORRECT CALL

An official visit to Arkansas over the weekend convinced defensive back commitment Santos Ramirez that he made the right decision to be a Hog.

“Because Fayetteville, the fans, the city and everything here is great,” Ramirez said. “Academically especially. It’s everything you want in a school. There is no doubt in my mind Arkansas is the school I want to be at.”

Ramirez, 6-2, 180, 4.55, of Shreveport Evangel Christian, will start out at cornerback but has the ability to play safety as well. He also had scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Mississippi State, LSU, Baylor, Air Force, Southern Miss and others.

He said he’s confident he can come in and play immediately as a freshman.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” he said. “I feel as though I can compete on the SEC level right away. Of course, it’s going to take a little extra work to get prepared for the level. That’s expected. I expect to come in and play as a true freshman.”

Defensive coordinator Chris Ash also has high expectations for Ramirez, he said.

“He wants me to come in right away also as a cornerback,” Ramirez said. “Go down there, lock down man-to-man most of the time and use my length.” TITLE TRAVELER

Highly recruited cornerback Henre’ Toliver, an Arkansas commitment, helped Metaire (La.) Rummel win its second consecutive state championship Thursday night before arriving for his official visit to Arkansas on Friday.

Toliver, 6-1, 180, 4.56, said he is hoping to continue the trend of winning championships at Arkansas next fall.

“I had a very good year and just tried to get better all the time,” Toliver said. “I just tried to make plays. I hoping I get the chance to do that next season at Arkansas. That is my goal.”

Toliver chose the Hogs over 17 scholarship offers, including ones from Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, Louisville, Kentucky and Arizona State in July. He had his first try at calling the Hogs during a recruiting dinner Saturday.

“I was kind of shy at first, but then I thought I can do this,” Toliver said.

The snow on ground from the winter storm that hit Fayetteville over a week ago was something Toliver wasn’t use to.

“It was my first time seeing snow like that because we don’t get snow down in New Orleans,” Toliver said. “If we do get snow, it is like muddy snow and not that pretty. It was very cold up here, but I enjoyed it all.”

His teammate and linebacker commitment Dwayne Eugene, 6-2, 220, 4.5 also made the trip.

E-mail Richard Davenport at [email protected]Razorback commitment list POS. PLAYER HT. WT. 40 SCHOOL WR Cody Hollister 6-4 205 4.5 Arizona Western CC WR Jared Cornelius 6-1 190 4.48 Shreveport Evangel Christian RB Juan Day 6-2 210 4.5 North Little Rock LB Dwayne Eugene 6-1 215 4.5 Metairie,(La.) Rummel LB Khalia Hackett 6-2 208 4.63 Douglasville (Ga.) S. Paulding DL Jake Hall 6-5 230 - Springdale Har-Ber K Cole Hedlund 5-10 170 - Argyle,Texas DL Bijhon Jackson 6-2 330 5.1 El Dorado TE Jack Kraus 6-5 245 4.9 Bentonville WR Corey McBride 6-2 180 4.34 Geismar (La.) Dutchtown WR Torrance Mosley 5-10 175 4.4 Geismar (La.) Dutchtown CB Chris Murphy 5-10 180 4.4 Marietta (Ga.) Lassiter QB Rafe Peavey 6-2 207 4.5 Bolivar, Mo.

TE Ravian Pierce 6-4 230 4.53 Plantation, Fla.

CB Santos Ramirez 6-2 180 4.55 Shreveport Evangel CB Henre’ Toliver 6-1 180 4.56 Metairie (La.) Rummel DL Armon Watts 6-5 270 5.1 St. Louis Christian Brothers 2015 COMMITMENTS OL Colton Jackson 6-6 291 - Conway DT Hjalte Froholdt 6-5 275 - Warren (Ohio) Harding OL Zach Rogers 6-3 295 5.09 Carrollton (Texas) Hebron QB Ty Storey 6-3 217 4.92 Charleston

Sports, Pages 20 on 12/17/2013

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