LITTLE ROCK — Louisiana tight end Deondre Skinner, who committed to Arkansas in May, could be one of about 400 athletes attending Arkansas’ junior-senior prospect camp Saturday.
Skinner, 6-4, 225 pounds, 4.59 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Patterson High School, earned a scholarship offer from LSU on Tuesday after attending its camp.
“I’m excited, it’s close to home,” Skinner said. “He [LSU Coach Les Miles] said he was shocked and surprised because he didn’t know I could move like that. I was excited to be able to talk to him. It was a blessing.”
The in-state offer didn’t persuade him to switch his commitment, but he has a wait-and-see attitude in regards to the Tigers this season.
“I’m still committed,” Skinner said of Arkansas. “It just gives me more to think about.It’s close to home like I said. If they start throwing the ball more than they did in previous years then I’ll have more stuff to think about.”
Skinner, who’s hoping to arrive in Fayetteville today, said the LSU coaching staff made him feel welcomed.
“I want to see this weekend if I’m going to get that much interest like I did at LSU,” Skinner said. “That’s what I’m looking for right now to see who shows more interest in me between the two schools.”
TACKLING DRILL
Several prospects will be trying to earn scholarship offers during Saturday’s camp, including Texas offensive tackle Christian Daimler.
“I’m excited to get up there and show Arkansas what I can do,” Diamler said.
Daimler, 6-7, 275, 5.1, of Houston Stratford High School, reports six scholarship offers, including ones from Colorado, Colorado State and Arizona State. He said an offer from the Razorbacks would be welcomed.
“I’ve grown up watching SEC football and seeing Arkansas being a contender year in and year out,” Daimler said. “It’s exciting to have an opportunity to go out and perform andtry and get an offer.”
He said offensive line coach Chris Klenakis watched one of his spring practices during the spring evaluation period and has encouraged him to attend the camp in hopes of being offered.
“That would be awesome,” said Daimler said of a possible offer. “They would move on right up there to the top of my list. It would be a honor to get an offer from Arkansas.”
COLLEN OPTIMISTIC
Arkansas women’s basketball Coach Tom Collen is hoping to add a second highly rated prospect to the 2013 recruiting class from the Arkansas Mavericks on Aug. 1, the day guard/forward Jessica Jackson will announce her college decision.
Jackson, 6-2, of Jacksonville, is rated the No. 7 recruit in the nation by Dan Olson of Collegiate Girls Basketball Report. She said narrowing her list of scholarship offers to Arkansas, Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Kentucky was a challenge.
“It was difficult because I liked a whole lot of schools,” Jackson said.
Jackson’s teammate, Texas combination guard McKenzie Adams, orally committed to the Hogs about a month ago. The Razorbacks being a finalist on her list was an easy choice for Jackson.
“They made the list because they’ve been on me since I was in the ninth grade; they were one of the first schools to offer me,” Jackson said. “They’ve been there since the beginning. Coach Collen is like real cool, the coaching staff is also nice.”
ANOTHER TIME
Texas running back Corion Webster likely won’t make it to Arkansas’ junior-senior prospect camp Saturday, but he does plan to make an official visit.
Webster, 5-11, 195, 4.5, of Atlanta High School, is committed to Oklahoma State. He still has a good amount of interest in the Hogs, in part because of former Razorbacks running back DeCori Birmingham, who played his high school football at Atlanta.
“He said what everybody else has to say,” Webster said. “It’s the place to be.”
In addition to Arkansas, Webster also plans to take official visits to Oklahoma State, TCU and possibly Arizona State. Arkansas secondary coach Bobby Allen let him know he’s wanted.
“He was telling me how bad they want me and how he thinks I would fit into their offense,” Webster said.
Webster, who rushed 220 times for 1,865 yards and 24 touchdowns as junior, said he’ll choose a school where he could see himself being comfortable outside of athletics.
“Most people say I should go to a school where I could see myself as a student,” Webster said. “I have to picture myself going there.”
PINPOINT QUARTERBACK
Fayetteville quarterback Austin Allen, an Arkansas commitment, won the Golden Gun Accuracy Challenge at the Elite 11 final in Redondo Beach, Cali., on Wednesday.The event features 25 of the best high school quarterbacks in the nation. Competition will end Sunday.
E-mail Richard Davenport at
Sports, Pages 24 on 07/20/2012