Some of the best recruiters for a college program are the prospects who are committed to the school. Bentonville tight end Jack Kraus, who pledged to the Hogs about nine months ago, took advantage of his time on last weekend’s official visit to try lure others.
"I talked to a lot of the guys," Kraus said. "The guy from Arizona, Andrew Mike, I talked to him a little bit. I think he had a good time. I don't know what he's thinking, but I know he likes it here."
Kraus, 6-5, 245, 4.9 seconds in the 40 yard dash, had 12 receptions for 137 yards and 2 touchdowns while grading out at 87 precent and 34 knockdowns. He’s rated a 4-star prospect by national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network. Video highlights CLICK HERE
“He shows the size, long arms, strong hands, quick feet and willingness to block that will allow him to make the leap to Division I ball,” Lemming said. “I’m impressed with his footwork as both a run blocker and receiver. He catches the ball with his hands and away from his body.”
He called the visit “awesome” and liked the college atmosphere he experienced.
"I had a lot of fun touring the business school,” he said. “We went and met some of the players.”
A former foe, quarterback Austin Allen, who lead Fayetteville to back-to-back Class 7A state titles over Bentonville, was his host for the weekend.
"He's a great guy," Kraus said. "He took me back to the dorms and we had a great time together. He introduced me to all of his close friends and a lot of the players. We had a good time together, we played some video games and had a lot of fun."
After being runner ups to the Bulldog during his sophomore and junior season, Kraus and the Tigers defeated Cabot the Class 7A title in December.
"That's exactly how we pictured it as seniors because we had so much disappointment in the last couple of years, coming up short," he said. "To win it all this year after kind of a rough start in out-of-conference, to kind of bring it all back together and finally win a championship, it was just awesome. Couldn't ask for anything else."