Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

2/3/2012 at 3:18pm

Image by Twitter: @HogFanatic64

Bobby Petrino greets fans at a recruiting roundup event at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock. This photo was taken by @HogFanatic64 on Twitter.

In the past three years the Little Rock Razorback Club has moved its “Signing Day in the Rock” spectacular from one large ballroom, to a bigger one, and now to Verizon Arena, where Thursday night’s visit by Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino and his staff turned into part rock show/part religious revival.

The religion, of course, is Razorback football, where more than 1,200 folks paid $65, the price of a Southeastern Conference football ticket in Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium, to hear Petrino and the other coaches go into full detail — with video — of the latest, 24-man signing class.

The arena darkened and AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” rang in the assistant coaches to the main stage, each one entering from the opposite side to the stage and almost sprinting down the middle aisle where “Voice of the Razorbacks” Chuck Barrett welcomed them in.

Then came Bobby Petrino’s rock-star entrance, complete with a fog machine.

If any of the crowd filling the floor of Verizon Arena came to the shindig still lamenting the one that got away on Wednesday — Springfield, Mo., five-star receiver Dorial Green-Beckham — they had forgotten about it and were all standing in reverence by the time the spotlighted Petrino appeared to roaring power chords that barely eclipsed the crowd’s rousing enthusiasm.

Hand it to UA athletic director Jeff Long. The man, and the people who work directly under him, know how to put on a show. Next year, we fully expect pyro along the lines of a Motley Crue show.

And, yes, it was easy to tell through the comments from Petrino and some assistants that, while they say they don’t worry about the recruiting sites’ “stars” bestowed on high school prospects, those very “stars” were on their minds Thursday night. In fact, in opening the show highlighting, the three biggest recruits — returnees Tyler Wilson, Knile Davis and Cobi Hamilton, who all had chances to enter the NFL Draft — Petrino noted that "our three-star quarterback and three-star running back out of high school are back as five-stars next season."

Depending on which 2012 recruiting site you choose, Arkansas failed in trying to sign five-star Green-Beckham but signed two prospects with “four” stars, or four players with “four” stars, or — adding them all up together — nine players who from some recruiting “expert” garnered at least four stars. That’s nine players out of the 24. Half of the class was made up of players who impressed the Petrino staff last summer at the UA camp. When White Hall's 6-6, 220-pound Jeremy Sprinkle showed off his wonderful hands and was done camping, he was sought by the tight end coach, the defensive end coach and the wide receiver coach, recruiting coordinator Tim Horton said Thursday. None of the in-state signees were assessed more than a three stars, though new defensive coordinator Paul Haynes said that Bearden's Defonta Lowe reminded him of one of his heroes: former Hog and NFL star safety Steve Atwater.

Vincenzo “Vin” Ascolese, who sounds like a “Sopranos” extra and hails from New Jersey, seemed to be the crowd favorite just based on his name. He’s a good example of how varied these recruiting sites can be: the Parade All-American was a “four” star according to Tom Lemming, and yet he was a “two” star with little written about him on Rivals.com.

If Bobby Petrino was the bishop leading all these festivities, then brother Paul Petrino, back on the UA staff after two years at Illinois, was the right reverend. He used descriptions like “decapitate” for one player who on video crushed an opposing quarterback. He enjoyed highlighted new junior college wide receiver signee Demetrius Wilson’s film.

“Watch our three-star receiver matched up against a five-star cornerback who’s going to Alabama,” he said with relish, because you just knew this highlight was going to ignite the passions in 1,200 fans. Sure enough, Wilson used a double move down the right sideline that left future Crimson Tide D-back in his tracks.

“He made him look SILLY,” Paul Petrino yelled.

It was that day all night.

They don’t let the camera media in to this all-fan event, and truth be told, I bought a ticket to sit with good friends who I’ve traveled with to games for several years now. It’s that enthusiasm by these coaches about this class that Arkansas doesn’t need out in the viral video land.

But, we bet you can find that clip of Wilson doing a dance around that cornerback and beating him by 30 yards for a touchdown.

Certainly, every player looked good in these highlights. And it’s unlikely anyone else holding this kind of event had any player whose highlights weren’t encouraging to its fan base. These events are designed to ease any late disappointment and to get fans ready to purchase season tickets and anxiously count down the days to Sept. 1.

If any player’s video made a huge impression on the crowd, it was the highlights of Covington, La., four-star linebacker Otha Peters, who was committed to Tennessee for nine months before switching in the final hours before signing day to fill Arkansas’ desperate need at linebacker.

“Look at that closing speed,” marveled Haynes.

Haynes told the crowd that new linebackers coach Taver Johnson — who showed everyone he was well-equipped to handle the Hog call — arrived on a plane, met new defensive line coach Kevin Peoples, who was recruiting Peters for several weeks, and they were immediately on a flight to New Orleans.

Then, Haynes joked, “Coach Petrino told Taver that this was a test. If he didn’t get Otha, then he didn’t have a job.”

Johnson has a job, and Arkansas has its difference-making linebacker.

Award-winning columnist Jim Harris wasn’t around when Hugo Bezdek named the Razorbacks, it only seems that way. His acumen for UA football history is renowned and he has covered the Hogs and the state sports scene since 1976. He knows his way around music and food, too. Email: jharris@abpg.com, and follow Jim on Twitter @jimharris360

Tagged: Otha Peters, Bobby Petrino, Little Rock Razorback Club, Verizon Arena, Paul Petrino, Paul Haynes, Tim Horton, DeFonta Lowe, Jeremy Sprinkle, Vin Ascolese