The Recruiting Guy

Gosnell junior teammates get looks

The in-state 2022 football class is shaping up to be one of the better ones Arkansas has seen in years.

The University of Arkansas has extended nine scholarship offers to in-state junior prospects, and numerous others have offers from major colleges.

Gosnell has two promising juniors who hold offers. Running back Travelle Anderson has offers from Kansas, Colorado State, Arkansas State and North Texas, while offensive lineman Tederian Blair has an offer from Kansas.

"I've had Penn State contact me, Vanderbilt. Louisiana Tech and Michigan State called the other day," Gosnell Coach Lewis Earnest said. "They're all saying they're going to evaluate them."

The Spartans have shown strong interest in Blair, who is 6-4, 302 pounds.

"I will say Michigan State was very high on Blair, and I feel like they're about to offer pretty soon, but I'm not 100% sure on that," Earnest said.

He said Blair has made huge strides since last year. He credits Blair's strong work ethic for the improvement.

"I would say Blair is probably the most improved player I've ever seen physically from one year to the next," Earnest said. "He works out every single night on footwork on his own, and he just looks unbelievable this year compared to last year. He was a sophomore weighing 310, and this year he's down to about 302 right now, and his footwork is just unbelievable to me."

Anderson, 6-0, 190 pounds, rushed 111 times for 1,025 yards and 9 touchdowns as a sophomore. He started this season strong with 214 yards on 20 carries along with 4 receptions for 31 yards and 2 touchdowns in a loss to Brookland on Friday.

He attended the Under Armour Camp in Oklahoma in July, running a disappointing 40-yard dash electronic time of 4.76 seconds after stumbling at the start. Electronic times are usually a tenth to two tenths slower than hand-held times.

"I thought something is very odd about that because we hand timed him at 4.4, and I know we couldn't be that far off," Earnest said. "So we bought a laser timing system, and he ran a 4.56 and 4.58, which is probably pretty accurate."

Arkansas defensive tackles coach Derrick Leblanc has been in contact about Anderson and Blair.

"He said they're still in the evaluating process," Earnest said.

Earnest is confident Anderson and Blair will have standout junior seasons.

"I honestly do feel like both of them will have a breakout season this year," Earnest said. "So I'm just hoping they'll get some good film on them because both of them love Arkansas."

Kansas offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon has been aggressive in extending offers to Arkansas prospects.

"They both love coach Dearmon, and coach Dearmon stays in contact with them every week," Earnest said. "They call him every week."

Earnest was named the new coach at Gosnell in March 2019 after being an assistant at Wynne. He spent time around Arkansas offensive line commitment Terry Wells.

"I coached 'Big T' Terry Wells at Wynne, and they're very, very similar," said Earnest, who reports Blair running an electronic 5.26 seconds in the 40-yard dash, "Their work ethic, their personality."

Anderson even gives his own team's defense fits.

"Our standing defense can't hardly get to him," Earnest said. "He's just so quick and fast. Travelle is a big-body running back. He's more of a Darren McFadden-type runner. He's pretty tall and he's thickened up."

Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com.

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