I’m sure you’re right S.F. But he did blossom into a star.
Anthony Lucas was big time as well. After he got here maybe.
Yep Steve blossomed, so did Lucas. And really, so did Hampton. I don’t think any of them were KYSO recruits.
Keith Jackson is definitely one that got away. Mitchel too, although we got his son later. And we lost Basil Shabazz to baseball, which was not a good decision on his part. But he tried to play football later and did nothing of note.
A bevy of coaches and asst. coaches back then we had were phenomenal to say the least!
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Chuck Dicus- Bill Montgomery were no slouches either 
Yep. Dicus was another high school QB converted once he got to UA. Frank did that quite a lot. You don’t see it that much any more. Hornsby tried, sorta…
Frank was gifted in that area as well.
As I recall, Atwater was a QB coming out of high school. Doubt he’d have been considered 5-star.
Dan Hampton was a great player, but no way he would have been considered 5 star coming out of Jacksonville High School.
Chuck Dicus was a great player, but was a QB coming out of high school.
Bill Montgomery is one of my all-time favorites. He was highly rated and may have been 5-Star worthy.
Houston Dale Nutt would probably have been a 5-star coming out of LR Central. He was recruited by everyone. Got an in-home visit from Bear Bryant. Didn’t do much in college, but we are dealing with high school here.
I remember a lot of drama with the recruiting of Don Strubing of Sprindale (something about Springdale, I suppose). Was he a 5 star?
He left UA and went to UCA pretty quickly.
Terry McFarland, West Memphis . #1 rated running back and Bama (Bryant) recruit that signed with Ark. but injured shoulder and did not play much. Similar in ranking to H. Nutt. Dennis Winston, and Steve Little are possibilities. I know kickers never get that kind of rating but he was special. Leslie Oneal(sp) signed with Johnson at OSU was another highly rated defensive player in 70’s era.
5-stars are guys everybody wanted, and would go to any end to get them signed on the dotted line. That eliminates a lot of realy outstanding players.
One of the most underrated guys I remember was Carlos Hall. It was like, “ah, that is what they are supposed to look like now that we are in the SEC.” He was nowhere near a 5-star out of HS.
Position changes from HS film to college depth chart almost always disqualifies the player as a 5-star these days.
I was pretty sure Shawn Andrews was a 5 star, but if not, he should have been.
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According to 247, he was the #2 guard in the country that year and the #71 recruit overall, but that was only good enough for a 4-star.
Montgomery was as highly recruited a QB as there was in the nation the year he signed. He turned down Bear Bryant at Alabama, Texas and others.
I remember the first time I heard of him, living in the distant (at that time) outpost of El Paso, Texas, was when I saw his picture in the paper signing his LOI to be a Razorback.
El Paso was NOT Razorback country. The reason the picture was carried was that Montgomery was considered THE best passing QB recruit in the country.
Same thing happened 2 years later, when Broyles signed Joe Ferguson.
Of course, James Street (who went to the same high school as Loyd and Terry Don Phillips) also considered coming to Arkansas in that class, but picked EOE because we didn’t play in the SWC in baseball yet. Oh what might have been… Of course, to run JFB’s offense, Montgomery was probably a better choice than Slick Street.
Had Street come to Arkansas, he would almost certainly have ended up at defensive back…and been a damn good one, I’m sure (kind of like “Super Bill” Bradley before him). He would not have supplanted Montgomery in that offensive scheme.
Street might have been a wideout like Dicus, also a great high school quarterback.
I believe Jamie Newberg had Shawn as a 5 star. He might have been Brand X, as there were two services back then. He was the BEST offensive lineman in that class based on offers. And he was more highly regarded as a defensive tackle. He had a back issue that plagued him as a senior as a two-way player at Camden. His high school always said Shawn was a better DT than OL. Who knows? I don’t really recall the name of the services then but it might have been Rivals and Scout.
I’ve seen Shawn at a couple of recent LR Christian Hoops games. He looks like he could suit up and play right now, maybe at fullback.
He’s clearly taking care of himself.
Btw, his 9th grade son could be a 5 star hoops player in three years.