Safety from Texas commits to Arkansas

Richard Davenport

Posted on Wednesday, February 6, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/215965/

Arkansas dipped into Texas to secure its 22 nd oral commitment for the 2008 class. Safety Chris Raggett of Beaumont Ozen High School committed to Arkansas assistant coach Kirk Botkin on Monday night after baseball practice. “They called me last night after my scrimmage and offered me a scholarship, and I took it,” Raggett said. Raggett, 5-11, 190, 4. 5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, made an official visit to Fayetteville over the weekend and marveled at the weight room and the stadium. “It was a nice campus,” Raggett said. “We went into the weight room, and that weight room is something else. It’s 100 yards long. Compared to my weight room, that’s big. Then we went down to the field and got to see it [the stadium ] from ground level. It was nice.”

Raggett recorded 94 tackles, 4 interceptions and 30 pass breakups from his safety position this past season and returned two of the interceptions for touchdowns. Raggett had committed to McNeese State but opted for the Hogs after receiving his offer. He also received a late scholarship offer from Baylor, where he visited Jan 25.

He said watching film with secondary coach Lorenzo Ward was the highlight of his trip to Fayetteville.

“Me and Lorenzo Ward had a one-onone meeting in the defensive room,” Raggett said. “He was showing me footage of Michael Huff because he was coaching at the Oakland Raiders last year. He was showing me some drills he did with Michael Huff, and he said, ‘You’re going to be doing the same that Huff was doing.’ He said get ready for that.”

Raggett said he also enjoyed Botkin’s light-hearted personality.

“He’s a cool dude,” Raggett said. “He’s a comedian. He likes to joke around and stuff. He said he wants to lose 20 pounds. He said every time his wife is around he can’t eat like he wants to, so when we had steaks, his wife wasn’t around so he was like, ‘I’ll have a steak and everything on the menu.’ That was kind of funny.”