Pine Bluff Coach Bobby Bolding will have some major contributors return next season who helped lead the Zebras to the Class 6A state title in 2014.
One is sophomore linebacker Keshawn Whaley, whom Bolding believes can be a special player.
Whaley, 6-2, 215 pounds, 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash, had 127 tackles, 1 sack, 3 1/2 tackles for loss, 8 pass breakups and 1 recovered fumble last season.
"Oh man, an awesome athlete," Bolding said. "He can run. He really doesn't understand the game very well yet but has the ability to get to the ball and is physical. When he figures out what's going on he'll be a monster."
Bolding said Whaley should make big improvement as a junior.
"The sky is the limit for him," Bolding said. "He's extremely, extremely raw right now just coming out of junior high the year before. He played some running back and some linebacker. I look forward to him taking a big, big step forward this year.
"He's big up top. He can be 240 someday."
Athlete David Beasley, 6-2, 185, is one of the top juniors in the state and has a scholarship offer from Arkansas State.
He had 52 tackles,2 1/2 tackles for loss, 18 pass breakups and 5 interceptions, returning one of those for a touchdown from his safety position in 2014. He also had 16 receptions for 219 yards and 5 touchdowns and 17 punt returns for 280 yards and 1 touchdown.
"David is almost 6-3 now," Bolding said. "He can run and is a play-maker, a great leader."
Junior quarterback LaDarius Skelton, 6-2, 200, completed 128 of 223 passes for 1,838 yards with 25 touchdowns and 7 interceptions while rushing 168 times for 1,125 yards and 19 touchdowns this season.
"I thought maybe he was just a [defensive back] prospect, as a lot of college coaches did," Bolding said. "But he's made himself into a quarterback prospect now."
Junior defensive lineman and tight end John Tate, 6-5, 250, has scholarship offers from Louisville, Ole Miss and Arkansas State and is drawing strong interest from Arkansas and others.
"Nobody really knows what position he's going to play," Bolding said. "He hasn't filled out. He may be an offensive tackle, a tight end, inside on defense or outside on defense. That remains to be seen, but he's a player."
Bolding also spoke highly of junior running back Romar Reades, who rushed 92 times for 826 yards and 9 touchdowns this past season.
COLD COMBINE
Several Arkansas athletes were among the approximately 500 participants at the U.S. Army National Combine on Jan. 2 at Alamo Stadium in San Antonio.
The combine is normally held inside the Alamodome, but the Alamo Bowl game between Kansas State and UCLA was played that day so the combine was moved.
The 40-yard dash and pro-shuttle were held outdoors in misty conditions and temperatures in the low 40s. The vertical jump was held inside a gymnasium next to the stadium.
Pulaski Robinson junior athlete T.J. Hammonds struggled with the conditions but recorded a hand-held time of 4.45 seconds in the 40-yard dash and a 4.16 in the pro-shuttle.
"I thought I was going to freeze up and my legs were going to stop on me," Hammonds said. "I just warmed up good enough so I could go out there and do my best."
Hammonds, 5-11, 185 pounds, has a scholarship offer from Tulsa and plans to attend several college camps this summer.
"I'm going to the Arkansas camp if I don't get offered," he said. "Oregon, Florida State, Florida, Miami -- I'm going to visit as many as a I can."
Star City defensive and offensive lineman Austin Capps was named the defensive MVP of the combine. He also had issues with the conditions.
"It did make it tough. The field was kind of slick," Capps said. "The cold air wasn't fun, I can say that."
Capps, 6-3, 312, 5.1 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Louisville and Mississippi State. Arkansas was the first to offer a scholarship after Capps impressed Coach Bret Bielema at a summer camp after his freshman year.
He often hears from Razorbacks fans.
"It's fun having people come and ask me, and people mention to me all the time on Twitter to be a Hog," Capps said. "It's all fun and humbling."
SMITH TO HIT CAMPS
Conway junior quarterback Breylin Smith said he felt like he compared favorably to the other top quarterbacks at the combine.
"It's always good to see some of the best guys in the country," Smith said. "It just makes you compete even harder and want it more. That's just the competitor in me."
Smith, 6-3, 175 pounds, is planning to attend summer camps at Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Texas and others. He works with former Razorbacks and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Clint Stoerner.
"He's an intense guy," Smith said. "It's a lot of fun. He has a lot of knowledge, and it's just an honor to go and have a session with him and just to be around him."
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Sports on 01/09/2015