THE RECRUITING GUY

Mizzou win impresses King

Arkansas junior guard Mardracus Wade (1) celebrates with the student section Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013, after the Hogs' win over Missouri in Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

— Arkansas not only beat Missouri 73-71 Saturday at sold-out Bud Walton Arena, but the Razorbacks scored points with several recruits in attendance.

Sophomore shooting guard King McClure, 6-3, 200 pounds, of Triple A Academy in Dallas, and his parents were in attendance and left impressed.

“It was unbelievable,” McClure’s father LeRoy said. “It was loud, it was loud. We almost had to stand up the entire game to see it. It was extremely loud. It was very exciting. King loved it. He had never seen anything like that before.”

McClure is rated as the nation’s No. 4 overall prospect and the No. 2 shooting guard in the 2015 class by future150.com. He has numerous family members in Conway, where his father was a member of the Wampus Cats’ basketball team that went 36-0 in 1976.

“It was a very positive trip,” said Leroy McClure, who estimates his son having approximately 50 scholarship offers, including one from Arkansas. “We’ve taken maybe three unofficial trips, one to Texas and one to Baylor and I can tell you he was more excited about this than Texas or Baylor.”

King was named Newcomer of the Year by the Dallas Morning News after averaging 22.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 2.5 assists as a freshman. Arkansas’ up-tempo style is similar to what King is accustomed to in high school.

“So it doesn’t seem like it would be a major adjustment for King,” Leroy McClure said.

The family was able to spend time with Anderson after the game and were told the Hogs definitely wanted King as a Razorback.

UP AND COMERS

Two highly rated underclassmen were in attendance Saturday: freshman shooting guard Adrian Moore, 6-4, 170 pounds, of Conway and sophomore shooting guard KeVaughn Allen, 6-3, 170 pounds, of North Little Rock.

Future150.com rates Moore the No. 16 prospect and the No. 4 shooting guard in the 2016 class while Allen is rated the nation’s No. 25 overall prospect and No. 7 shooting guard.

“The atmosphere was really, really great,” said Dennis Moore, Adrian’s father. “The guys played hard and played well. They fought through some adversity there at the end, but it was a real good experience.”

Moore has scholarship offers from Arkansas and Baylor while drawing interest from Connecticut, Kansas, Georgetown, North Carolina State, Memphis and Florida. Allen has numerous offers, including ones from Arkansas and Connecticut.

Dennis Moore said the Hogs couldn’t have asked for a better environment in which to impress recruits.

“It was great trip,” Moore said. “You couldn’t ask for anymore if you were trying to impress a recruit. That’s a good one to do it with.”

TALKING FOOTBALL

Georgia linebacker Kevin Mouhon is looking to visit Arkansas in the spring.

Mouhon, 6-2, 225, 4.6 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Norcross, Ga., has 13 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Nebraska, Auburn and Ohio State.

“I know the facilities are nice and the coaches seem great,” Mouhon said of Arkansas. “I should be taking a visit over there, but I don’t know when, so I’m looking forward to that.”

Mouhon, who has a 3.1 grade-point average and is considering sports medicine as a major, said he spoke with cornerbacks coach Taver Johnson recently and several other Razorbacks coaches during a recent phone call.

“The coaches really support me and really want me there,” Mouhon said. “They want what’s best for me sports wise and academic wise too. They keep telling me how Arkansas is a great place.”

SUITORS CALLING

Greenwood junior quarterback Jabe Burgess led the Bulldogs to the Class 6A state title in his only year as the Bulldogs’ starter and in the process has received scholarship offers from Illinois and more recently Tulsa.

Burgess, 6-2, 180 pounds, completed 219 of 296 passes for 3,128 yards, 36 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Burgess said his development has been aided by Coach Rick Jones and his cousin, Tyler Wilson, a former quarterback at Greenwood and Arkansas.

Arkansas, Oregon, Houston, Arkansas State, Auburn are also showing interest. Burgess said he’s talked to Hogs tight end coach Barry Lunney Jr. about the Razorbacks and that offensive coordinator Jim Chaney has watched film with Jones in attendance.

“Coach told me he got positive feedback,” Burgess said. “We’ll see where it goes from here. We’re going to try and get to know them a little better and let them get to know me.”

Burgess said he and Wilson talk on a regular basis.

“He tells me all the time, ‘I don’t think I’m smarter than you, I don’t think I’m better than you but I’m just an older version of you,’ ” Burgess said. “Anything I ever need I call him because he’s already been there in a similar situation.”

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@araknsasonline.com

Sports, Pages 21 on 02/19/2013