The Recruiting Guy

Name, as well as talent, grabs attention

Junior linebacker Bumper Pool has ties to Arkansas.

Highly regarded sophomore linebacker Bumper Pool, who received a scholarship offer from Arkansas last week, is no stranger to the state or the Razorbacks.

Pool, 6-2, 216 pounds of Lucas (Texas) Lovejoy also has offers from Baylor and SMU while drawing interest from Michigan, Texas, Alabama, Texas A&M, Houston, Tulsa and others.

His father, Jeff, along with two aunts that live in Conway -- Jackie Davis and Jessica Strack -- graduated from Arkansas. His sister Maddie just finished her freshman year at Arkansas.

Two cousins -- Kaci Pool of Springdale and Trey Pool -- are also graduates of the school. His grandfather Al Burke attended Arkansas in the late 1960s.

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Because of the strong ties to Arkansas, Pool was thrilled to add the offer from the Hogs.

"Something like that from a school that all my dad's family went to means a lot," Pool said. "I've been a fan for awhile. It was cool to receive and I'm thankful that the coaches looked at me and liked me."

Pool recorded 148 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 4 sacks, a quarterback hurry, 6 pass breakups, 5 forced fumbles and 2 recovered fumbles last season. Linebackers coach Vernon Hargreaves told him of the offer and didn't push for a commitment.

"He basically said I had the offer and he was excited to give me the offer and he's a fan of me and how I play," Pool said. "That's huge coming from such a great coach."

Pool visited Fayetteville for the opening game against Texas-El Paso in September and visited again in early April.

While his play on the field grabs attention, so does his first name. Going back to his high school days, his father has always wanted to name his first son Bumper.

"When I was born my mom didn't think it was going to stick so she wanted James Morris which is my great-grandfather's name," Pool said. "I guess a few years ago it just stuck and so we made it official so now it's Bumper James Morris Pool."

Famous alums

A couple of Arkansas' famous alumni grabbed the attention of junior college defensive lineman Isaiah Johnson during his visit to Fayetteville last week.

"I was able to find out there were some prestigious people that attended the University of Arkansas, like Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones," Johnson said.

Isaiah Johnson, 6-5, 296 pounds of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, has scholarship offers from Nebraska, Mississippi State, Houston, Arkansas State and others. Arkansas is showing strong interest and appear close to offering.

"They said they loved me," Johnson said. "My coach said they're going to scan my transcript and they're going to send it straight to coach [Bret Bielema]."

Johnson, who played at Warner Robins (Ga.) Northside before attending junior college, recorded 53 tackles, 3 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble last season.

He has seen Arkansas play on TV, but liked being able to get a behind-the-scenes look.

"I got to see a better view of how the players live and what the players go through every day," Johnson said. "The weight room and the indoor facility and the practice fields. They have one turf and one grass. That's big time."

An offer from the Razorbacks would put them high on his list.

"It would bump them up to No. 1 or 2," he said. "Nebraska is No. 1 right now, but it would move them up just as high."

Good relationship

Highly recruited athlete Keldrick Carper and Arkansas receivers coach Michael Smith have built an outstanding relationship.

"Me and Coach Smith, we're tight," Carper said. "That's my guy. We're extremely cool. As soon as you get around him, he doesn't hold nothing back. He's a realist and he keeps it real. He talks with you on the level a 17- or 18-year-old kid wants to be talked to."

Carper, 6-3, 183 pounds of Plain Dealing, La., has 30 scholarship offers from schools like Arkansas, Alabama, Miami, Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Ole Miss. Most schools are recruiting him as athlete that could play receiver or defensive back, but he prefers defense.

"I know I'm a corner who could play safety and I'm a safety that could come down and play corner," Carper said.

E-mail Richard Davenport at

rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 05/20/2016