Arkansas is expected to host numerous top prospects today and Saturday for the Elite Prospect camp, including highly touted linebacker Sharieff Rhaheed.
Rhaheed, 6-4, 207 pounds, 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Fort Pierce (Fla.) Central was once committed to LSU but has reopened his recruiting. He has 21 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Alabama, LSU, Louisville and Ole Miss.
Rhaheed, along with teammates Rashawn Shaw and Nehari Crawford, arrived in Fayetteville on Thursday with their defensive coordinator, Charlie Matthews. Shaw, a defensive end, is a Louisville commitment and Crawford is a receiver.
“Seeing the area and talking to the coaches and players,” Rhaheed said of the trip’s purpose. “Just getting a feel for the atmosphere and hang out with some of the players.”
Rhaheed played defensive end as a sophomore but switched to linebacker last year and recorded 83 tackles, including 14 for losses and 9 sacks. He said he wants to find out what it’s really like to be an Arkansas football player.
“Get the inside scoop on the coaches,” said Rhaheed, who won’t work out during the visit. “What’s there to do, the everyday life of a player at Arkansas.”
The major portion of his interest in Arkansas stems from his relationship with linebackers coach Randy Shannon. He said their conversations are short but to the point.
“We talk about three or four minutes,” Rhaheed said. “When I committed to LSU, he didn’t pressure on me to decommit. He was talking why Arkansas is better than LSU. He wasn’t trying to sell me something. He was telling me about it, so it got me to thinking.”
Rhaheed said the visit to Fayetteville will likely be his last one this summer. He said he’ll probably make his college decision after this season.
One of the more talented prospects expected to visit Arkansas this weekend is junior athlete Larry Pryor, who has several scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Texas, Baylor, Texas Tech and TCU.
Pryor, 6-2, 195, 4.4, of Sulphur Springs, Texas, will likely be one of the top recruits in his class in Texas. Pryor’s coach at Sulphur Springs,Greg Owens, said Pryor can impact a game on either side of the ball. He played safety and receiver last year but will add quarterback duties in the fall in order to take advantage of his play-making ability.
“He’s an exceptional player for us, a game-changer,” Owens said. “He’s a young man that can actually takeover a ballgame. We’re going to let him touch the ball every down.”
Defensive end Gerri Green, who will visit Arkansas on Saturday, has SEC scholarship offers from Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Auburn. There’s good chance he’ll leave Fayetteville with an offer from the Hogs.
Green, 6-4, 225, 4.56, of Greenville (Miss.) Weston said he admires Arkansas defensive line coach Charlie Partridge’s record of producing linemen, including Houston Texan defensive end J.J. Watt, who was the NFL defensive player of the year last season.
“J.J. Watt is a phenomenal athlete, one of the best in the league right now,” Green said. “He [Partridge] coached him and helped get him to league. It speaks volume volumes about him.”
Partridge and defensive quality control coach Brian Early have been recruiting Green.
“He is really excited about me coming up,” Green said of Early. “He keeps me informed about what’s going on in Arkansas. He’s the one that made sure I got to Arkansas this summer."
Receiver Jared Cornelius named Arkansas his No. 1 school at least a month ago and said there’s a chance he might decide to commit to the Hogs during his visit today.
“Yeah, that’s definitely possible,” Cornelius said. “I’ve never been to Fayetteville. I don’t know what it’s like. I don’t know if it’s amazing or don’t know if it’s horrible. There’s no telling what could happen.”
Cornelius, 6-1, 190, of Shreveport Evangel Christian, has seven scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Tennessee and San Diego State. His will be accompanied by his parents and Chris Bradley, an Evangel Christian linebacker.
Cornelius said Arkansas receivers coach Michael Smith keeps him entertained.
“He seems like he’s really cool,” Cornelius said. “He’s very energetic, wow. He’s funny. I think he would be a good coach to be under and he knows what he’s talking about.”
JC cornerback commits to Arkansas
It didn’t take long for junior college cornerback Kweishi Brown to realize he wanted to become an Arkansas Razorback on his official visit. He arrived Wednesday evening, and Thursday afternoon he orally committed to Razorbacks Coach Bret Bielema.
Brown, 6-0, 190 pounds, 4,5 seconds on the 40-yard dash, of Grossmont Community College in El Cajon, Calif., also had received a scholarship offer from Kansas State while also drawing interest from Colorado, Utah State, Washington and New Mexico.
Offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor of Lackawanna Community College in Scranton, Pa., and defensive lineman Abu Lamin of Fort Scott (Kan.) Community College arrived at Arkansas on Thursday afternoon for their official visits. Bielema stressed to Brown how the three could help the Hogs win big.
“He was saying the three of us could make a good impact in winning a championship,” Brown said. “After we had that talk, I said, ‘You said us three could make that change and I’m all about change,’ and I committed right there.”
The friendliness of the people of Fayetteville and the coaches surprised Brown, who attended Vahalla High School in San Diego.
“The people are really chill here and I liked that, too,” Brown said. “They’re not afraid to joke around. It’s just a good environment. I’m just excited to be here finally.”
Brown also said he caught off guard on his Arkansas visit.
“It was more than I expected, and I was impressed,” he said. “The facilities are nice, the field, the offices. I got a little tour.”
Brown, who has three years to play two and will enroll in the spring, recorded 28 tackles and 7 interceptions while earning first team all-conference honors.
He becomes Arkansas’ seventh commitment for the 2014 class. Oral commitments are nonbinding.
E-mail Richard Davenport at [email protected]
Sports, Pages 21 on 07/19/2013