It’s no surprise defensive lineman Matt Dickerson of San Mateo (Calif.) Junipero Serra is interested in Arkansas after hearing about his ties to the state.
Dickerson, 6-5, 275 pounds, 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has scholarship offers from 12 schools, including Arkansas, Arizona, UCLA, Washington and California. His father, Clarence, is originally from Gurdon and played football at Henderson State before leaving at about age 19 to head to California.
Dickerson still has family in Arkansas, including uncles Charles Dickerson of Vaden and Mac Dickerson of Sparkman, who were thrilled to hear about his offer from the Razorbacks.
“They really want me to get down there,” Dickerson said. “A lot of them wanted to come see the school with me. They’re really happy and proud of me. It’s just a blessing to have the offer.”
Dickerson, who plans to visit Fayetteville on Aug. 1, said his father grew up rooting for Arkansas.
“He has always been a Razorback fan,” said Dickerson, who said his grade-point average is about 3.2. “The whole state is full of Razorback fans. Even down in Gurdon, which is about four hours away, a little town, you see Arkansas Razorback signs.”
Arkansas running backs coach Joel Thomas visited Dickerson’s school a few weeks ago and will make a return trip next week.
“He’s a really a great guy,” Dickerson said. “He’s a real down-to earth guy.”
Dickerson, who has visited Washington, Colorado, UCLA and Arizona, has some southern habits despite growing up in California.
“I’ll probably stay there for a week and see the college for a day or two ,” Dickerson said. “Then come back down go fishing, hunting and everything like that down in Gurdon. That’s what I love to do.”
Dickerson said he doesn’t have a firm date for announcing his college decision.
VIVID MEMORY
Running back Daniel Gresham of Fort Worth All Saints Episcopal is back on the market after recently reopening his recruitment after changing his commitment from Texas.
Gresham, 5-10, 228 pounds, 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has approximately 13 scholarship offers but is primarily looking at Arkansas, Tennessee, Miami, Florida State, Alabama, Louisville, Ole Miss and Auburn.
Much of Gresham’s interest in the Hogs goes back to his freshman year when he visited Fayetteville for the 2011 Tennessee game.
“There was a play I’ll always remember,” said Gresham, who plans to visit the Hogs this summer. “It was Joe Adams on the punt return. They kicked it to him, and he kind of ran backwards and went around a bunch of people and returned the punt for a touchdown.”
The game allowed Gresham a chance to see the rabid Razorbacks fans.
“Just the intensity and how amazing the fan base is really has me interested in the University of Arkansas, ” said Gresham, who has a 3.3 grade-point average at the college prep school.
He said he plans to narrow his list to five soon.
“There’s a really good chance,” Gresham said of the Hogs’ chances of signing him.
GREAT DANE
Arkansas hosted one of the nation’s most unique prospects Thursday, sophomore tight end/defensive end Hjalte Froholdt, an exchange student from Denmark.
Froholdt showed up at Warren (Ohio) Harding High School last summer at the beginning of two a-days and asked to try out for the team. Coach Steve Arnold wasn’t too optimistic about Froholdt’s chances of contributing.
“There’s no way a kid from Denmark that’s been playing 7-on-7 football is going to come here and start at a Division I high school here in Ohio, where football is big, and we’re one of the biggest high schools in the state of Ohio,”Arnold said of his initial impression.
It didn’t take Froholdt long to change Arnold’s mind.
“After the first day and half of two-a-days, my defensive coaches say, ‘Hey, Coach, he needs to be on the first-team defense,’ ” Arnold said. “I was like, ‘You guys have to be kidding me.’ The offensive coaches say, ‘Listen, he’s going to be starting at tight end.’ ”
Froholdt, 6-5, 275 pounds, has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Louisville and others. He and his father visited Notre Dame on Monday, Michigan State on Tuesday, Ohio State on Wednesday and will wrap up the week at Michigan today.
Arnold said he doesn’t expect Froholdt to level off as a player.
“He has a tremendous, tremendous upside,” he said.
E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports, Pages 20 on 05/17/2013