THE RECRUITING GUY

California running back’s interest in UA rising

Terrell Newby is one of Arkansas' running back prospects.

— Arkansas appears to be in the hunt for highly sought running back Terrell Newby of West Hills (Calif.) Chaminade, and an official visit to Fayetteville looks promising.

Newby, 5-10, 185 pounds, 4.39 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has taken a liking to the Razorbacks after former Washington running backs coach Joel Thomas was hired to coach the same position at Arkansas. A four-star recruit according to national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network, Newby likes the fact Arkansas plays in the SEC.

“It’s the best conference in college football,” Newby said. “There’s no other like it. You can get beat by any team in the SEC, which is so fun about it. It’s so competitive. The SEC championship is basically like a second national championship.

“It’s real entertaining, and it’s definitely the best of the best.”

Newby rushed 301 times for 2,305 yards and 45 touchdowns this past season and had 2,117 yards and 34 touchdowns on 303 carries as a junior.

Newby has officially visited Nebraska, plans to visit UCLA on Jan. 11 and said he believes he will have an official visit set up at Arkansas within a week. He plans to major in business and utilize connections he makes in college to open his own business one day.

“With the connections with the university, I might be able to go off in that area and be successful,” Newby said.

Newby, who was born in Nashville, Tenn., said location won’t be an issue when it comes to his college decision.

“My dad is from Chicago and my mom is also from Nashville,” Newby said. “I have a lot of relatives in the South and Midwest. We have a lot of family connections out there, so it’s kind of like going closer to home then it is here. I’ve been in LA since I was young, but I’m connected with family in the Midwest and South.”

Newby’s mother, Lorraine, said she and her husband are there to aid in their son’s decision.

“We’ve done a lot of research on the schools,” Lorraine said, “basically looking up the history of the school and the graduation rate, which is very important to us.”

She recalls Newby asking his father, who coached him starting at age 6, to let him try his hand at running back in his first year of playing youth football.

“He ran the ball and he got smashed and he fell on the ball,” Lorraine said laughing. “He came over hurting and he said, ‘That’s OK, that’s OK. I’ll get back in there and do it again.’ Right there, his father knew something was there.”

Lorraine Newby said a coaching staff that shares the same values that she and her husband have instilled in Newby is important.

“We want some of those same principles, the same moral beliefs, building character and development of an individual,” Lorraine said. “We want to see all of that in the coaching staff.”

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports, Pages 24 on 01/05/2013