Arkansas 2018 linebacker target Bumper Pool of Lucas, Texas, Lovejoy High School will be in the stands Saturday night when the No. 17 Razorbacks take on No. 10 Texas A&M in the annual Southwest Classic in Arlington, Texas.
No doubt the Arkansas coaches and plenty of Razorback fans hope Pool (6-2, 216) - a four-sport athlete who also wrestles, plays golf and competes in track - will be playing for them in the game a couple of years from now.
His sister, Maddie, is a sophomore at Arkansas while his dad, Jeff, two aunts, two cousins and one of his grandfathers also went to college in Fayetteville, where he first started coming to Razorback games when he was “four or five.”
“Love the excitement,” Pool said. “Love everything they got. I’m looking forward to going back up there for the Alabama game. They have a good program and I’m excited about watching the game tomorrow.”
Pool, ranked as the No. 3 inside linebacker and 158th-best overall prospect by ESPN.com, has offers from Arkansas, Alabama, Michigan, Texas A&M, USC, Oklahoma State, Baylor, TCU, SMU and others.
He will visit Michigan unofficially next weekend before being back to see Arkansas’ game against No. 1 Alabama in Fayetteville on Oct. 8.
Lovejoy head coach Todd Ford said Pool - born in Allen, Texas - is handling the recruiting process with ease.
“I think he’s handling it real well,” Ford said. “He’s not really caught up in all that. He’s obviously flattered and excited when one pops up, but you could never tell it just watching him around here. He’s very humble. He knows he has areas to improve and he’s working to do so.”
Lovejoy (1-4) suffered a heartbreaking loss on Friday night as visiting West Mesquite rallied from a 37-6 deficit early in the third quarter with 40 unanswered points to win 46-37.
“We just didn’t execute in the second half,” Pool said. “ We played very well the first half. We just have to get things where we can play four quarters instead of two.”
Pool, who had 12 tackles unofficially and two for lost yardage in the contest, didn’t think that his team let up.
“I don’t think so,” Pool said. “I think they had a change in momentum and then they just kept rolling, did some new things on offense and we just didn’t stop them.”
Ford, a former North Texas offensive coordinator from 2007 through 2009, thought there was a lack intensity after grabbing the big lead.
“Probably one of the biggest things was our intensity level dropped,” Ford said. “That’s the sign of a young football team and we are young. That doesn’t make an excuse for anything because we don’t make excuses around here for anything.
“They came out, had a little success early. They got the momentum. Momentum is a very powerful word and they capitalized on it. We got down a little bit and then we tried to overcome it and had a hard time overcoming it. It’s hard to explain. That was two totally different football games right there.”
Pool tried to step up and take the blame for the loss.
“I missed too many tackles,” Pool said. “When they get 40 points in the second half, that’s on me.”
Ford gave Pool his first start in the second game of his freshman season and he has been a mainstay at middle linebacker since that point.
He had 148 tackles as a sophomore with 18 of those for lost yardage, four sacks, six pass breakups, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.
“He’s a great kid,” Ford said. “He’s better as a person than he is a player and he’s a fantastic player. That ought to tell you how he is as a person. He’s the bell cow of our program. He’s something special and we’re glad we got him for another year.
“Those guys don’t come around very often. Like I said, he does multiple things very, very well. Again, his leadership ability is fantastic. He’s only going to get bigger, faster and stronger. He’s a four-sport athlete. He has a tremendous ceiling.”
Pool - whose given name is Bumper James Morris Pool - has a perfect name for a linebacker.
“Yeah, he does,” Ford said. “We hear that a lot and it’s very, very true. The name fits the player, that’s for sure.”