LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas became the 15th school to offer a scholarship to Georgia quarterback Joshua Dobbs on Thursday.
Dobbs, 6-3, 195, 4.7 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Alpharetta High School also reports scholarship offers from Boston College, Arizona State, Harvard, Illinois and Maryland. Offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Paul Petrino watched Dobbs practice on Thursday and Dobbs later called Petrino and learned of his offer.
“I was just excited that I would have the opportunity to continue to use my football skills at the collegiate level,” said Dobbs, who plans to visit the Hogs this summer. “And get a chance to play for a powerhouse football team like Arkansas and the SEC West.”
Dobbs, who completed 234 of 392 passes for 3,113 yards and 29 touchdowns as a junior, said Petrino was impressed with his skills.
“He wants to get me on campus this summer and get a chance to meet the head coach and the rest of the staff,” Dobbs said. “Get a chance to see the new facilities.”
Dobbs reports a 4.0 grade point average while taking all honor and Advanced Placement classes. He’s planning to major in aeronautical engineering.
CAMPING OUT
Arkansas’ summer football camps will kick off with the three-day Senior high school camp on June 10-12 for athletes entering the ninth through 12thgrades in the fall. The camp routinely sees a few prospects earning scholarship offers from the Hogs with their performances.
“It’s a great opportunity for kids to come and check out the University of Arkansas and get to know our coaches over a three-day span,” said Jason Shumaker, Arkansas’ director of high school relations. “Last year, over half of our signees attended our camp. We think it’s great opportunity for both players and coaches alike to get to know each other a little bit better and show what they can do since there will be a lot of top prospects from around the country.”
The camp is the only one to feature full contact with athletes in helmets and shoulder pads.
Registration numbers are up between 5-10 percent over last year’s summer camps, Shumaker said.
“That’s really an encouraging sign for us,” Shumaker said. “We just need to finish strong and hopefully keep those numbers up.”
The Junior-Senior prospects camp also feature top recruits and will be held July 21.
“We think that’s always good to be able to evaluate guys against really good players,” Shumaker said. “That’s something we’re are definitely interested in doing.”
The youth camp will be held for the third time on June 13 and is for kids going into grades first through fourth and will be a morning session only. The junior high camp is for kids going into the fifth through eighth grades and will be June 14-16.
For more information, contact Shumaker at shumaker@uark.edu or 479-575-3704 or go to www.razorbackfootballcamps.com
GARRISON SETS PACE
The 15th FCA combine held at North Little Rock High School produced several good times in the 40-yard dash. Little Rock Parkview safety Tavion Garrison recorded the fastest time, 4.43, on his second try during the morning session, which featured invited juniors.
Athlete Kevin Richardson of Jacksonville recorded a 4.44, running back P.J. Binns of Monticello had a 4.47 and receiver Devarius Rice of Pine Bluff ran two 4.47 times.
North Little Rock running back Altee Tenpenny, who has committed to Alabama, ran a 4.47.
Sophomore athlete Kavin Alexander of North Little Rock had the best time of the day, during the open combine session in the afternoon, with a 4.39. The performance should come as no surprise because Alexander placed No. 1 out of about 1,200 athletes at the Nike Football SPARQ Combine in Dallas in March with a SPARQ rating of 129.24.
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Sports, Pages 19 on 05/22/2012