After touring Arkansas’ new football complex last Friday, defensive end- outside linebacker Gerri Green said he could understand an athlete not wanting to leave the building.
“The locker room is amazing,” Green said. “The indoor facility and the weight room is all right there for the players. The way it’s set up you might not want to leave because everything you need is almost there.”
Green, 6-4, 225, 4.56 seconds in the 40 yard dash, of Greenville, (Ms.) Weston added a scholarship offer from the Hogs during his visit to go along with others like Tennessee, Ole Miss, Miss. St. and Auburn. He learned of his offer from Coach Bret Bielema, who likes to meet prospects to gauge whether or not the recruit is a good fit at Arkansas.
“I feel like I’m a good character guy but he could be recruiting another guy that could be a bad teammate,” Green said. “He might be the most amazing player on the field but if he makes the team chemistry bad the program won’t be able to go as high as it could go I think it goes a long way in building a program. You have to be willing to be that team player.”
A brief meeting with defensive line coach Charlie Partridge was impressive.
“I think the thing he was able to do in the short period of time I was with him was he gave me a lot of insight of what I do and I can do differently to improve my game,” he said.
Green said he had some challenges in trying to get to Arkansas for a a visit but defensive quality control coach Brian Early never gave up.
“He stayed on it,” said Green, who was named to The Clarion-Ledger’s 2013 Dandy Dozen. “I told him I wanted to get up there and he made sure I was able to get up there. He’s good guy. Anything I ever need to know about Arkansas he had the answer.”
Bielema straight forward approach towards recruiting is appreciated by Green.
“What you see is what you get,” Bielema said. “I really felt that because he was straight forward from the time I met him.
When he’s straight forward and you’re offended by him you’re still able to talk to him. He’s just a down-to-earth type guy. He’s great coach and a great person. I think he’s a good fit as the head coach.”
Green could pledge to a school but will take visits.
“If I make my decision before the beginning of the season I’m still going to take my officials,” he said.