Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

9/7/2010 at 2:08pm

Arkansas is still trying to add some select recruits to the Class of 2011, but it's never too early to look ahead to the future since recruiting is now almost a sport in itself.

The Razorbacks have already identified several top recruits beyond the 2011 class, both inside the state and outside, who fit what Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino and his staff are looking for in a recruit. Inside the state, it's known that Arkansas has offered Jonesboro junior athlete Zac Brooks (6-2, 180, 4.45) and Warren junior wide receiver Jalen Cobb, 6-1, 185, 4.5.

Brooks also has offers to Arkansas State and Ole Miss and is coming off an impressive sophomore season that saw him catch 38 passes for 679 yards and 5 touchdowns. Brooks has moved to tailback this season and last week he helped lead his team to a 22-19 victory over Greene County Tech in the season opener.

"I think we will have a fighting team this year," Brooks said. "I'm mostly playing running back this year, but there are some plays for me to line up at receiver, too. I play some safety on defense. I don't know what position I will play in college."

While Brooks is uncertain of his college position, there's no uncertainty concerning Warren's Cobb.

Lumberjack Coach Bo Hembree has compared his current prized receiver to the trio of receivers now at Arkansas who once starred for the Lumberjacks: Jarius Wright, Greg Childs and Chris Gragg. Cobb has said Arkansas is his favorite and the team to beat for his services.

The state has other top prospects who will likely be getting offers from the Razorbacks in coming weeks or months. Fort Smith Northside wide receiver Shaquille Jones (6-0, 180, 4.6) was at Arkansas' opening win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday night. Jones had a banner sophomore season for the Grizzlies in 2009, catching 78 passes for 929 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also had a nice opening game against Pine Bluff to start his junior season this past Friday, though his team lost.

Outside the state, new names are starting to emerge that Arkansas has either offered or is showing significant interest.

A quarterback on Arkansas' early radar is Edgewood (Ky.) Dixie Heights' Zeke Pike (6-5, 220, 4.7). Pike has offers from all over the nation. As a sophomore, Pike completed 100 of 175 passes for 1,634 yards and 17 touchdowns while only tossing 5 picks.

Arkansas hopes to sign two running backs this year and already has a pledge from Jefferson City (Mo.) standout Kody Walker (6-2, 230, 4.7). A running back for 2012 drawing plenty of early interest from Arkansas and others is Aledo, Texas, speedster Johnathan Gray (5-11, 190, 4.4). As a sophomore, Gray rushed for 2,798 yards on 372 carries while scoring 50 touchdowns. As a freshman, Gray carried 140 times for 969 yards and 15 touchdowns. Arkansas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech are among the schools involved.

In Missouri, Arkansas is involved with a couple of talented wide receivers. Springfield Hillcrest's Dorial Green-Beckham (6-6, 220, 4.43) and St. Louis DeSmet's Durron Neal (6-1, 184, 4.57) both are attracting interest from all over the nation. Green-Beckham is considered by some to be the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2012 regardless of position. Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, LSU, Missouri and many others have offered him a scholarship. Neal has offers to Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.

Arkansas will lose senior tight ends D.J. Williams and Ben Cleveland after this season. A junior tight end the Hogs have shown a lot of interest in is Citra (Fla.) North Marion's Sean Price (6-4, 206, 4.86). Price has offers from Arkansas and 15 others at this point in his junior season. Florida and Florida State are among his other offers. Alabama has also offered and is trying to make a hard charge for his services.

The Razorbacks and everyone else are always in the market for talented offensive linemen. A pair of national recruits they are on are Jacksonville (Fla.) Bolles' John Theus (6-6, 275, 5.2) and Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman's Ronnie Stanley (6-7, 285, 5.0). Theus is known to like Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Maryland and South Carolina, with offers from all of them. Arkansas and California are two of the schools who have stepped forward with an offer to Stanley.

A pair of talented defensive linemen are also looking at Arkansas among their many possibilities of schools. College Park (Ga.) Woodward Academy defensive end Jordan Watkins (6-4, 236, 4.65) already has offers from Arkansas, Duke, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Georgia, Georgia Tech and Clemson are among the others believed to be close to offering him a scholarship.

Edwardsville (Ill.) defensive tackle Vincent Valentine (6-3, 300, 5.0) has already accumulated 10 scholarship offers, including one from the Razorbacks. Arkansas has made his current teammate, running back Rodney Coe, a huge priority in the Class of 2012 and Petrino would without a doubt like to start a pipeline to the school with both Coe and Valentine playing for the Razorbacks.

Oxford (Ala.) High School has a trio of prospects on Arkansas' radar as well as the radar of many others. Safety Trae Elston (6-0, 176, 4.44), offensive tackle Michael Flint (6-4, 303, 5.2) and outside linebacker Kwon Alexander (6-2, 212, 4.51) all have double-digit offers. Alabama and Auburn have offered all three and may be hard to pry away from those two schools.

Tagged: Shaquille Jones, Rodney Coe, Zeke Pike, Kody Walker, Johnathan Gray, Dorial Green-Beckham, Durron Neal, Sean Price, Otis Kirk, Hawgsports.com, Zac Brooks, Jalen Cobb