Talent show

Sporting News, The, Jan 20, 1997 by C.L. Brown, Mike White, David McNab

The bowl season is over; Florida has been crowned national champion. What's a college football fan do to get a fix between now and the Kickoff Classic? Try a spoonful of recruiting and call us during two-a-day drills. The countdown to signing day, February 5, has begun. To prime you on the prime prospects, we had Bobby Burton of The National Recruiting Advisor rank the top 50 offensive and defensive prospects. We'll provide a wrap on the recruiting season in our February 17 issue. Until then, let the wooing begin.

SANKS: Strength and speed make him super

Jasper Sanks may not be the nation's best running back. In fact, some runners may have better speed, others more power and superior field vision. But none has a better jump shot.

Sanks, who rushed for 5,043 yards during his career at Carver High School in Columbus, Gal, is as talented shooting basketballs as he is shaking tacklers. The list of Division I programs pursuing Sanks the football player would make any blue-chipper green with envy. Florida, Florida State, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Auburn have come calling.

It seems everyone wants to take a look at Sanks. Carver coach Wallace Davis says two of Sanks' game tapes have fallen apart from being dubbed so much. Chances are, a few of Sanks' basketball tapes will suffer the same fate.

"He's been recruited as much for basketball as he has for football," Carver basketball coach Richard Mahone says.

At 6-3,217, Sanks could pull a Bo Jackson wherever he decides to attend college. Clemson, Louisiana State and Mississippi State already have offered him the option of playing football and basketball, but it's difficult to tell which sport suits Sanks best.

Sanks, who's compared to Herschel Walker, rushed for more than 2,000 yards with 20 touchdowns as a junior. Last season, he was hobbled by an ankle injury early but still managed to run for 1,356 yards and score 12 touchdowns.

"He's a total package," Davis says. "He has a rare combination of speed and strength."

On the basketball court, Sanks averaged 19 points as a sophomore and 23 as a junior. Through 14 games this season, he was averaging 21 points.

"He's strong for his size; he can post up better than anyone on our team," Mahone says. "At the same time, he's a great long-range shooter."

Thus far, Sanks has visited Louisiana State and Georgia and says his remaining three visits "will fall into place."

--C.L. Brown

ARRINGTON: It's just the beginning

Imagine being considered one of the all-time greats when you're only 18 years old. For LaVar Arrington, it's a reality.

Last season, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette polled more than 130 coaches in western Pennsylvania and asked each to name the best high school football player they had ever seen. Guess who finished seventh? Arrington, a senior linebacker/running back at North Hills High School in suburban Pittsburgh. The No. 1 vote-getter was Tony Dorsett; Dan Marino was No. 2.

Arrington, a 6-4, 225-pound package of speed and strength, has been special his entire life. Last spring, he went out for track for the first time and at one point was the top sprinter in western Pennsylvania, having run the 100 meters in 10.8; at the Penn State camp last summer, he ran the 40 in 4.4. Every college wanted him, but Arrington chose the Nittany Lions last spring.

"You just don't see people built like him who are able to do the things he can do," North Hills coach Jack McCurry says.

Getting to this point in his career has been difficult at times for Arrington. His family moved from Pittsburgh to a predominantly white suburb when Arrington was a preschooler. He was pulled out of the North Hills school district in second grade because of racial problems. He then attended a school in the city with more black children until the seventh grade, when he returned to the North Hills district.

Arrington is happy in North Hills now. He finished his career with 352 tackles, 10 interceptions, 4,357 rushing yards, 47 receptions and 72 touchdowns. He fumed in perhaps the play of his career last season, when North Hills' defense faced a fourth-and-2 at its 1 2-yard line. When the ball was snapped, Arrington dove over the center's head and tackled the quarterback for a 3-yard loss.

"It's more impressive on film because you can slow it down," McCurry says. "It actually looks like he's flying. Here's a 6-4 guy flying over the line."

--Mike White

WARREN: A Tyler rose

David Warren's most impressive accomplishment this season may be that he's regarded as the consensus No. 1 prospect in Texas, a state that prides itself in producing a bushel-full of blue-chip talent every year.

Warren has been considered Texas' top defensive player the past two years. His ability to wreak havoc against offenses, chase down speedy running backs, block kicks and even make some catches as a tight end have been a key for John Tyler High in Tyler.

Warren, a 6-4, 230-pounder, plays defensive end, and he also is a sprinter on the track team who advanced to the state's regional meet as a junior with a time of 21.6 seconds in the 200 meters. In addition Warren plays basketball and is trying to fit recruiting visits in between his team's games.