SIGNING DAY 2009 : West Helena's Winston highlights Razorbacks' 2009 commitments
According to star gazers, cornerback Darius Winston of Helena-West Helena Central leads a Razorback football recruiting class that will sign with the University of Arkansas today.
Today starts, and in the majority of cases finishes, the football signing period for graduating high school seniors and junior college transfers to sign national letters of intent with NCAA schools.
Winston is the lone 5-star recruit among Razorbacks-to-be according to Rivals.com. However with seven 4-star recruits among the class recruited by coach Bobby Petrino and staff, Rivals rates Arkansas with the nation's 15th-best recruiting class.
Team rankings and the number of stars applied to individuals of course are wildly subjective.
Some low stars, or even some with no stars at all like the late Brandon Burlsworth, the walk-on offensive guard from Harrison who blossomed into a 1998 Razorback All-American, conclude with careers way above some of the ones projected for stardom out of high school.
Still, that the Razorbacks rate so highly with recruiting pundits today does bring hope for a program that relied heavily on freshmen last year.
Petrino debuted 5-7, 2-6 in the SEC with a team depleted heavily from graduation and All-American running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones turning pro early from the Houston Nutt-coached 2007 Razorbacks.
Petrino already has three newcomers enrolled at the UA for the spring semester participating in weight lifting and conditioning readying for spring drills.
They are Knile Davis, a freshman mid-term graduate running back from Missouri City, Texas, and defensive back Andru Stewart, a junior college transfer Californian from the College of the Sequoias, and running back Broderick Green, a Pulaski Academy grad and transfer from the University of Southern California.
Under NCAA rules barring a NCAA-granted waiver, Green must redshirt in 2009 before gaining Razorback eligibility in 2010.
Davis, a 4-star recruit, and Stewart are eligible for the 2009 season.
Also eligible for 2009 are all expected to sign today provided they meet NCAA and UA academic eligibility standards which some have not yet achieved.
At least one player who has made a verbal commitment to Arkansas - commitments are non-binding until the letter of intent is signed - might not choose the UA.
Lance Ray, a wide receiver/defensive back from Havana, Fla., was reported Tuesday to be pondering Arkansas and Missouri.
In-state players committed to stay home with the Hogs include two from Helena-West Helena, cornerback Winston and safety/linebacker Turell Williams; wide receiver Neal Barlow, Pulaski Academy; offensive lineman Colby Berna, a 4-star recruit from Fayetteville; tight end/ defensive Rickey Hughey of Stamps and Lafayette County High; and tight end Austin Tate of Harrison.
This afternoon Petrino will hold a press conference discussing the class he and his staff have signed.
