Little Rock Parkview football Coach Brad Bolding has produced several highly regarded prospects in the past and said he believes freshman tight end Erin Outley has a chance to be special.
Outley, 6-4, 235 pounds, was also a standout for Arkansas All Red and Team Jahs 2021 during spring and summer basketball. Bolding said he thinks he can be similar to another former Patriots star who went on to star in college and the NFL.
"His athleticism is off the charts," Bolding said. "I'm never going to encourage the kid to play football only because he's so good in basketball. He's one of the top players in the state in basketball for his age group. But I did tell somebody the other day if that kid was a football-only kid and he still may -- he is just so young -- I said he could be another Keith Jackson. He could be that good."
Jackson, also a tight end, played at Parkview in 1981-1983 before being an All-American at Oklahoma. He played nine seasons in the NFL.
During his eight seasons at North Little Rock High School, Bolding coached the late Altee Tenpenny, who played running back at Alabama, receiver K.J. Hill, who's at Ohio State, and running back Juan Day, who signed with Arkansas and is now at Stephen F. Austin.
"I've just been around too many great players," Bolding said. "[Outley] has the ability if he keeps working hard and stays grounded and doesn't let any kind of fame or anything like that go to your head, he could be the best I've coached."
Outley, who's drawing early interest from Arkansas and Auburn, has 6 receptions for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns in 3 games for the 4-2 Patriots. His special talent is noticeable despite his young age.
"He's already standing out above everybody when's he out there playing as a ninth grader," Bolding said.
Bolding credits Outley's mother and father for raising a fun-loving young man.
"Erin is a fun kid to be around," Bolding said. "He has such an incredible since of humor and personality. The kids love him."
Family acceptance
When cornerback Byron Hanspard II visited the Arkansas Razorbacks for the Florida game last year, he called his mother to tell her he wanted to commit to the Hogs.
Yolanda Hanspard told him to hold off until she and her husband could see the Razorbacks for themselves. After visiting Fayetteville on March 14, Hanspard pledged to the Hogs a day later with the blessing of his parents.
After meeting with Coach Bret Bielema, Yolanda and Byron Sr. said they were sold on what the head Hog had to say to their son.
"He wasn't really talking too much about football and just making certain that he understood he was a person first and football is a part of what he's going to be there for," Byron Sr. said. "But he wanted to make sure he develops him as a person and to be a great leader, someone that people look up to and that you never embarrass yourself or embarrass your family or embarrass the team."
Hanspard, 6-1, 188, 4.44 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Desoto, Texas, chose the Razorbacks over numerous scholarship offers, including ones from Oregon, Oklahoma State, Colorado and Mississippi State. He's been selected to play in the Under Armour All American game at Orlando, Fla., in January.
Yolanda Hanspard said she admits there was some hesitation on her part because he's always wanted Byron II and his brother, Byron Jr., who's a standout junior receiver for Desoto, to play together in college while also having concerns about the five-hour drive to Fayetteville.
"When we went there I was pretty much wanting to remain neutral," she said. "But for me, that talk with Coach B, I always look for confirmation and for me I didn't feel like it was a show. I didn't feel like it was staged, but it was some of the same messages and things we try and tell BJ to be careful about.
"Those were the same exact things he was talking about. It wasn't all about football, it wasn't all about the game, it was about who he was and things he needs to be mindful of off the field and I just appreciate that so much and I was like this is what he needs."
Yolanda Hanspard said she said left Fayetteville feeling good about her son being a Razorback.
"Coach B, that's a good man," she said. "I was proud when he made his decision. I was comfortable with that."
Byron Hanspard Sr. was an All-American running back at Texas Tech and won the Doak Walker Award in 1996 before playing two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. He said he was impressed with the atmosphere around Arkansas' Fred W. Smith football center.
"It was just a great family atmosphere. The coaches were very warm," he said. "We didn't see any fake or phoniness to them. We just felt the genuine love and concern for [Bielema]."
Email Richard Davenport at [email protected]
Sports on 10/13/2017