The Recruiting Guy

'Lot of love' put Hogs in running for LB Charlton

Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves talks to players during warmups on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015, in Fayetteville.
Arkansas linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves talks to players during warmups on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015, in Fayetteville.

Hard work by Arkansas Razorbacks inside linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves has the Hogs in the running for highly recruited linebacker Randy Charlton.

"They have a high interest in me and they show a lot of love," Charlton said. "They'll probably be inside my top 10. They write a whole lot of letters and they send pictures of me in their gear."

Charlton, 6-4, 229 of Miami Southridge High School has a scholarship offer from the Hogs and 23 other schools like Oregon, Maryland, Syracuse, Tennessee and Michigan State. He's studied up on the Hogs' depth chart and sees athletes his size.

"I looked at their depth chart and I saw their defensive ends and outside linebackers are around my height at 6-3 and 6-4," Charlton said.

He and his teammate, highly regarded defensive end James Head, are impressive athletes for the Spartans. Hargreaves has promoted the positive environment in Fayetteville.

"He let me know if I come there it will be a family atmosphere," Charlton said. "He said Head and I have a good chance at playing time and we could start something new."

Charlton, who was named to the Miami Herald All Dade County second team as a junior, recorded 109 tackles, 15 sacks, 57 yards for loss, 3 pass breakups and an interception. He played at 229 pounds during the season, but got down to 205.

"I had to get my appendix out," Charlton said. "I've gone through recovery and all and I'm just getting my weight back."

He and his coach are trying to plan for some college trips and the Hogs have a chance of getting a visit. He said he's definitely open to leaving Florida.

Charlton, who has only visited Syracuse thus far, said "some guys want to stay in state and be close to family because they're not ready to move so far away. But I have the mentality that I can go far away because I'm still going to do what I have to do. It really doesn't matter, I just have to put myself at the right place."

Charlton wants to be a entrepreneur and focus on his love for cars.

"I've always been interested in classic cars like Mustangs and Chevys," he said. "I love classic muscle cars. I've always wanted a business dealing classic muscle cars."

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The Hogs have three commitments from Texas and a fourth is a possibility after the Razorbacks recently extended a scholarship offer to athlete Maureese Wren after he took part in the Texas A&M-Commerce satellite camp on June 17.

Wren, 6-4, 216 pounds of Mesquite, (Texas) Horn also has scholarship offers from Missouri, Baylor, Colorado, Washington, Utah and others. He's good friends with Razorback defensive back Tanner McCalister of Rockwall-Heath High School in Texas.

"He told me it's a great place to be," said Wren, who's being recruited to play outside linebacker or safety. "He said we can be future roommates. I told him I'll keep that in mind.

Wren thinks highly of his lead recruiter and running backs coach Reggie Mitchell, as well as head Coach Bret Bielema.

"Coach Mitch, that's my boy," Wren said. "He and coach B are my two boys. They're really cool coaches and they make you feel comfortable when you're talking to them."

He plans to visit Fayetteville after the NCAA dead period of June 26- July 9 and a commitment to the Hogs could happen.

"That's a possibility," Wren said.

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Arkansas Razorbacks women's basketball Coach Mike Neighbors landed his first commitment for the 2019 class on Wednesday when wing Ginger Reese pledged to the Hogs.

Reese, 5-11 of Lawton (Okla.) Eisenhower recently attended Neighbors' elite camp and was wowed by the program. ESPN rates her the No. 5 wing in the nation while prospectsnation.com rates her a 4-star prospect and the No. 59 overall prospect in the nation.

Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 06/23/2017

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