Phillips gets SPARQ in recruiting at Opening

North Little Rock safety Tyler Phillips jumps 42.3 inches in the vertical during the SPARQ National Championship.

— North Little Rock safety Tyler Phillips arrived in Oregon for The Opening hoping to get noticed by more college coaches. Because of his third place finish in the SPARQ National Championship, he’s added an offer and could see more in the future.

Phillips, 6-2, 208, 4.63 seconds in the 40 yard dash, recorded a SPARQ rating of 143.00 after being electronically timed at 4.63 seconds in the 40 yard dash, 3.97 in the shuttle and having a 42.3 vertical and a 43 foot power toss. Video highlights CLICK HERE

He received an offer from Campbell University in North Carolina Wednesday morning.

“That’s how they found me,” Phillips said of his performance at The Opening. “They watched me on TV last night. The guy that recruits our area showed the D coordinator and the head coach this morning and they told me they liked my video They didn’t even need to see me in person, they just wanted to go ahead and offer. It’s pretty exciting.”

As an outside linebacker, he recorded 38 unassisted tackles, 48 assisted tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 5 pass breakups, 2 forced fumbles and 2 recovered fumbles last year. He moved to safety in the spring and is expected to play the position in the fall.

Phillips, who also has an offer from Ouachita Baptist, participated at Arkansas’ June 12 Elite Camp. He’s receiving strong interest from Air Force and California.

“I’ve been talking to Cal, the last time I checked that’s another school contacting me,” Phillips said. “They told me the D coordinator and the head coach have already watched it (video). So right now they’re just wanting the linebacker and DB coach to get off of vacation before they call me and make it official.”

Playing for team Apocalypse, Phillips has enjoyed playing with Alabama receiver commitment Calvin Ridley, Oklahoma State cornerback commitment Jaylon Lane, highly recruited linebacker Malik Jefferson and others.

“I’m having fun and our team is competing and I think we’re doing a pretty good job,” Phillips said. “So I’m having a great time right now.”