Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

6/24/2011 at 2:30pm

Image by Rivals.com

Rivals.com reported on June 20 that Jonesboro's Zac Brooks had committed to Clemson.

In the not-too-distant past, when the best high school football player in Arkansas chose to leave the state, much hand-wringing ensued among Razorback fans. Now, barely anyone notices.

It was hardly a blip earlier this week when Jonesboro senior running back Zac Brooks revealed his intention to attend Clemson next year. Brooks reportedly had narrowed his choices to Auburn, Clemson, Notre Dame and Arkansas but had dozens of other big-time suitors.

The attention toward Brooks had led out-of-state recruiting writers and recruiting websites to consider him Arkansas' best prospect in the 2012 class.

As is often pointed out when these commitments happen a half-year ahead of the national signing date for high school seniors, an oral commitment is non-binding. High school kids can change their mind about a lunch destination in the 5 minutes it takes to reach their cars in the school parking lot, and they will change their choice of college destination just as easily.

Take Arkansas senior Joe Adams, for example. Then a senior wide receiver/running back for Central Arkansas Christian Academy in 2007, Adams had a televised commitment to Southern Cal early that season via KLRT-TV, Fox 16. We wondered why the Fox affiliate would even bother to make such a big deal about a player choosing a school that early, much less one planning to play at USC. Adams, while highly regarded, probably wasn't as well-known around the state as the last player to have a statewide commitment announcement (that was Mitch Mustain, broadcast to all points by KATV, Channel 7 in 2005, when he chose Arkansas, before decommitting, then recommitting again).

Those two examples alone ought to be enough to convince the local TV powers that be that broadcasting commitment announcements should be avoided at all cost. Adams, it turned out, changed his destination to Arkansas almost as soon as he met new coach Bobby Petrino, who was bringing a wide-open offense to Fayetteville in taking over for the run-loving Houston Nutt. (And Mustain, as we all know now, ended up leaving Arkansas after one tumultuous year with Nutt and languishing on the bench at Southern Cal as a transfer).

Since Petrino has coached his first season in Fayetteville, the supposed "best" player in Arkansas the past three years has headed elsewhere: Michael Dyer, the Parade All-American and "5-star" running back from Little Rock Christian Academy chose Auburn and signed with the Tigers in 2009, breaking Bo Jackson's freshman rushing record last fall; Shiloh Christian quarterback Kiehl Frazier, also rated a "5-star" and a Parade All-American as well as the Gatorade Player of the Year, signed with Auburn last February; and now Jonesboro's Brooks is planning to go elsewhere.

In each case, nobody has looked at those players and felt that they were a make-or-break signee for Arkansas. We're not talking about Keith Jackson Sr. choosing Oklahoma or Brinkley's Jerry Eckwood in the 1970s turning down Southern Cal and the rest of the national Top 25 to be a Hog.

In Dyer's case, Arkansas already had a stocked backfield. Frazier seems more of a Gus Malzahn-type spread quarterback than a Bobby Petrino-style drop-back passer. Brooks wants to be a running back in college but at 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds may be more suited to be a Joe Adams-style receiver, but it's not like Arkansas is lacking (or ever will) at wide receiver under Petrino.

When the state has produced great defensive or offensive linemen, such as in the case of Junction City's Byran Jones in 2009 (Dyer's class) and Springdale Har-Ber's Brey Cook (Frazier's class), Petrino and his staff have landed them.

And maybe it's coincidence, but it also seems like anytime Auburn is the front-runner for an Arkansas prep prospect, that player suddenly is a "5-star" talent on the national recruiting websites and is rated "best" in the state: Dyer, Frazier and Brooks all were sought by the Tigers, though Brooks to this point ended up picking a different bunch of Tigers (there's a certain symmetry between Auburn and Clemson anyway).

Ask the people in Arkansas who watch these players week in and week out and you'd probably get a different opinion of the past two years and just who was the best. Byran Jones was as important to Petrino's 2010 signing class, just as Cook in this year's class, as anybody the Razorbacks recruited.

If any recruits are "must haves," it seems the label fits great linemen over anyone else (just as tight end Keith Jackson was a big loss for Ken Hatfield's first UA recruiting class, but not as much as were linemen Mark Hutson of Fort Smith and Curtice Williams of Pine Bluff, both of whom became All-Big 8 at Oklahoma).

Backs and receivers seem in far greater quantity than game-changing linemen.

Despite lower rankings than the fans might have hoped for in the past three recruiting classes, Petrino and his staff have managed to build Arkansas' roster going into the 2011 season as one that is two-deep in quality at pretty much every position, and this is coming off the best season for Arkansas' program in maybe 33 years. The question marks for 2011's depth -- at offensive tackle and at linebacker and defensive back -- are expected to be answered in August by incoming players, if not already by newcomers like Cook who came in for the spring and received much needed work.

It's been more than 20 years since Arkansas was so well-manned at every position, including the special-teams roles, and had quality backups for every offensive and defensive spot. Many of these players were rated "3-star," according to the national recruiting gurus, with an occasional "4-star" player such as Knile Davis or Ronnie Wingo.

Would any Arkansas fan trade Davis and Wingo for Michael Dyer and whoever else Auburn threw in to the deal? Would Arkansas feel any different about its quarterback situation in the next two seasons if Kiehl Frazier were a Hog instead of prepping for Malzahn on the Plains?

Will Arkansas miss anything if Zac Brooks never feels a pull toward Fayetteville and Petrino's system and sticks with Clemson?

Likely not. But, don't forget: Arkansas in each case did offer these players scholarships. It's not like the Hogs ignored these players and they went elsewhere. They had opportunities to play in front of the Razorback fans and decided to leave.

It does seem odd that a wide receiver prospect, particularly one from Arkansas, wouldn't be begging the Razorback coaching staff for a shot, even if the position looks to be well-stocked.

Just the same, it seems strange that, after what Arkansas has accomplished in three short years under Petrino, every great prep tight end and 5-star quarterback in the country isn't jumping at the chance to be a part of this proven offensive system. The NFL is looking for quarterbacks who play under center the way Petrino's quarterbacks play, and tight end is featured in Petrino's offense as much as any eligible receiver, more so than in offenses such as LSU's, Alabama's or Ole Miss' where the tight end mostly blocks.

Perhaps another 10-win season, a run at another BCS bowl, and big wins on TV will make Arkansas more of a household word in places other than, say, Arkansas. It would be nice to see Petrino's staff win some head-to-head recruiting battles inside LSU, Tennessee or Auburn territory the way those teams have succeeded in the Natural State.

Nevertheless, there were reasons to worry in the past when the so-called best players in Arkansas were headed to Oklahoma or Tennessee or elsewhere.

Not anymore.

Follow Jim on Twitter at @jimharris360

Tagged: Houston Nutt, Oklahoma Sooners, Keith Jackson, Ken Hatfield, Byran Jones, Brey Cook, Rivals.com, Southeastern Conference, Southern California Trojans, Mitch Mustain, Joe Adams, Ronnie Wingo, Knile Davis, Auburn Tigers, Zac Brooks, Kiehl Frazier, Michael Dyer, Bobby Petrino, Curtice Williams, Mark Hutson, Clemson Tigers, Jonesboro Golden Hurricane