The Recruiting Guy

California juco lineman enjoys his Arkansas visit

Dwayne Wallace
Dwayne Wallace

Junior college offensive guard Dwayne Wallace credited Arkansas fans, along with Razorbacks Coach Bret Bielema and offensive line coach Sam Pittman, for a "great" official visit over the weekend.

"I liked the fan base," said Wallace, who arrived in Fayetteville on Friday morning and left Sunday morning. "The fans were good, Coach Bielema and Coach Pittman really treated me good, and I think Arkansas is definitely one of my top schools. I really enjoyed my time in Fayetteville."

Wallace, 6-5, 328 pounds, 5.1 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Riverside (Calif.) City College, was named first-team All-California Community College Football Coaches Association. There are 69 football-playing schools in the CCCFCA.

He committed to Louisville in late May, but recently reopened his recruiting when Louisville would not accept some of his classes.

In addition to Arkansas. Wallace reports scholarship offers from California, Kansas State, Texas Tech, San Diego State and others.

Wallace said he enjoyed watching Arkansas honor its seniors before Friday's game against Missouri.

"It was kind of cool to see how they set up things for the seniors and game day," Wallace said. "We watched the game and had a feel for it and ate dinner, stuff like that. It was a really cool experience."

The Hogs gained 208 yards on the ground and scored four rushing touchdowns against a Missouri defense that ranks ninth nationally in total defense.

"I feel like Coach Pittman is one of the best offensive line coaches and always has a great game plan for everything," Wallace said. "It was kind of wet, so they ran the ball. The O-line really controlled the line of scrimmage. If I came here, I think I could be a big part of this football program as far as helping out the offensive line."

Another Arkansas target, offensive tackle Garett Bolles of Snow College in Utah, also made an official visit to Fayetteville for the Missouri game.

Wallace is being recruited to possibly replace senior Sebastian Tretola, who hosted Wallace during the trip.

"That'd be really cool because obviously he [Tretola] a first round guy," Wallace said. "It was a really big honor for Coach to tell me that's who I would be replacing if I come here. It's pretty cool, and I feel like the system fits me because of the type of player I am."

Wallace, who is also considering California, wants to sort out his options.

"I'll just go home and take everything in and soak it in, but I'm really considering coming here," he said.

Border battle

The fourth annual Battle of the Border Basketball Classic featuring high school teams from central Arkansas and the Memphis area will be held Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.

Friday's games will take place at the North Little Rock High School gym. Saturday's games will be held at Little Rock Hall.

The event will feature two University of Arkansas prospects in the 2017 and 2018 classes. Little Rock Parkview sophomore forward Ethan Henderson, who has scholarship offers from Arkansas and Notre Dame, and Parkview junior guard Khalil Garland are ranked among the top players in the nation by ESPN.

Henderson, 6-8, 190 pounds, is rated as the No. 14 overall prospect in the 2018 class by ESPN, while Garland is the No. 53 overall prospect in the 2017 class.

Parkview and Arlington, Tenn., will start play at 6:45 p.m. Friday. North Little Rock will take on Memphis Whitehaven at 8:15 p.m.

On Saturday at Little Rock Hall, Episcopal Collegiate will play Olive Branch, Miss., at 3 p.m. Little Rock Fair and Germantown (Tenn.) Houston play at 4:30 p.m., while Little Rock McClellan will face Germantown, Tenn., at 6 p.m.

Parkview will finish the night at 7:30 against Arlington (Tenn.) Bolton and point guard Jaylen Fisher, who has signed with UNLV and is rated the No. 34 overall prospect in the nation by ESPN.

Event director Bill Ingram, who also operates Real Deal in the Rock basketball tournament, said fans will get to see top talent in action.

"It's the best high school event in the state," Ingram said. "We have great talent every year, not just one. It's a mini Real Deal."

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 12/01/2015

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