FAYETTEVILLE — The first in a series profiling new additions for the Arkansas football team in 2010.
Arkansas’ most coveted in-state signee in February technically wasn’t an in-state signee.
Defensive lineman Byran Jones may be the biggest thing to come out of Lillie, La., a tiny community about 8 miles southeast of Junction City, the Arkansas Class 2A terror that draws students from rural areas just across the state line in neighboring parishes.
A 6-2, 298-pound run destroyer, Jones propelled the Dragons to three state championship games and victories as a junior and senior.
If any incoming scholarship freshman can contribute this fall at Arkansas, it might be Jones, because his body is already college-ready.
“There’s no doubt that he’s got a chance to help us this year,” Razorbacks defensive line coach Bobby Allen said. “He’s a 300-pounder that’s strong. He’s explosive.
“When you go out and recruit and put them on the board, that’s the type of kid you want to be able to go after.”
Jones chose Arkansas over Auburn and had scholarship offers from Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Baylor and Louisiana Tech.
Jones and best friend Alan Turner, a star running back and defensive back at Junction City before also signing with the Razorbacks in February, have been in Fayetteville since May 31.
The roommates grew up about a football field apart in Lillie, population 130.
“It’s been an adjustment coming from such a small place,” Jones said. “There’s a lot to learn. I feel like I can make an impact this year, but I don’t feel any pressure to.”
Jones is already the gold standard at Junction City, easily the most decorated football player the school has produced.
He was a member of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Super Sophomore team and was Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas and the Little Rock Touchdown Club’s Class 2A Player of the Year as a junior and senior.
Jones was so advanced physically that he could have started immediately as a freshman, Junction City Coach David Carpenter said.
Instead, Jones, already 280 pounds, played the entire junior high schedule before moving up to the varsity in Week 8.
The idea, Carpenter said, was to allow Jones to enjoy his final season of junior high competition before making a celebrated debut on the highschool level.
“Everybody was taking bets, how long it would be before he got in, you know, in the first ballgame,” Carpenter said. “I told our defensive coach, I said, ‘Don’t start him.’ He said, ‘OK.’ Second play he went right in and started for us ever since.”
In eight varsity games in 2006, Jones had 53 tackles, 12 sacks and 1 interception for the winning touchdown in a 45-36 victory over Bearden to clinch the 7-2A East championship.
Jones collected 6 more sacks as a sophomore, 15 as a junior and 18 last fall.
“He just had the physical strength to dominate games in high school,” Carpenter said. “Right now, the hardest thing for him is the footwork of lining up. Not the running part of it or the moving part of it, but the little things the coaches want you to do in different situations. But it’s coming along.
Jones, who has been timed in 5.1 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is also a four-time Class 2A state champion in the shot put and bench presses around 400 pounds.
That combination, Allen said, gives Jones a chance to play early.
“Very excited about Byran, with what he’s shown us on film,” Allen said. “I really think he’s got a chance to come in and be something special if he continues to work hard at it.”Byran Jones glance POSITION Defensive lineman HIGH SCHOOL Junction City HEIGHT 6-2 WEIGHT 298 pounds 40-YARD DASH 5.1 seconds STATISTICS Had 351 tackles and 51 sacks in 45 career games.
NOTEWORTHY Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Super Sophomore and Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas as a junior and senior. … Little Rock Touchdown Club’s Class 2A Player of the Year as a junior and senior. … MVP of the Class 2A state championship game as a junior and senior. … Threw the shot 52 feet, 10 1 /2 inches in April to win his fourth consecutive Class 2A state championship. … Bench-pressed 385 pounds and power-cleaned 305 pounds to finish second in the heavyweight division of this year’s Arkansas High School Weightlifting Championships.
… Lives in Lillie, La., about 8 miles southeast of Junction City.
Sports, Pages 29 on 06/27/2010