LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas hosted five official visitors for the Alabama game, with three coming from Orlando Dr. Phillips high school.
Safety/linebacker LaQuentin Smith, safety Roderick Ryles, who has orally committed to the Hogs and running back Dee Hart arrived about 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and left early Monday morning.
Smith, 6-1, 220 4.54 seconds in the 40 yard dash, has more than 10 scholarship offers, including Arkansas, South Florida, Michigan, Tennessee, Illinois and South Carolina. He said he and his mother plan to talk to Coach Bobby Petrino sometime this week.
“Coach Petrino and I are trying to set up a time so all of us can talk on the phone,” Smith said. “I think I’m going to go ahead and do it and be a Razorback. I’m still going to take my other four visits. It’s only once in a lifetime opportunity so I might as well enjoy it while I can.”
Smith, who recorded 97 tackles, 6 tackles for loss and 1 interception as a junior, said the weekend visit was “crazy”.
“I absolutely enjoyed myself even though Arkansas came up on the wrong end by four points, it was still nuts,” Smith said. “I still enjoyed myself. The coaches were fantastic and the facilities were great and the players showed me a good time while I was in town.”
The record crowd of 76,808 made an impact on Smith, who signed a few autographs while attending the game.
“They knew who I was,” Smith said. “It was just crazy. Every time I turned around a little kid would ask me to sign this and sign that but it was fun. They were saying come be a Razorback, we need you.”
SEC ATMOSPHERE BEST
Among the 80 or so recruits visiting was an impressive list of junior prospects making their first visit to Arkansas’ campus.
St. Louis receiver Durron Neal, who’s listed on the top 100 watch list for juniors assembled by Maxpreps.com, made the trip with his mother, Sharon Little.
Neal, 6-1, 190, 4.47 seconds in the 40 yard dash, of DeSmet high school reports offers from Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Indiana. He attended the Indiana-Ohio State game in Bloomington and Missouri-Baylor in Columbia last year but said those game type atmospheres don’t compare.
“It blew them out of the water,” said Neal of Arkansas.“There was no comparison, none what so ever. The SEC atmosphere is the best atmosphere by far vs.any other conference. I liked the facilities and the atmosphere was just crazy,” Neal said. “Overall it was a great game even though they came up short. There were about 76,000 people there. I’ve never seen that many people in my life. I was like in the moment because I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
BARRY SANDERS’ SON
Before attending Saturday’s game, Oklahoma running back Barry Sanders Jr. had only taken in several Big 12 contests.
Sanders, 5-9, 180, 4.31 of Oklahoma City Heritage Hall high school, reports 10 scholarship offers from schools like Ole Miss, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Alabama and Notre Dame while drawing interest from numerous others, including Arkansas.
“The visit went pretty well for the most part,” Sanders said. “They did end up losing the game, but I saw some good things for the first time on campus. It was very nice and the stadium is something I’ve never seen before. It was one of a kind. I look forward to seeing the rest of the facilities.”
The Hog call was one of many things that impressed Sanders during the game.
“The atmosphere was great,” Sanders said. “The SEC has a great fan base and I definitely saw that. The fans were into it during the whole game.”
As a sophomore, Sanders rushed for 1,707 yards and 22 touchdowns for the Class 3A Chargers.
“It was top ten teams going against one another,” Sanders said. “It was great competition and that was great to see. In the Big 12 you see that maybe once or twice a year when OU plays Texas or OU plays Nebraska or somebody. The SEC, it’s usually every week for those guys in the conference.” Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports, Pages 22 on 09/28/2010