THE RECRUITING GUY

Florida receiver likes what he hears about Hogs

Arkansas assistant coach Charlie Partridge recruited Florida well while at Wisconsin, who has 11 Floridians on the roster, and will bring those ties to the Razorbacks football program.

One of the top prospects in Florida is looking to visit Arkansas, along with two of his highly touted teammates.

Receiver Corey Holmes of Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas is being recruited by Razorbacks defensive line coach Charlie Partridge,who recruited Holmes at Wisconsin before following Coach Bret Bielema to Arkansas.

“We’ve maintained a good relationship,” Holmes said. “I talk to him every once in a while. He’s a great guy. My interest level in Arkansas is up there.”

Holmes, 6-2, 176 pounds, 4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has 26 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, South Carolina, Michigan and Miami. He said Partridge has told him Fayetteville is a great town.

“I’ve done my research, and I can definitely can say I agree with him,” said Holmes,who has a 39-inch vertical leap. “It is a really good town and a really good college town. There’s a lot to like about Arkansas.”

Holmes said he hopes to narrow his list to five schools before the start of his season and use all five of his official visits. He said defensive lineman Anthony Moten and running back Madre London, who played his freshman year at Bryant High School, plan to join him for a visit to Arkansas. He said London speaks well of the Hogs.

“He said the fan support is ridiculous,” Holmes said. “He tells me that all the time. He said it’s a good program to be a part of. He mentioned if you’re on the football team that you’re known around town, and that’s always cool. “

COLLEN LANDS FORWARD

Arkansas women’s basketball Coach Tom Collen received an oral commitment from Shreveport Huntington forward Kadijah West about two weeks ago.

West, 6-2, chose the Hogs over scholarship offers from Alabama, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Louisiana Tech and others.

“I liked the school and the coaches,” said West, who made her official visit to Fayetteville on March 1-3. “The campus and everyone was nice. I just felt like I was at home. I wanted to go someplace where I felt at home. “

West, who is rated the No. 20 post player in the nation by ESPN, averaged 18.7 points, 11 rebounds and 2 block shots per game this season. She said Collen andhis staff were upfront with her.

“They were telling me everything straight and weren’t telling any lies,” West said. “They were real nice.”

GETTING EARLY LEG UP

Arkansas is looking for areplacement for place-kicker Zach Hocker, whose eligibility will expire after the 2013 season, and Austin McGehee of Pine Bluff is on the Razorbacks’ radar.

McGehee, 6-1, 200, firstbegan to think about being a kicker in the seventh grade when he stayed home from school one day because he was sick.

“I saw this little holder thing in this magazine,” said McGehee, who is also receiving interest from other schools, including Iowa State, Miami, Texas A&M and Duke. “I had I went outside and found two paint sticks and nailed them together and put a Nerf football underneath it and started kicking it in the back yard. Then I went to Wal-Mart and bought a few balls and started liking it from there.”

McGehee, rated the No. 19 kicker in the nation by Chris Sailer Kicking, made 9 of 13field goals, had 58 touchbacks on his kickoffs and a net average of 40.1 yards on his punts. He had 18 punts downed inside the 20-yard line.

He was among several prospects who visited Arkansas on March 9.

“It was a pretty awesome visit,” McGehee said. “I really didn’t find anything I didn’t like. It was very positive. They were a very nice coaching staff, really good guys. I couldn’t have asked for more on the visit part. As far as on my list of schools, it’s probably my top school.”

McGehee tested his range March 3 at a Chris Sailer kicking event in Fort Worth.

“We tried a few 60-plus [field goals], but I ended up making one out of five because I was trying to kill it,” said McGehee, who estimated he could make field goals from approximately 60 yards with a wind, approximately 55 yards without the wind.

McGehee said it appears Arkansas is likely to offer a scholarship to a kicker in the 2014 class, and an offer from the Hogs would be met with enthusiasm.

“It would mean everything,” he said. “I would likely commit on the spot. It would definitely prove to me that all the hard work had finally paid off.” ARMY MEN

Defensive linemen Bijhon Jackson of El Dorado and Josh Frazier of Springdale Har-Ber have been invited to play in the 2014 U.S Army All American game at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio.

Jackson, 6-2, 325, 5.1, became Coach Bret Bielema’s first Arkansas commitment in December. He is rated the No. 95 prospect in the nation by recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network.

Frazier, 6-4, 324, 5.1, is rated the No. 85 prospect in the nation by Lemming. He has scholarship offers from nine schools, including Arkansas, Alabama, Florida State, Southern California, Notre Dame and Georgia.

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports, Pages 28 on 03/31/2013