THE RECRUITING GUY

UA signee helps relay team to Florida state crown

South Plantation running back Alex Collins looks for a hole in the Coral Springs defense in this October 21, 2011, file photo. (Michael Laughlin/Sun Sentinel/MCT)

Running back Alex Collins, an Arkansas signee, wrapped up his high school athletic career by running the third leg of the state title-winning 400-meter relay team Saturday. He and three other football players from Plantation (Fla.) South High School brought home the title with a time of 41.98 seconds.

“We played together during the football season, and we grew that relationship with each other,” Collins said. “All we had to do is get our handoffs and everything down pat.”

Collins and his teammates won 400 relay titles at the county, district and regional meets in order to qualify for the state meet. In doing so, the team broke the school record of 41.59 twice with a 41.54 at the county meet and a 41.28 at the regional finals.

He said the team’s success made them a target of others.

“Just the fact that each time that they came at us the most and we were able to break our school record twice is also exciting.” said Collins, who ran a 9.5-second split at the regional meet.

Collins, 5-11, 210 pounds, 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, was rated a four-star recruit by national recruiting analysts Tom Lemming of CBS College Sports and was teammates with Arkansas quarterback signee Austin Allen at the Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl in Carson, Calif., on Jan. 4.

He became a favorite among Hogs fans on Twitter once he started to show interest in Arkansas. Collins said he used the encouragement from the fans as motivation.

“I was like how exciting would it be to win the [relay state title] and tweet it out and seeing everyone going crazy with congratulations,” Collins said. “It was a little bit of encouragement like I want to do it for these [fans].”

Collins said he is focused on beginning his college career and hopes to report to Fayetteville on May 26.

“That’s the most exciting part, which is why my days go by a lot slower now,” he said. “Because I’m anxiousa nd I’m ready. I’m ready to get up there.”

As a junior, his first year to play high school football, Collins was named the Broward County Player of the Year after rushing 228 times for 1,786 yards and 28 touchdowns in Class 8A, the highest classification in Florida.

Collins visited in March and was able to watch a spring practice. He said he’s looking forward to being a participant and receiving coaching.

“Just going and watching just drives me crazy knowing I can’t be a part of it,” Collins said. “I’m more of a, like, hands on. I want to be able to learn and be able to get in there. It was hard watching.” ELITE QB

Rafe Peavey, an Arkansas quarterback commitment, was invited to the Elite 11 finals on June 28-July 3 in Beaverton, Ore., after a good performance at the Elite 11 regional competition in Chicago on Friday.

Peavey, 6-2, 207, 4.5, of Bolivar, Mo., was the first commitment for the Hogs’ 2014 class when he pledged to Arkansas last July. Elite 11 coach and ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer said he liked what he saw of Peavey.

“The feedback was super positive from Coach Dilfer,” Peavey said. “He was complimentary of me all day. I thought I threw well.”

Peavey was one of six selected from the 64 quarterbacks participating in the pressure-cooker competition, during which quarterbacks threw seven different routes under game-like conditions in less than two minutes.

Other than one pass, Peavey said he felt good about his showing.

“I think I did well on the rest of it,” he said. “I’m not sure what happened on that comeback. I think I might have led him a little bit too much.” STILL THINKING

Prior to his visit to Arkansas on Monday, Massachusetts running back Johnathan Thomas said it was possible he could commit to the Hogs during his visit.

That didn’t happen, but he said it entered his mind.

“A little bit, but I have to go back and discuss things with my parents and my coach before I pull the trigger,” Thomas said.

Thomas, 5-11, 205, 4.47, of Danvers St. John’s Prep reports scholarship offers from Arkansas, Boston College, Maryland, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Yale and Massachusetts. He said Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema’s emphasis on academics impressed him.

“Coach B wants to make sure his players excel in the classroom,” Thomas said.

Should he become a Razorback, he’ll play for his lead recruiter, running backs coach Joel Thomas.

“He knows the position and he’s a down-to-earth guy,” said Thomas, who added he expects to make a decision early in the summer. “He’s going to be like a brother. He’s family. That’s what sticks out to me.”

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports, Pages 22 on 05/07/2013