The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville is in the hunt for the services of offensive lineman Jalynn Strickland, who plans to visit Fayetteville on June 2 with his mother and stepfather.
Strickland, 6-6, 305 pounds, of Waycross (Ga.) Ware County, has more than 20 scholarship offers and said his other top schools, in order, are North Carolina State, Maryland and Minnesota.
He's talking with Coach Bret Bielema, offensive line coach Kurt Anderson and defensive line coach John Scott Jr., who recruits in Georgia.
"They're giving me so much information," Strickland said. "I know it's true about how the offensive line is a top priority in the SEC and how they're the number one offensive line in the country. I'm just ready to get on campus for the visit and just check it out and check out the education program."
Three of Bielema's former Wisconsin offensive linemen are the highest paid at their positions in the NFL.
Kevin Zeitler of Cleveland Brown and Rick Wagner of Detroit Lions are the highest paid guard and right tackle while Dallas Cowboys center Travis Frederick is the highest paid center in the NFL.
"I know Coach Bielema gave me some information not too long ago about how many offensive linemen he's coached that are the highest paid in the NFL," Strickland said. "Almost at every position they're the highest paid."
Strickland has been impressed with Anderson, who was with the Buffalo Bills before joining Bielema's staff.
"I know he would be a great coach to be coached under," Strickland said. "He coached in the NFL and played at that level and he was telling me about the offensive line and the offense they run is the same as the NFL."
Strickland, who has a 325-pound bench press, 405 squat and 275 power clean, has been selected as a team captain for the next season.
"To me, leadership goes beyond sports and athletics, it goes into the classroom, it goes into the community," Strickland said. "To me, a leader is a guy that knows how to take charge and be an example for people and who doesn't have a problem with hard work and showing guys how to get stuff done."
The well-mannered Strickland said his mother, Angeleek Bostick, made sure he showed respect to others.
"Ever since I began to talk, my mom always taught me 'yes sir, no sir' and 'thank you and no thank you,' " Strickland said.
Strickland will make his college decision July 4.
Keeping track
During spring practice, the Arkansas Razorbacks football program hosted numerous prospects for unofficial visits.
Razorback director of recruiting E.K. Franks and his staff gather most of their information from the assistant coaches before a prospect arrives on campus.
"We have a form for unofficial visits the coaches fill out and gives us all the details --time of arrival, departure time, who they need meetings with, academic interests, need to see a dorm, need a tour and so forth," Franks said. "That gives us a detailed sheet of everything they need."
The Hogs usually hosted 12 to 15 prospects during the three scrimmages. The second scrimmage was the exception when a big group from Texas pushed the number above 30.
The prospects started arriving at 8 a.m. to tour the facilities and meet with the coaches before watching the scrimmage. Several prospects met with Coach Bret Bielema after the practice.
Franks and his staff had a list of prospects expected to visit and sometimes would know a month in advance.
"Sometimes you don't know two days before the kid gets here so we keep a running list the whole time of potential visits and we keep a list of everybody that's been on our campus," Franks said.
The Hogs use a well-known software company for a data base that's been customized to keep track of the list of prospects.
"Their IT guys can go in and design it the way we want it," Franks said.
The names of prospects come from multiple sources, including Franks, the coaches and scouting services around the country. Franks receives an endless number of emails from various people with information on possible recruits.
"I probably get 150 to 200 emails a day," Franks said.
Email Richard Davenport at
rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 05/28/2017