Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

7/27/2010 at 12:04am

Arkansas' Class of 2012 appears to be another promising group of prospects, including Greenbrier quarterback Neal Burcham.

Burcham (6-foot-3, 170 pounds, 4.7 in the 40-yard dash), was among the quarterbacks who competed in the Arkansas Athletes Outreach Top Gun Quarterback Challenge last week in Springdale. The final four events of the competition were held Saturday night in Jarrell Williams Stadium in Springdale. Burcham passed for 3,384 yards and 34 touchdowns as a sophomore last season while helping the Panthers to a 9-4 record.

"It was awesome," Burcham said of the Top Gun event. "It was fun. I got to spend a lot of time with guys I hadn't met yet and got to meet some new friends and just hang out along with, learning new football techniques and just becoming a better football player. It was awesome."

For Burcham, who plays both 7-on-7 football and AAU basketball, this was a break from both those activities to work on his football skills and also to have some fun while yet competing to try and win the event.

"It was definitely a little bit of a break," Burcham said. "We got to be relaxed a bit and hang out. We went bowling one night, so it was pretty relaxed. However, once you step on the field it's time to work. We got on the field and got our minds right."

Burcham is expected to be one of the top recruits in the state in next year's class. On Saturday night, he tossed the football 58 yards and competed well in all the events though he didn't win the competition. He did make the final dozen that competed in the last event of the evening to determine the winner. Burcham was very complimentary of Camden Fairview quarterback Brandon Keaton, 5-10, 150, 4.5, who won the event.

"He's a great guy," Burcham said. "I actually got to hang out with him a lot during the week during the course of these three days. He's a great guy, a great competitor and a great quarterback."

Burcham has said he grew up following the Razorbacks and is hoping to get noticed by the Razorbacks. He camped at Arkansas this summer and won an award for his performance at Bobby Petrino's three-day camp.

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Clarksville quarterback Trey Schucker (6-foot-3, 215 pounds, 4.75 in the 40-yard dash) finished second in the AAO Top Gun Quarterback Challenge in Springdale.

Schucker, who will be a senior for the Panthers this fall, completed 124 of 215 passes as a junior for 1,668 yards and 25 touchdowns last season. Schucker had finished fourth in the Top Gun last year, but on Saturday night only trailed Fairview's Brandon Keaton when the points were all tallied up in the end.

"I had a blast," Schucker said of the three days of competition. "It was really great to get away from the football camps and come here and be with a great group of athletes and great group of guys. We got to compete against each other and got to put our skills to the test."

Schucker said the three days were all challenges, with work done in the classroom as well as on the football field and then Saturday night under the lights in the stadium.

Schucker, describing the highlights during the week, sayd, "First of all, just getting to meet a great group of guys.

"Second, the people putting this on [are] a great group of people. They know what they are saying, what they are doing and it was fun learning from them. Overall, I'm a really competitive person and I love competing and pushing myself to be the best I can be."

This year, Clarksville and Schucker along with athlete Wesleigh Foster (5-11, 193, 4.4) will open the season  Sept. 2 in Reynolds Razorback Stadium against Charleston and running back Ryan McDonald (5-11, 180, 4.61). Last year, Charleston won the game easily, but Schucker said the Panthers hope this year to be ready for what awaits them against Charleston.

"It's in Razorback Stadium and that's always a plus," Schucker said. "Everybody gets fired up for that. Getting to go to Razorback Stadium and play on their new turf and stuff. Plus, Charleston is a great team. They beat us pretty bad last year and we have been focusing all summer on them. That's our one game to start the season and we want to start it off to a good start. We're getting ready for them and getting focused."

Schucker has seen many of the predictions that have the Panthers finishing second in the 4A-4 conference this year behind Booneville.

"Booneville is definitely the team to beat in our conference and we're working everyday for them," Schucker said. "I think we've got a great team coming back."

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The latest Top 25 recruits in the Class of 2011 in Arkansas after the camps and 7-on-7 and other events:

1. Brey Cook, OT, 6-7, 325, 5.2, Har-Ber-- committed to Arkansas

2. Brandon Allen, QB, 6-2, 210, 4.65, Fayetteville-- committed to Arkansas

2. Kiehl Frazier, QB, 6-3, 212, 4.59, Shiloh Christian-- committed to Auburn

4. Mitch Smothers, OL, 6-4, 290, 5.16, Springdale-- committed Arkansas

5. Davyon McKinney, WR, 6-3, 180, 4.49, Forrest City-- committed to Arkansas

6. Grady Ollison, DL, 6-5, 273, 4.9, Malvern-- committed to Arkansas

7. Demetrius Dean, TE, 6-3, 250, 4.7, Fayetteville-- committed to Arkansas

8. Wesleigh Foster, CB, 5-11, 193, 4.4, Clarksville-- Undecided

9. Marcus Danenhauer, OL, 6-5, 315, 5.4, Bentonville-- committed to Arkansas

10. Artez Brown, ATH, 5-11, 165, 4.4, Newport-- committed to Ole Miss

11. Mitch Hall, OL, 6-5, 330, 5.4, Russellville-- committed to Ole Miss

12. Kyle Coleman, WR, 6-2, 205, 4.5, Watson Chapel-- Undecided

13. Samuel Harvill, DL, 6-1 1/2, 270, 4.87, Shiloh Christian-- committed to Kansas State

14. Travis Bodenstein, OL, 6-5, 295, 5.4, Shiloh Christain-- committed to Kansas

15. Hunter Kissinger, LB, 6-3, 215, 4.5, Har-Ber-- Undecided

16. Jason Hensley, LB, 6-3, 219, 4.7, Alma-- Undecided

17. Brad Shearin, LB, 6-1, 235, 4.7, Jonesboro-- Undecided

18. Darion Griswold, QB, 6-5, 240, 4.8, Dumas-- Undecided

19. Isaac McCoy, WR, 6-0, 175, 4.55, Alma-- Undecided

20. Daniel Wood, DE-OLB, 6-5, 208, 4.8, Mena-- Undecided

21. Steven Hogan, TE, 6-4, 225, 4.9, Greenwood-- committed to Arkansas State

22. Adam Deacon, OL, 6-3, 320, 5.5, Little Rock Chrisitian-- Undecided

23. Cody Robinson, DB, 6-2, 195, 4.5, Des Arc-- Undecided

24. Joseph Calcagni, QB, 6-2, 190, 4.7, Springdale-- committed to Tulsa

25. Josh Hampton, DL, 6-4, 265, 4.9, Bryant-- Undecided

Otis Kirk has covered recruiting in the state of Arkansas for more than 30 years. He writes regularly for Rivals.com's HawgSports.com. His posts and other stories can be found at arkansas.rivals.com.

 

 

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