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Location: WholeHogSports > Story     |     TAGGED:

Recruiting : Arkansans earn national recognition

Published: Friday, December 29, 2006 PRINT E-MAIL

ORLANDO, Fla. — Arkansas will be well-represented in Max Emfinger’s All-American Bowl Game Classic on Jan. 5 in Shreveport. One of the Arkansas Razorbacks’ early oral commitments is scheduled to receive a prestigious award during Emfinger’s game, while another highly recruited lineman from Arkansas has already received a national award. Monticello center Seth Oxner,

1 6-4 / 2, 295, 5. 19 seconds in the 40-yard dash, will receive the Earl Leggett Award, given to the nation’s top offensive lineman. Oxner orally committed to the Razorbacks in the spring and has remained a firm commitment. Leggett is a former great with the Chicago Bears who played for 20 years in the NFL.

“This award was voted on nationally, and it came down to three players,” Emfinger said. “Seth won the award and is very deserving of the honor.”

The other Arkansas player who already has earned national recognition is Rogers offensive tackle Lee Ziemba, 6-7, 295, 5. 17, who was named Wednesday to USA Today’s All-America team. Ziemba, who has narrowed his decision to Arkansas and Auburn, will be a teammate of Oxner on the West squad in Shreveport.

“I was very shocked,” Ziemba said of making the All-America team. “It’s a blessing and honor.”

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Ziemba is rated a four-star recruit by Rivals. com and is among the nation’s top players at his position, according to Rivals and many other recruiting services.

“My parents have kept me grounded,” Ziemba said. “These honors aren’t because of me, but instead they are blessings from God. I haven’t proved anything yet. Everything I have done is in high school, but once I step foot on campus in the fall, none of these honors will mean a thing.

“ I just wanted to get the best out of myself and work hard. I had the body and size, but I wanted to work hard and not rely on my size.”

Four other Arkansas commitments will take part in the All-American Bowl. Jonesboro offensive lineman Grant Cook, 6-6, 310, 5. 19, Paris tight end Grant Freeman, 6-7, 245, 4. 9, Central Arkansas Christian tight end David Williams, 6-3, 240, 4. 68, and Shiloh Christian wide receiver Crosby Tuck, 6-1, 185, 4. 43, are all members of the West squad.

“David and Crosby both have injuries they suffered in their last games,” Emfinger said. “Both those guys aren’t likely to play, and neither is Fayetteville’s Jake Arnold, who has mononucleosis.”

Arnold, 5-11, 190, 4. 42, is a cornerback who had a good season for the Bulldogs.

In addition to Ziemba, Rogers will be represented by quarterback Cody Kirby, 6-0, 200, 4. 6, who has committed to Missouri State.

Kirby helped lead the Mounties to a 13-1 record. He passed for 3, 521 yards and 34 touchdowns while rushing for 746 yards and 18 touchdowns and was named the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s offensive player of the year.

“Cody is a playmaker,” Emfinger said. “At our 7-on-7 last summer, he led his team to the finals, where they were beaten by Arlington Bowie. He also did a great job getting his team to the state championship game this season. Ziemba and Kirby will represent Rogers very well in our game.”

Fayetteville fullback Ben Ball, 6-4, 243, 4. 8, also will be a member of the East squad and will be joined on the East by Fort Smith Southside safety Hunter Phelan, 6-2, 190, 4. 56. Phelan was one of the key members of Southside’s run to the state championship in Arkansas’ largest classification. The Rebels upset Rogers in the championship game.

Another member of the East is Pensacola, Fla., cornerback Chris Lett, 6-2, 195, 4. 4. Lett orally committed to Alabama earlier but reopened his recruiting when the Crimson Tide fired Coach Mike Shula. Arkansas is scheduled to get an official visit from Lett in January.

“Chris is a big kid,” Emfinger said. “He’s not a small corner. He can run a legit 4. 4. I have met him and saw him play. I think he’s one of the three or four best cornerbacks in the nation, but he didn’t get on some of the early lists and has flown under the radar somewhat.”

Kickoff will be at 4 p. m. in the Independence Bowl Stadium.

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Baseball America Poll

Updated May 20

1. UC Irvine 40-12

2. LSU 41-14

3. Arizona St 41-11

4. CS Fullerton 38-14

5. Texas 38-12

6. North Carolina 41-14

7. Ole Miss 40-15

8. Oklahoma 40-16

9. Florida 38-18

10. TCU 35-15

11. Rice 35-15

12. Florida St 40-14

13. Clemson 39-17

14. Georgia Tech 34-15

15. East Carolina 41-15

16. Virginia 39-12

17. Kansas St 39-15

18. Alabama 37-17

19. Cal Poly 35-17

20. Louisville 40-14

21. Minnesota 35-15

22. Elon 37-14

23. Miami Fl 35-18

24. Missouri 32-23

25. South Carolina 37-19

Who is the best defensive lineman in Arkansas' history?


Dave "Hawg" Hanner

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Dan Hampton

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Vote

Arkansas Razorbacks' 2009 Baseball Schedule

Feb. 20

Washington St. (DH)

W 7-5

Feb. 20

Washington St. (DH)

W 4-2

Feb. 22

Washington St.

W 4-3

Feb. 24

Kansas

L 3-9

Feb. 25

Kansas

W 9-8

Feb. 27

Western Illinois

W 8-7

Feb. 28

Western Illinois

     6:00 pm

Mar. 1

Western Illinois

     6:00 pm

Mar. 3

Valparaiso

W 7-3

Mar. 4

Valparaiso

W 9-6

Mar. 6

California

W 5-4

Mar. 7

California

L 6-12

Mar. 8

California

W 13-3

Mar. 10

@ Centenary

L 3-8

Mar. 11

@ Centenary

     6:00 pm

Mar. 13

Florida

W 11-4

Mar. 14

Florida

W 8-4

Mar. 15

Florida

W 4-2

Mar. 17

Nebraska

W 7-3

Mar. 18

Nebraska

L 4-7

Mar. 20

@ Auburn

W 3-2

Mar. 21

@ Auburn

W 10-6

Mar. 22

@ Auburn

W 12-6

Mar. 25

Missouri St.

W 10-0

Mar. 27

Mississippi St.

W 20-9

Mar. 28

Mississippi St.

W 5-1

Mar. 29

Mississippi St.

L 4-12

Mar. 31

@ Missouri St.

W 2-0

Apr. 3

@ South Carolina

W 6-4

Apr. 4

@ South Carolina

L 1-9

Apr. 5

@ South Carolina

W 7-4

Apr. 7

Arizona St.

W 7-3

Apr. 8

Arizona St.

W 8-7

Apr. 10

Vanderbilt

L 0-9

Apr. 11

Vanderbilt

L 6-13

Apr. 12

Vanderbilt

     1:05 pm

Apr. 14

La.-Monroe

L 2-3

Apr. 15

La.-Monroe

W 10-9

Apr. 17

@ Georgia

L 3-4

Apr. 18

@ Georgia

L 3-4

Apr. 19

@ Georgia

W 2-0

Apr. 21

@ Oral Roberts

W 9-6

Apr. 24

@ Tennessee

W 9-3

Apr. 25

@ Tennessee

L 4-5

Apr. 26

@ Tennessee

W 15-8

Apr. 28

Oklahoma

W 8-7

May. 1

LSU

W 11-4

May. 2

LSU

L 0-5

May. 3

LSU

L 3-4

May. 8

@ Alabama

L 1-2

May. 9

@ Alabama

L 6-8

May. 10

@ Alabama

L 5-6

May. 12

Oral Roberts

W 3-2

May. 14

Ole Miss

L 5-7

May. 15

Ole Miss

L 3-9

May. 16

Ole Miss

L 3-16