THE RECRUITING GUY: Texas lineman Keenan: UA in ‘league of its own’

— Before visiting Arkansas over the weekend, highly regarded Texas offensive lineman Trey Keenan traveled to several Big 12 schools. But his tour of Fayetteville left him pleasantly surprised at what the Razorbacks have to offer.

“Everything there is just top of the line,” said Keenan, who reports a 345-pound bench press and 425-pound squat. “It’s the best that I’ve seen out of everywhere I’ve been. I don’t have anything to compare it to because it seemed like it was in a league of its own.” Keenan, 6-6, 270 pounds, 4.88 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Argyle High School reports having 16 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Baylor, Kansas, Kansas State, Colorado, Arizona and Mississippi State.

Assistant coach John L.Smith, who has been the head coach at Utah State, Louisville and Michigan State, has Keenan’s respect.

“I really like talking to him,” Keenan said. “It’s impressive having him on staff with all the places he’s been as a head coach. That’s tremendous. He’s one of those guys that’s been around the game for a long time and he wouldn’t sugarcoat it, and he’ll tell you the way it was and he has a way of making you laugh, too.”

Keenan sat in on a meeting conducted by offensive line coach Chris Klenakis before Saturday’s scrimmage.

“I loved the way Coach K handled his meeting,” Keenan said. “He wouldn’t dilly-dally around. He went straight to the point with his guys and what they did wrong. The things he’s doing there are through the roof the way he does football.”

Keenan, who plans to take his five NCAA allotted official visits after his season, plans to attend an Arkansas game in the fall.

STATE BACKS IMPRESS

North Little Rock running backs Altee Tenpenny and Kendall Williams turned in two of the better performances in the country over the weekend at the Nike SPARQ combine at Grand Prairie, Texas.

Tenpenny, 5-11, 200 pounds, earned MVP honors after scoring a 129.6 SPARQ rating, which was the best out of approximately 2,000 athletes and is the second-best score this year nationally out of about 12,000 participates. He ran a 4.52-second laser time in the 40-yard dash, with a 37-inch vertical jump, 4.15 pro-shuttle time and a 42 1/2-foot power ball throw.

Williams, a 5-11 , 210-pound junior, finished second with a SPARQ rating of 126.69. His rating is the third-best in the nation. He recorded a 4.66-second laser time in the 40-yard dash, 37.6-inch vertical jump, 41.6 pro-shuttle time and 42-foot power ball throw.

Nike holds numerous combines throughout the nation, but North Little Rock Coach Brad Bolding said he was told by Nike officials that the Grand Prairie event has the best talent level in the nation.

“For a couple of guys from North Little Rock to go down there and get first and second of about 2,000 is special,” Bolding said. “That might not happen again in my coaching career. It’s something that Arkansas and North Little Rock can be proud of.”

Tenpenny, a sophomore who rushed 145 times for 1,232 yards and 15 touchdowns last year, recently received a scholarship offer from Ole Miss.

OATES TO WALK ON

Defensive end Justin Oates plans to walk on at Arkansas after visiting Fayetteville over the weekend.

Oates, 6-4, 253, 4.71 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of New Market (Ala.) Buckhorn orally committed to Florida International, but reopened his recruiting and now plans to visit Arkansas in the summer.

“I liked everything about it,” said Oates, who has a 3.4 grade-point average and plans to major in political science and eventually enter law school. “I liked the stadium, the coaches and the coaching staff’s desire to win and how they prepare you from an academic standpoint with tutors for the athletes.”

Oates, who reports a 335-pound bench press and 450-pound squat, said he also was invited to walk-on at Alabama. He recorded 57 tackles, 8 sacks and 4 forced fumbles as a senior.

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports, Pages 17 on 04/12/2011

Upcoming Events