The Recruiting Guy

Razorbacks hoping to open more doors with Texas trip

Arkansas defensive backs coach Clay Jennings directs his players during practice Thursday, March 20, 2014, at the UA practice field in Fayetteville.

The announcement of Arkansas playing Texas in the Texas Bowl at NRG Stadium, formerly known as Reliant Stadium, in Houston on Dec. 29, was greeted with enthusiasm from Razorbacks Coach Bret Bielema, Hogs fans and E.K. Franks, the UA director of recruiting

"I know in the recruiting department, everybody was excited because of us trying to make an impact in Texas," Franks said.

The Razorbacks are in the mix for several prospects in and around the Houston area, including cornerback Nathaniel Dalton, 6-3, 195 pounds, 4.50 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Houston Cypress Falls. The Hogs recently offered a scholarship and he's expected to officially visit Fayetteville.

Arkansas defensive backs coach Clay Jennings visited with highly regarded cornerback Holton Hill, 6-2, 185, of Houston Lamar, last week and hopes to get a visit from him. Hill said he plans to attend the bowl game.

Arkansas running backs coach Joel Thomas recruits the area in addition to Jennings.

"Now their kids come and see how we conduct practice," Franks said. "Especially the ones that might not have come up on an unofficial or official visit yet. It also helps you with the 2016 kids coming over and watching us practice."

The Hogs have offered scholarships to several juniors in the Houston area: Running back Devwah Whaley of Beaumont Central and two defensive players from Manvel -- linebacker Jordan Carmouche and defensive back Deontay Anderson.

But they are just some of the prospects Arkansas hopes to see at its bowl practices.

Carmouche and other prospects have taken to Twitter and voiced their approval of the bowl game.

"That's a good thing when you have recruits tweeting about your game and tweeting about your matchup," Franks said.

The game will also likely expose the Hogs to recruits who previously weren't looking at the Razorbacks.

"We'll get kids to come over that might have had a question about Arkansas, and they'll go see Texas practice so they'll come over and watch us practice as well," Franks said.

Prospects can watch practice, but NCAA rules prohibit interaction between the recruits and coaches.

Bielema and his assistants hit the road recruiting Sunday. Bielema made an in-home visit with Dumas tight end Will Gragg, an Arkansas commitment, on Sunday. He'll also visit Texas, Louisiana and Florida and return to the state for more recruiting later in the week.

Offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, defensive coordinator Robb Smith and the graduate assistants coaches will run practices when the Hogs do practice.

"It gets your young kids more practice time," Franks said. "That's the great thing about going to a bowl game is getting the extra practices, kind of like miniature spring ball, and letting the kids experience something they might not been able to. Again, that helps in recruiting, us going to a bowl game shows the recruits we're heading in the right direction."

The Longhorns will be the third opponent from Texas the Hogs will have played this season.

"Like Coach B said the other day, it's great opportunity to play Texas Tech, Texas A&M and now Texas and you've played all of them in the state of Texas," Franks said. "So when you're recruiting Texas, you get to talk about how many times a kid gets to go back and play in the state."

Still looking

Arkansas defensive backs coach Clay Jennings has been recruiting Oklahoma cornerback commitment P.J. Mbanasor hard in hopes of receiving an official visit.

Last week, Jennings did an in-home visit with Mbanasor and his parents and spoke about playing time and education.

"He talked about the opportunity to compete early," Mbanasor said. "He said the chance to compete early is high. He showed my dad some handouts about the business school."

Mbanasor, 6-2, 185, 4.47, of Pflugerville (Texas) Hendrickson, committed to TCU while Jennings was on the Horn Frogs' staff. Jennings moved on to Fayetteville and Mbanasor reopened his recruiting in March before pledging to the Sooners in June.

ESPN rates him the No. 7 cornerback and the nation's No. 84 overall prospect. Mbanasor is thinking of taking an official visit to check out the Hogs.

"Possibly, because I've heard Fayetteville is a nice place," Mbanasor said.

Visit planned

Miami Killian defensive back Sheldrick Redwine and his parents received an in-home from Arkansas linebackers coach Randy Shannon early last week.

"He mostly focused on academics and what Arkansas brings," said Redwine, who plans to major in journalism. "They take academics seriously and expect good performances from the players."

Redwine, 6-1 1/2, 185, 4.49, has 28 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Texas, West Virginia, Kentucky, Louisville and South Florida. He said he plans to officially visit the Razorbacks in January.

His parents enjoyed Shannon and have plans to accompany their son for his trip to Fayetteville.

"They liked what he said a lot and him being straightforward," Redwine said.

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 12/09/2014