At least 2 'can't miss' prospects on the horizon

Pulaski Academy tight end Hudson Henry (left) looks to avoid McClellan defender Tyrse Lair (25) during a game Friday, Oct. 27, 2017, in Little Rock.

— Every Monday-Wednesday-Friday, as many as a half-dozen retirees inhabit the chairs around the circular table hard by the front door of the gym where the fee is cheap and the coffee free.

For more than an hour, the population ebbs and flows. Some stake out a spot for the duration. Some leave briefly to work out; others begin their visit on a treadmill or a back-stretching contraption and then plop down; still others get up from the table and wander a while.

During the come and go, more than one pot of coffee is consumed.

Mostly politics and sports, the conversation is darned near nonstop. Through the months, group members have come to know they are far apart when it comes to doings in Washington and generally avoid hot-button topics that could jeopardize friendships.

With golf in mind, the long-range weather forecast often gets a mention.

Occasionally, a widower in the group speaks to a woman bound for the stationary bikes.

Razorback athletics — predominantly football and basketball — dominate the sports talk although the Ole Miss man usually offers some nugget about the Rebels and a former Arkansas-Monticello pitcher keeps up with baseball.

Twice in the last few months, a particular klatch member has touted Treylon Burks of Warren as a must-get for Arkansas’ new coach, Chad Morris.

The group regular first sang Burks’ praises days after watching the 6-foot-3 junior rush for 116 yards, catch passes for 178 yards, score 4 touchdowns, play some quarterback, make 16 tackles, and intercept a pass in a 28-27 loss to Arkadelphia in the finals of the 4A title game at War Memorial Stadium.

Arkansas, Auburn, Oregon, Michigan, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina and others have already offered a scholarship to Burks.

My rebuttal of the “can’t miss” label applied to Burks comes in two sizes — brief and extended.

If the listeners at the table are familiar with Burks, two words suffice: Basil Shabazz.

For the uninitiated, the spiel begins with the 1990 state championship game between Texarkana and Shabazz’s Pine Bluff Zebras.

In those days, The Associated Press staffed some of the high school championship games and I departed War Memorial Stadium raving about the young man. Much like Burks, he did everything. That night, he scored five touchdowns in a 33-13 victory over a very good opponent, often outrunning defenders who had the angle.

Forever cautious about projecting success for a high school phenom, this occasion was different and an over-the-top endorsement to anybody who would listen was a personal first.

Convinced Shabazz would succeed in college and beyond, I called to share the opinion with former broadcaster Jim Elder, knowing my good friend’s disdain for wildly enthusiastic projections for Razorback recruits.

On his radio talk show, Elder consistently responded to callers’ questions about a particular athlete by saying: “Call me back in three years and I’ll let you know.” Unimpressed by my words, Elder repeated his mantra concerning Shabazz.

Identified as one of the top 10 players in the country by one recruiting analyst, Shabazz was named the National Sports News Services’ 1991 USA High School Athlete of the Year.

His resume included a state record in the 200-meter dash, 24 feet-plus in the long jump and all-state in basketball.

The spring of his senior year, Shabazz joined the high school baseball team and hit .358. Enamored with Shabazz’s potential, the St. Louis Cardinals took him in the third round of the draft and gave him a $150,000 bonus to abandon the dream of college football.

Baseball didn’t work out and when he returned to football at Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 1995, it was too late.

Sure, professional baseball is not an opportunity available to all, but I always cite Shabazz’s aborted football career to underline the fact that there is no sure thing when it comes to recruiting.

These days, questions involve the competition the athlete faced, the system in which he played and personal unknowns, such as self-discipline.

Until this year, the only other time I came close to going all-in on a high school athlete occurred in 1983 and that inclination was based on second-hand information.

In those days, Little Rock Catholic games were attended regularly, primarily to check on the golfer/yell leader doing handstands on the sidelines and a couple of players who were familiar because I helped coach a team in the parochial league. The Rockets’ center was the son of some good friends and he had centered the ball to my son through years of kid-league football. Post-game, he shared that on one particular play, there was nobody on his nose, so he made a beeline for the safety about 10 yards downfield and smacked him good. The safety brushed him off like a gnat, the young man said.

The safety was Keith Jackson, the Little Rock Parkview tight end who lined up deep on occasion to make sure the opponent did not make a big play on a critical down.

This year, my judgment is under the influence of multiple viewings of Pulaski Academy football.

A precious granddaughter was co-captain of the pom squad at P.A., so going to home games was a must. Although only in the stands for the two quarters required to get to the pom squad’s halftime show, tight end Hudson Henry was a magnet.

The younger brother of Hunter Henry, picked high in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, the 6-5 Hudson put on weight after his sophomore year and played at 225 pounds. He can easily handle additional weight, runs more like a wide receiver than a tight end and catches the ball with that certain softness that identifies the best.

The Shabazz gaffe be danged, Henry is big time. Period.

Already, Arkansas has offered, and he is ranked even higher than Burks among the in-state players available in 2019.

How Morris and his staff do in the pursuit of Henry, Burks and others in 2019 will provide a much better gauge of their ability to sell Arkansas than the 16 players who signed on this year. Reading Morris’ words and hearing his sound bites, the head coach’s enthusiasm for the quest is indisputable.