Arkansas linebackers coach Reggie Johnson, who was a fouryear letterman at linebacker for the Louisville Cardinals from 1987-1990, hopes he can use his connections to the area to help lure one of the top prospects in Kentucky. Louisville Central outside linebacker Ridge Wilson, 6-4, 215 pounds, 4. 6 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Louisville, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Indiana and Purdue. He said Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Clemson, Oklahoma, Auburn and some Ivy League schools are showing interest. Johnson and Central Coach Ty Scroggins were teammates at Louisville during the 1990 football season when the Cardinals went 10-1-1 and beat Alabama 34-7 in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl. Johnson was a senior while Scroggins was a freshman.

“Coach Johnson and I are real cool,” said Wilson, who recorded over 80 tackles for Central, which won the Class 3 A state championship last year. “We have a nice bond because he played football at Louisville with my coach, Ty Scroggins. They played linebacker together at Louisville. I’ve talked to him a few times on the phone and I email him a lot and stay in contact a lot. He’s a good man.”

Wilson said he plans to make official visits during the season to Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma and possibly Kansas before making a decision. He said he doesn’t need to take a visit to Kentucky since he’s already familiar with the Wildcats.

“I want to commit as soon as possible, so I don’t have a lot of stress about recruiting during the season.” Wilson said.

Saying the SEC is the “baby” NFL, Wilson said he plans to stay and play in the what he considers the best conference in the country.

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Wilson said he’s done some research on Arkansas and likes the fact he’s familiar with Coach Bobby Petrino from his days at Louisville and sees the need for help at linebacker.

“Pretty much what’s going to help me choose a school is if I can get along with the coach not so much on the field but more so off the field,” said Wilson, who can bench press 305 pounds. “They don’t have too many linebackers, so I could come in and get some playing time and hopefully in the future go to the NFL.”

Johnson told Wilson he could be used multiple ways at Arkansas.

“He said if I come down there, I’ll be playing like a DPR, a designated pass rusher,” the personable and humble Wilson said. “Some downs, I would be a linebacker or defensive end, and some downs, I would be in coverage.” Wilson, who has a 3. 6 gradepoint average, wants to major in business in college. “I want to be an entrepreneur later on in life,” he said. “I want to own my own business. I wouldn’t mind getting into real estate.”

ANNOUNCING SOON Offensive lineman Joey Fontana, 6-4, 280, 5. 01, of New Orleans Brother Martin High School is close to a decision and plans to announce his college choice Friday. He has nine scholarship offers, including offers from Arkansas, Kentucky, Nebraska and Stanford. Fontana made more than 10 unofficial visits over the past several months, including one to check out the Razorbacks ’ Red-White game in April. He wrapped up his last visit on Monday when he toured Tulane.

Most recruits usually end up naming a top three or top five, but Fontana has two top-three lists based on distance and closeness to home.

“Stanford, Nebraska and Arkansas are probably my top three as far as going away for school,” Fontana said. “Locally, my top three are Tulane, SMU — I consider them local because of the quick hour flight — and Southern Miss. This week, my family and I are going to sit down and decide how far I’m going to go. If I decide I want to go and try something different and go far, it will be those three schools. If I decide to I want to stay close to home, it will be the locals schools.”

Fontana’s journey in the recruiting process started in early March when Arkansas and Kentucky both offered scholarships. He said he was caught off-guard by all of the attention but enjoyed getting to meet the head coaches of the schools he visited.

“I guess it was pretty cool being that guy people were talking about,” Fontana said. “I was named to the local newspaper’s top 25 blue chippers in the state. I received the recognition that I always dreamed about, and it actually happened.”

The most difficult part of recruiting for Fontana will be on Friday when he has to call several coaches, many of whom he’s gotten to know over the past six months, and tell them he’s going elsewhere.

“In recruiting, there’s no second place,” Fontana said. “There are so many good things about all nine schools that have offered me. Having to choose one school or another is the most difficult thing, and then having to call the coaches and tell them I made my decision.”

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline. com