Otis Kirk: Horton, Other Assistants Will Conduct In-Home Visit With Dorial Green-Beckham
1/26/2012 at 9:49am
Arkansas will send recruiting coordinator Tim Horton and other assistants to Springfield, Mo., tonight for an in-home visit with 5-star wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham.
Coach Bobby Petrino was originally scheduled to visit Green-Beckham (6-6, 225), but will not because of a brief encounter earlier this month with the Parade and USA Today All-American. Green-Beckham and Petrino bumped into each other in early January in San Antonio, Texas, according to a CBS report. Green-Beckham was there to play in the U.S. Army All-American game while Petrino was in town for the American Football Coaches Association Convention.
Petrino will not do an in-home as a precautionary measure so he does not exceed the number of in-person contacts head coaches can have with recruits.
Horton, who has been the lead recruiter on Green-Beckham, will instead lead the visit. Green-Beckham is slated to visit Missouri this weekend and was at Arkansas last weekend. He has also visited Texas. Oklahoma and Alabama were in his final five, but neither got an official visit. OU's coaches did an in-home visit on Monday and Missouri's coaches were there Wednesday.
Green-Beckham will announce his decision on Wednesday morning at 9 on ESPNU. Green-Beckham is rated the No. 2 player in the nation by 247Sports.
Frequent Fliers
Among the other stops as Arkansas coaches put the finishing touches to the Class of 2012 are California and New Jersey.
Petrino and offensive coordinator Paul Petrino will be in New Jersey tonight to see North Bergen linebacker Vin Ascolese (6-2, 220).
Ascolese is rated a 2-star recruit by 247Sports, but was named to the prestigious Parade All-American team and also played in the Semper Fidelis All-American game on Jan. 3. Ascolese is announcing his decision Friday afternoon at 1.
At that time, he's expected to choose Arkansas over Illinois, Texas A&M, Cincinnati and Michigan State. He only visited Arkansas and Illinois and canceled a scheduled trip to Texas A&M for this weekend.
Ascolese is planning to put caps from Arkansas, Illinois and Texas A&M on a table Friday, but is still in search of an Arkansas cap. He thought he had found one on Wednesday – red and white with an 'A' on it – only to discover it was instead an Alabama cap.
“I burned that thing,” Ascolese said.
More Than Words
Arkansas has 21 verbal commitments and plans on signing 25 recruits on Feb. 1. After hosting 27 recruits the past two weekends, including 18 this past one, the Razorbacks will host around four recruits this weekend.
This weekend will include Covington (La.) 4-star linebacker Otha Peters (6-2, 225) and three athletes already committed to Arkansas. Peters is committed to Tennessee, but said Wednesday he's definitely considering Arkansas. Arkansas had three coaches scheduled to do an in-home visit with him Wednesday evening.
“I like Arkansas and I like Tennessee,” Peters said. “I haven't been to Arkansas though so I'm not doing anything until I see Arkansas.”
Arkansas is also set to host Tulsa (Okla.) Booker T. Washington 3-star cornerback Jared Collins (6-0, 165) Tallahassee (Fla.) Godby 3-star linebacker Jakarri Thomas (6-2, 200) and Memphis (Tenn.) Ridgeway 3-star defensive end Brandon Lewis (6-5, 220). Collins and Lewis committed to Arkansas after attending camps there this summer and Thomas committed to the Razorbacks without ever seeing the campus.
Get Back
Arkansas is still hoping to add a safety, offensive tackle and linebacker to this class as well as Green-Beckham. Ascolese would take care of the linebacker spot though Arkansas still might add another one as well.
Chicago (Ill.) Simeon's Jordan Diamond (6-6, 290) or Louisville (Ky.) Trinity's Joe Warburg (6-6, 260) could be the offensive tackle signee. Marietta (Ga.) Lassiter's Kenny Orjioke, 6-1, 225, or Arroyo Grande (Calif.) 3-star Seth Jacobs could be the safety. Orjioke and Diamond are both rated 4-stars while Warburg is a 3-star.
Warburg is choosing between Arkansas and Illinois. Diamond has Arkansas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Auburn and Ohio State on his list while Orjioke is down to Arkansas or UCLA. Jacobs has Arkansas, UCLA, Oklahoma State and Arizona State on his list. Warburg is committed to Illinois and Orjioke to UCLA though both visited Arkansas last weekend and are still considering the Razorbacks.
Quick Hits
• In addition, Arkansas is holding its breath on Rocklin (Calif.) Sierra College 4-star wide receiver Courtney Gardner (6-3, 215). Gardner is committed to Arkansas, but is visiting OU this weekend. He said he will make a final decision next week following his trip to Norman.
• All three of Arkansas' new coaches are drawing plenty of praise from recruits. Kevin Peoples, Taver Johnson and Paul Haynes have all repeatedly been praised by recruits.
• Arkansas will host recruits from the Class of 2013 on Feb. 11. Among the activities that day will be a basketball game in Bud Walton Arena.
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Otis Kirk is the dean of Arkansas recruiting writers and has covered high school recruiting for more than 30 years. His "Recruiting 360" column appears online at ArkansasSports360.com every Thursday, and his features and message board posts regularly can be found at the premium website Hawgs247.com , a member of the 247Sports Network.
Tagged: CBSSPorts.com, Jordan Diamond, Paul Haynes, Taver Johnson, Kevin Peoples, Courtney Gardner, Vin Ascolese, Tim Horton, Bobby Petrino, Dorial Green-Beckham
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