Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

2/16/2012 at 1:23pm

Gus Malzahn sees plenty to sell recruits on when it comes to Arkansas State and Jonesboro.

There’s his vision for making the Red Wolves a Top 25 program each season and turning the school into what he likes to call the “Boise State of the South.” Malzahn has proof that the team can win thanks to last year’s 10-victory campaign. Jonesboro’s location is a selling point because of its distance from metropolitan areas like Little Rock, Memphis and St. Louis.

And who wouldn't love the restaurant options?

Malzahn was visiting with Jim Dunaway and the JOX Roundtable in Birmingham when he mentioned the town’s wealth of "eatin’ places" as something that helps sell recruits on the town. Here’s his answer when asked what made Jonesboro a “hidden gem:”

“The location is very good. We’re talking 45 minutes from Memphis, about an hour from Little Rock and really close to St. Louis. … It’s a town of 60,000. It’s got every eatin’ place that you’d want from Olive Garden to P.F. Chang's to everything as far as that goes. It still got a small-town feel. Really, it reminds me of Auburn in a way. It’s kind of out there by itself and got all the conveniences you want in a college town.”

(Side note: there are MUCH better places in Jonesboro to eat than chain restaurants, though the town must have more chains per capita than any town in the country. Also, we’re not entirely sure there’s even a P.F. Chang's, but we’ll forgive Malzahn since he’s only been there a month or two.)

Some other highlights from the JOX Roundtable:

On the possibility of playing against his former team, Auburn:

“Well, believe it or not when they hired me here they said it’s already in the schedule, in the plans in two years. That kind of caught me off guard a little bit, but it looks like in two years we’ll be playing them anyway.”

(That game is set for 2013.)

Adding Michael Dyer to the team:

“I’ll tell you what, he’s working out hard with the team. He’s off to a very good start in the classroom and everything. He’s excited. Of course he’s from the state. All his friends and family are here. It’s a very good fit. He’s off to a very good start.

On if Dyer will play this year:

“We’re still looking into that. We want to make sure that we do it the right way as far as if there is an opportunity to be on the field next year, if we feel like we’ve got a good enough case. We’re still kind of talking through that and we’ll decide in the next couple weeks.

On using Cam Newton to help with recruiting:

“Cam is like a son of mine. I’m very proud of him and what he’s accomplished at the next level and what type of person he is. We’re extremely close and he’ll be visiting Arkansas State I’m sure numerous times and be around as much as he can."

ASU opens spring practice  on March 12.

Tagged: Olive Garden, P.F. Chang's, Gus Malzahn, WJOX, Auburn Tigers, ASU Red Wolves, Boise State Broncos, Michael Dyer, Cam Newton, Arkansas State Red Wolves