Recruiting Guy

Edmonds can lend help to nephew

Arkansas offensive line coach Dustin Fry talks to players during practice Thursday, March 1, 2017, in Fayetteville.
Arkansas offensive line coach Dustin Fry talks to players during practice Thursday, March 1, 2017, in Fayetteville.

Highly recruited offensive lineman Jack Buford is interested in the Arkansas Razorbacks because of his relationship with offensive line coach Dustin Fry and a family member who happens to be former Hog great Bobby Joe Edmonds.

"My interest in Arkansas is up there. Coach Fry has done a good job of recruiting me so I like Arkansas because my uncle played there," Buford said. "He's been talking to me about how it's a good area."

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Buford, 6-5, 325 pounds, of St. Louis Lutheran North has approximately 26 scholarship offers from schools like the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Missouri, Florida, Michigan, Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

Edmonds played running back for the Hogs from 1983-1985 before being drafted in the fifth round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks, where he was named to the Pro Bowl as a punt returner as a rookie.

"He just said the town is great and they support their players," Buford said. "They support not just on the football field but off the field. That doesn't happen at a lot of schools. I thought that was kind of neat and cool."

Fry attended one of Buford's basketball games during the contact period in December and January.

"He couldn't talk to me, but he came and watched me play," said Buford, who averaged 7 points a game and shot 48 percent from the field this season. "He just does a good job of being consistent in talking to me everyday."

He's planning to visit Fayetteville this spring.

"I'm trying to get a visit in," Buford said. "I have to see what's best for my parents."

Buford tries to maintain a level of respect to college coaches trying to recruit him despite having so many schools pursuing him.

"It's hard, but they have a job so I have to make that my job, too, and being respectful to the coaches that are reaching out to me," Buford said.

His father Tony Buford played linebacker at Tulsa and led the Golden Hurricanes in tackles in 1986 before playing one season with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1987 and then giving up the game due to injury.

Buford doesn't plan to make a quick college decision on his father's advice.

"My dad told me how the whole recruiting process went with him, so he said I have to take my time to see where I want to go," Buford said.

He also won't likely narrow his list of schools either.

"My coach told me there's no point in doing that because they say a lot of that stuff is for the media," Buford said. "I'll probably go ahead and commit this season or sometime. To me I don't think I should just drop a list. I just know who I have good relationships with and they know where that stand as a school."

Buford wants to use his football ability to help make his parents' lives easier.

"I'm blessed to be in this position I'm trying to get to the point where they don't ever have to work again," Buford said. "That's my plan to make sure my mom doesn't have to work anymore as soon as I get a chance to go to the next level or get a good steady job."

Hogs host two

Arkansas Razorbacks Coach Chad Morris and his staff hosted two highly regarded receivers Thursday committed to SEC schools.

Missouri commitment Shamar Nash, 6-2, 190 pounds, of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., is in the 2019 class, while LSU commitment Kris Abrams-Draine, 6-0, 167, of Spanish Fort, Ala., is a 2020 prospect.

E-mail Richard Davenport at

rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 03/30/2018

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