Dallas Bishop safety interested in Arkansas, SEC

Arkansas Assistant Coach Joel Thomas works with the Razorbacks during practice on Saturday, March 30, 2013 in Fayetteville.

Arkansas Assistant Coach Joel Thomas works with the Razorbacks during practice on Saturday, March 30, 2013 in Fayetteville.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Safety Payton Hendrix of Dallas Bishop Dunne High School plans to make an unofficial visit to Arkansas on Monday.

Hendrix, 6-3, 194 pounds, reports having 19 scholarship offers, and like so many other prospects he said he likes the idea of playing in the SEC.

“I guess every football player’s ultimate goal is to play in the NFL,” Hendrix said. “The SEC is the conference to be, and if you want to make that dream to happen.”

Arkansas, Nebraska, Washington, North Carolina and Arizona State are among the schools that have offered Hendrix a scholarship. He will be accompanied by his parents, Phillip and Latrena, and younger brother Pearson on his visit to Arkansas.

“I just want to meet the coaching staff and see how I fit in with the scheme of things,” Hendrix said of his visit to Arkansas. “Basically check out the campus.”

Arkansas running backs coach Joel Thomas is his lead recruiter, but defensive coordinator Chris Ash also is involved.

Hendrix said he tries to follow his father’s advice when it comes to his recruitment.

“I guess since I was little the thing he preached the most was to be my own man,” Hendrix said. “Be myself regardless of what’s going on, and be who I am and don’t cave into peer pressure.”

WARMING UP TO UA

Arkansas signed punter Sam Irwin-Hill out of College of San Francisco in February, and the Hogs are back at the school recruiting offensive lineman David Hedelin.

Hedelin, 6-5, 285 pounds, reports having scholarship offers from 16 schools, including Arkansas, Ole Miss, Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, Kansas and Oregon State.

“The football is very, very good in Arkansas,” Hedelin said. “That’s one of the biggest reasons why I’m interested in going there, and the academics, the facilities, the stadium and the weather they have over there. It’s hot, and that’s what I like.”

Hedelin’s lead recruiter at Arkansas, running backs coach Joel Thomas, visited the College of San Francisco twice during spring evaluation. The Hogs are his only official visit so far.

“I’ve scheduled a visit for October 12th,” said Hedelin, who reports a 340-pound bench press and 500-pound squat. “I haven’t scheduled any more for now. I’m still open so I don’t know yet, to be honest.”

Like Irwin-Hill, who is from Australia, Hedelin is new to the game after growing up in Sweden where he played four years of club football before arriving in America last summer.

“Soccer and hockey are the biggest sports,” he said of Sweden. “Actually in my high school, I had a friend and he had been playing football since he was very small in pee-wee. He got me into football practice, and that’s how I started playing football.”

Hedelin is also talking to Arkansas offensive line coach Sam Pittman, and he said he has a good idea why Pittman likes him.

“I think it’s because of how I’ll finish my blocks,” Hedelin said.

HALL DOUBLE THREAT

Highly recruited athlete Davion Hall of Texarkana (Texas) Liberty-Eylau is being sought by many of the nation’s top programs, but Arkansas is the only one recruiting him as a two-way player.

Hall, 6-3, 194 pounds, 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is orally committed to Baylor, but Arkansas, Alabama, LSU, Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma are among the other schools that have offered him a scholarship.

He visited Arkansas in March and again in April for the Red-White spring game.

Hall played safety, quarterback, receiver along with returning punts and kicks last year. The Hogs want to utilize Hall at safety and receiver.

“I think some of the other schools are trying to figure out what he’s going to do or haven’t told him anything,” Liberty-Eylau Coach Brian Brown said.

National recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network rated Hall as the nation’s No. 28 prospect. Hall had 75 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries and 1 touchdown. He also rushed 29 times for 340 yards and 10 touchdowns and had 12 receptions for 315 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Hall’s cousin, Jarrion Lawson, also attended Liberty-Eylau and is a member of Arkansas’ track team.

Brown said Hall’s worth ethic shows up in practice.

“He goes hard all the time, and that doesn’t happen in high school all the time,” Brown said.

Brown said Hall would like to continue to see action on offense and defense in college.

“He said, ‘I’m a two-way player. I’m a player. I play the whole game,’ ” Brown said. “So it’s important to him. He takes that with pride.”

E-mail Richard Davenport at [email protected]

Sports, Pages 23 on 06/23/2013