THE RECRUITING GUY

Arkansans ready to start a SPARQ at The Opening

El Dorado defensive tackle Bijhon Jackson looks to the sideline during a game against Benton at C.W. Lewis stadium.
El Dorado defensive tackle Bijhon Jackson looks to the sideline during a game against Benton at C.W. Lewis stadium.

BEAVERTON, Ore. - Three Arkansans will take part in The Opening, one of the nation’s most prestigious high school football recruiting events.

The Open will be held Monday through Wednesday at Nike headquarters and will feature 163 of the nation’s top prospects.

North Little Rock cornerback Kavin Alexander, along with defensive tackles Bijhon Jackson of El Dorado and Josh Frazier of Springdale Har-Ber will arrive today.

Alexander, 5-9, 182 pounds, 4.27seconds in the 40-yard dash, will be the favorite going into Monday’s SPARQ Rating National Championship after recording the second-highest SPARQ rating ever (148.17) at the Dallas Nike Combine in April.

SPARQ - an acronym for speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness - is a scoring system designed to measure sport-specific athletic ability.

Alexander ran the 40 in 4.36 seconds and the shuttle in 3.90 seconds, while recording a 40.5-inch vertical jump and a 42.5 power ball toss in Dallas. Linebacker Mike Mitchell of Plano, Texas, scored a 154.47 at last year’s event.

Alexander started preparing for The Opening in June after the completion of spring football and the track and field season.

“Everything needs improvement,” Alexander said. “You can never be perfect.”

Alexander said he has seen progress in all four testing events. His teammate, offensive lineman Curtis Parker, who has the best power ball toss (53 feet) ever recorded in SPARQ , has given Alexander advice to help improve his power ball toss.

“You have to get somebody that’s real good to help you out,” Alexander said. “He’s determined to set a new record.

“It would be super big to do it on a big stage in front of the world. I’m not only representing North Little Rock but representing Arkansas.”

ESPNU will televise the SPARQ combine from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday. Alexander said he is hoping to open some eyes with his cover skills against some of the nation’s best receivers during the 7-on-7 competition. ESPNU will televise 7-on-7 pool play from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The semifinals and final of the 7-on-7 competition and the Linemen Challenge finalwill air from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday.

Jackson, who has orally committed to Arkansas, and Frazier will be among the 21 defensive linemen competing in the combine and the Linemen Challenge.

Jackson, 6-2, 325, 5.1 seconds in the 40-yard dash, said he’s been working out daily getting ready for the event and believes he’s in tip-top condition.

“I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in,” Jackson said. “I’m trying to stay in shape and not gain too much weight because it’s a dead period, so we can’t work out at the school or anything like that until next week. I’m just getting out on my own trying to keep my weight off and stay in shape.”

Jackson weighed about 315 pounds going into last weekend but suffered a setback and went up to 325 over the weekend.

“I picked up a little bit by accident,” Jackson said. “My grandmother cooked for us. She brought us a bunch of sweets and we had a couple pies. I had a peach cobbler from each one of my grandmas, a blueberry cobbler and some pie and ice cream. I just kind of let go.”

Jackson said he pleaded with his grandmothers to take it easy on the home cooking but it fell on deaf ears.

“I told them I was trying to keep this weight off of me,” Jackson said.

“But I knew as soon as they brought the food down here I wasn’t going to be able to resist it.”

Jackson was back down in the 315-pound range Friday night.

Frazier participated in the Under Armour All American Combine in January and had a good outing and has been in the weight room trying to get better.

“I’ve been lifting in the off-season and that has gone great,” Frazier said. “I’ve really been getting in the weight room getting stronger and getting my endurance up. That’s one thing I wanted to get better was my endurance. I’m ready to get out there and do my best and go out and dominate.”

Frazier, 6-4, 334, 5.1 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has trimmed his list of potential schools to Arkansas, Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M and Southern Cal. He has scholarship offers from all of them.

“My mind-set going in is to show up and show out,” Frazier said.

Numerous other Arkansas recruits also will take part in the event. They include defensive end Solomon Thomas of Coppell, Texas; running back Shai McKenzie of Washington, Pa.; running back Dalvin Cook of Miami Central; cornerback Terrence Alexander, safety Mattrell McGraw and receiver Malachi Dupre of River Ridge, (La.) John Curtis; safety C.J. Hampton of Meridian, Miss.; defensive lineman Garrald McDowell of Covington, La.; linebacker Richard Yeargin III of Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) University High School and receiver Corey Holmes of Ft. Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas.

E-mail Richard Davenport at [email protected]

Sports, Pages 31 on 06/30/2013

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