ARLINGTON, Texas -- Little Rock Christian junior running back Damarea Crockett scored the second-best SPARQ rating in the nation at Saturday's Dallas Nike Combine in AT&T Stadium.
Crockett, 6-0, 209 pounds, finished with a 124.62 rating. Only junior running back Travis Homer, 5-10 1/2, 195, of West Palm Beach (Fla.) Oxbridge Academy has scored better with a 126.51.
Crockett wasn't caught off guard by his performance.
"No, it actually didn't surprise me," Crockett said. "I was planning to make it somewhere in the 120s."
Crockett was electronically timed at 4.71 seconds in the 40-yard dash and at 4.01 seconds in the pro shuttle, turned in a vertical leap of 40.3 inches and threw the power ball 36 feet. His score of 124.62 was the best out of approximately 1,200 athletes at the event.
The mark was enough to earn Crockett an invitation to today's Nike Football The Opening Regional that will be held at Arlington Lamar High School.
"I was very pleased with it, but the only thing I wasn't pleased with was my power ball," Crockett said. "I wanted to get somewhere around 38. It was just an amazing experience, and I'm happy I got the highest score of the day."
Crockett has scholarship offers from Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Arkansas State, Memphis, Colorado State and Boise State. Arkansas and several others are showing strong interest.
Crockett, who rushed 144 times for 1,250 yards and had 19 receptions for 250 yards this past season, continued a string of outstanding performances in Nike SPARQ combines. Crockett had 15 rushing touchdowns and four receiving last season.
In last year's event, North Little Rock linebacker Tyler Phillips scored a national-leading 141.36 and receiver K.J. Hill turned in a 126.30 rating.
" I knew K.J. Hill and Tyler Phillips and the pervious guys before them had been doing pretty good at the Nike combines, and I just wanted to carry it on for Arkansas and keep the tradition going," Crickett said.
Crockett will have a chance today to earn a highly coveted spot in The Opening, the prestigious event held in early July at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore..
"My goal is to score higher than a 124 and receive an invite to The Opening," Crockett said.
HAMMONDS SOLID
Pulaski Robinson junior athlete T.J. Hammonds scored a 106.41 rating with times of 4.66 seconds in the 40-yard dash and 4.03 seconds in the pro shuttle, a 34.7 vertical jump and a 35-0 power ball toss.
Hammonds, 5-11, 189 pounds, already had been invited to compete in today's regional event in Arlington, but he wasn't pleased with his showing Saturday.
"Me and K.J. [Hill] had a competition," Hammonds said. "I wanted to get higher than him but I didn't do it, so I'm coming out to the regionals and give it my best."
Hammonds has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Arizona State, Arizona, Vanderbilt, Tulsa, Marshall and others. He rushed 58 times for 852 yards and 7 touchdowns as a junior and had 41 receptions for 1,172 yards and 11 touchdowns.
He was timed at 4.63 seconds in the 40-yard dash at last year's event, but suffered from flu-like symptoms earlier this week but didn't make excuses for his 4.66 time this year.
"I'm still kind of feeling it," Hammonds said. Saturday, "but I'm showing out tomorrow."
EYE ON ARKANSANS
Several other in-state athletes will take part in today's regionals, including highly regarded defensive end McTelvin Agim of Hope.
Three of the four in-state prospects with scholarship offers from Arkansas -- Agim, Pulaski Robinson athlete T.J. Hammonds and Smackover receiver Jordan Jones, who has orally committed to the Razorbacks -- will participate.
Agim, 6-3, 265, 4.59, is more highly rated by most recruiting services and appears to have the best chance of making the list of 162 athletes selected to compete at The Opening. ESPN rates him as the No. 22 defensive end and the No. 220 prospect in the nation.
Today's event will feature highly regarded offensive linemen like Greg Little of Allen, Texas, and Jean Delance of North Mesquite (Texas) High School. Little is orally committed to Texas A&M and is ESPN's No.1 offensive tackle in the nation, while Delance is rated the No. 24 offensive tackle and No. 272 prospect.
"I want to go against the best of the best," Agim said. "It should be the best in Dallas. Greg Little, he's going to be there, so I'm ready for it."
Agim's burst off the ball and ability to make plays all over the field is on par with any athlete in the nation at his position, and today is an opportunity to show the country that he is underrated.
"I'm going in with the mind-set that I'm number one," Agim said. "I'm talking about number one in the nation, because I feel like I am, so I just have to prove it. I've been waiting on the chance to do this."
Jones, 6-2, 180, 4.34, is somewhat of an unknown nationally because he orally committed to Arkansas right after receiving a scholarship offer following an outstanding showing at a summer camp last year.
"It should be fun competing against the best," Jones said. "I'm going to go out and show and let them know Arkansas is on the rise."
E-mail Richard Davenport at
rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 03/15/2015