Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

National Recruiting Analyst Max Emfinger has evaluated football recruiting classes longer than any of the recruits in the Class of 2011 have lived, and this year Emfinger is very impressed with what Arkansas' Bobby Petrino and his staff have been able to do.

Emfinger currently has Arkansas rated No. 10 in the nation with its 28 verbal commitments. Emfinger is especially impressed with one position of Arkansas' class.

"I have watched film on every single kid they have," Emfinger said. "They have some really good wide receivers in this class. I have three of their receivers rated a six star or better, and all three are among the best recruits in this class."

The trio of receivers that have caught Emfinger's eye are Forrest City's Davyon McKinney (6-foot-3, 180 pounds, 4.49 in the 40-yard dash), Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith's Quinta Funderburk (6-5, 200, 4.5) and New Berlin (N.Y.) Milford Prep's Marquel Wade (6-1, 185, 4.49). Emfinger also has high praise for Alpharetta (Ga.) Chattahoochee's Kane Whitehurst (5-11 1/2, 170, 4.4) and East St. Louis (Ill.) speedster Keante Minor (6-2, 194, 4.45).

"Funderburk is a real freak," Emfinger said. "He had over 30 scholarship offers and on film is a Greg Childs clone. McKinney gave Arkansas an early commitment in the summer and his stock never moved up."

Wade and Funderburk are at Arkansas attending classes and set to go through spring drills. Emfinger has Alabama No. 1 in the nation followed by LSU at No. 5, Florida No. 7 and Georgia No. 9.

"The art of recruiting is the eye of the beholder," Emfinger said. "Arkansas has been very successful under coach Petrino."

Rivals.com and Emfinger and all the other recruiting services rate Springdale Har-Ber offensive tackle Brey Cook (6-7, 314, 5.2) extremely high. Cook is also on campus and set to go through practice this spring. Rivals.com rates Cook a 4-star recruit and Emfinger feels Arkansas is getting a great player.

"Cook is one of the best in the country at his position and just happens to be from Arkansas," Emfinger said. "I think he and Mitch Smothers are among the best in the nation."

Smothers (6-4, 291, 5.16) is from Springdale High School and chose the Razorbacks over Alabama, Auburn and others. Fayetteville quarterback Brandon Allen (6-2, 214, 4.7) and tight end Demetrius Dean (6-3, 250, 4.7) are also headed to Arkansas and Emfinger feels both will be nice additions to the UA.

"Allen is one of the best and most accurate passing quarterbacks in the country," Emfinger said. "Allen hasn't been labeled an athletic quarterback, but he's very capable of running the football. Dean is another beast at his position and capable of playing other positions."

Arkansas has also hit the junior colleges for a trio of additions that should impact the team immediately. Phoenix (Ariz.) College linebacker Alonzo Highsmith (6-1, 215, 4.6), Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College defensive lineman Robert Thomas (6-2, 330, 4.93) and Gardena (Calif.) Citrus Community College offensive lineman Jason Peacock (6-4, 325, 5.3) all are talented recruits targeted by Arkansas to make an impact in 2011. Thomas is on campus and will participate in spring practice.