THE RECRUITING GUY

Fayetteville tight end O’Grady grabbing attention

Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson yells at his defense during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against South Carolina, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Fayetteville, Ark. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Fayetteville junior C.J. O’Grady was named to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas team after one season playing tight end and has seen his scholarship offers increase at steady rate.

O’Grady, 6-4, 235 pounds, 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash, had 45 receptions for 884 yards and 8 touchdowns this past season, and he already has offers from Louisville, Ole Miss, Wake Forest, Boise State, Arkansas State, Memphis, Oklahoma and Southern Miss.

O’Grady and six other prospects plan to visit Arkansas on Saturday.

O’Grady said he is hoping to add an offer from Arkansas, where his late father, Larry Marks, lettered for the Razorbacks basketball team from 1988 to 1990.

“That would be awesome because my dad played there,” O’Grady said of the possibility of receiving an offer from Arkansas. “I don’t know, it could be kind of a family trend or something. Maybe my kid could play at Arkansas keep it going. Also, I would be closer to my mom.”

That doesn’t mean an offer from the Razorbacks would necessarily end his recruiting.

“I’m probably going to wait it out to commit, because I’ll have a chance to play in the Under Armor game,” said O’Grady, who plays power forward for Fayetteville’s basketball team. “I think it would be cool to commit on TV.”

Texas called Fayetteville High School on Wednesday and told O’Grady that he had an offer if he visits the school. He plans to visit Texas on March 1.

O’Grady, who played quarterback as a sophomore, has a knack for making difficult catches look easy.

“I have really big hands,” he said. “I wear double X gloves ,and I think that’s a huge factor. I have great concentration. I can focus on the ball and pick it up from where it’s coming from and single it out and catch it.” HOGS OFFER FIRST

Clinton, (La.) Silliman Institute defensive lineman Jozie Milton is scheduled to visit Arkansas on Saturday.

Arkansas was the first school to extend a scholarship offer to Milton. The Razorbacks offered Jan. 10, and numerous other schools soon followed, including Arizona State, West Virginia, Oklahoma State and South Carolina.

“He has just has a tremendous upside,” Silliman Institute Coach T.J. Davis said. “His ceiling is really high. You’re talking about a young man that plays 160 plays a game like most of our players. He plays well on both sides of the ball. A couple of ACC schools are looking at him on the other side of the ball.”

Milton, 6-3, 294 pounds, 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard dash, had 110 tackles, 36 tackles for loss and 9 sacks this past season. He recorded a 365-pound bench press and 605-pound squat last season.

“He’s willing to put in the work that he has to do to be successful at the next level,” Davis said.

Davis said Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Ole Miss could be among the new schools that will make an offer to Milton. He said Milton and his father, Mike, the school’s defensive line coach, will go from Fayetteville to Stillwater for a Sunday visit at Oklahoma State.

Others expected to visit Arkansas on Saturday are offensive lineman Cameron Davis of Bryant, cornerback Juwuan Campbell of Fort Smith Southside, receiver Brushawn Hunter of Bryant, offensive lineman Ean Pfeifer of Bentonville and defensive lineman Derek Brown of Katy, Texas.

Davis has an offer from Arkansas State, and Pfeifer has offers from Arkansas State and Southern Miss.

HIGHLAND PROSPECTS

Highland junior receiver Deon Stewart, 6-1, 163 pounds, 4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash, added scholarship offers from Ole Miss and Southern Miss on Wednesday.

Stewart already had offers from Louisville, Tulsa and Arkansas State, and he is a good candidate to receive an offer from Arkansas when he visits Fayetteville on March 1.

Southern Miss also offered Highland athlete Avery Johnson, 6-1, 206, 4.5, on Wednesday. Arkansas State was the first to offer Johnson, who also plans to visit Arkansas on March 1.

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports, Pages 27 on 02/21/2014