The Recruiting Guy

Illinois OL has interest in Hogs

Kevin Jarvis

Arkansas extended several scholarship offers to some 2017 prospects earlier in the week, and the Razorbacks offered highly regarded junior offensive lineman Kevin Jarvis on Wednesday.

Offensive line coach Kurt Anderson, a Chicago native, plans to recruit his old stomping grounds, and Jarvis is on his radar.

Jarvis, 6-6, 340 pounds of Park Ridge (Ill.) Maine South, also has scholarship offers from Tennessee, Illinois, Rutgers, Syracuse and others.

"I'm very interested in Arkansas. I think I could do some pretty good things there," Jarvis said.

Jarvis said he visited with Anderson in January and feels like his coaching could help him.

"He's a really cool guy," Jarvis said. "He's really down-to-earth and honest. He pretty much tells you what he thinks of you and how you can help out Arkansas and what he could make you into."

He believes he has the ability to play guard or tackle.

Jarvis, who has bench-pressed 350 pounds and has a 600-pound squat, said he'll visit Arkansas for sure.

National recruiting analyst Tom Lemming rates Jarvis a 4-star prospect.

"He will be the top offensive lineman in the state of Illinois for 2017," Lemming said. "He has great size, good coordination and is technically sound. Plays for one of the top offenses in the state."

Jarvis said he'll focus on the coaching staff of each school during his visits.

"Just how I'm treated, like you know,among the coaches and pretty much how everyone acts around each other," said Jarvis, who had 52 pancake blocks last season. "Like the whole coaching staff to see how well everyone gets along and stuff like that."

Despite living in Big Ten country, he admires the SEC.

"Yeah, for sure just playing against teams like Alabama and ... playing for Arkansas would be a huge honor," Jarvis said.

Jarvis believes his skill level is a good fit for all types of offenses, but he prefers a power running game.

Anderson coached center Eric Wood and guard Richie Incognito last season at Buffalo, and both played in last week's Pro Bowl. That has Jarvis' attention.

"Yeah, definitely," Jarvis said. "I hope to be that level someday."

'Beast' signee

Linebacker De'jon Harris, an Arkansas signee, was a jack-of-all-trades for Marrero (La.) John Ehret High School and helped his team to the Class 5A championship game for the first time in 30 years.

Harris, 6-1, 230, 4.70 seconds in the 40-yard dash, signed with the Razorbacks over scholarship offers from Arizona State, Oregon, Memphis, Southern Miss, Tulane and others.

He rushed for 1,300 yards and 14 touchdowns and had 11 catches for 254 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also passed for 400 yards and 6 touchdowns. Defensively, he recorded 80 tackles and 7 sacks.

Coach Bret Bielema said he may take advantage of Harris' offensive talents.

"His No. 1 quarterback gets knocked out, and they make a run all the way to the state championship with him at quarterback," Bielema said. "I keep telling him he's going to be my short-yardage, goal line, red-zone quarterback because he's a beast at that position in those situations."

Email Richard Davenport at

rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 02/07/2016