Fred Bledsoe has two favorites
Little Rock Central defensive tackle Fred Bledsoe is one of two highly recruited prospects in Arkansas that remains uncommitted.
Bledsoe, 6-foot-4, 290 pounds, led his team to the class AAAAA State Championship, and an undefeated season. Rivals.com rates him the nation’s No. 32 defensive tackle prospect. He has been timed at 4.79-seconds in the 40-yard dash.
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Bledsoe is considering Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma State. He will visit the Okie State on Jan. 9, and he will visit the Hogs on Jan. 23. Bledsoe visited the Vols on Dec. 12, and he hopes to get one set with Florida soon. However, he has an idea of where he will end up.
“It’s probably going to come down between [Tennessee] and Arkansas,” Bledsoe said.
The biggest story in Arkansas over a week-old year was the courtship of Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt by Nebraska Athletic Director Steve Pederson. Nutt turned down the job, and in his press conference he made a statement, likely aimed to Bledsoe, and Little Rock Parkview tight end Marc Winston, 6-foot-6, 235 pounds.
“I need two or three more recruits in the state of Arkansas to come and join me," said Nutt in last weeks press conference.”
Bledsoe missed the press conference. He was pleased to here Nutt’s message, but he noted that a lot of coaches make strong efforts to let him know how much they want him.
“Man, I thank coach Nutt for respecting me like that,” Bledsoe said. “I’m going to wait until signing day to sign. There’s a lot of coaches out there doing a lot to get me. That was nice of him to say that.”
Bledsoe said he would not have blamed Nutt if he bolted for Nebraska, but his next response was surprising.
“I was thinking if Houston took the job at Nebraska and they offered me a scholarship, that I would go with him to Nebraska,” Bledsoe said. “I really want to be around a great team and school. I want to be on a championship caliber team.”
Despite all that, Bledsoe did say that he felt Nutt made the right choice. He said, “You gotta do what you gotta do. I guess he made the right choice.”
Now, it is up to the Arkansas coaches to show Bledsoe that Arkansas is a championship caliber team. There was only one game all season where Arkansas was overmatched, or where they did not have a chance to win. If the coaches can convince Bledsoe that Arkansas has almost arrived, they may land him.
On the other hand, Tennessee has proven they can compete for a national title in recent years. They won it all six years ago, which is the same year Arkansas started 8-0 before an unlikely, late fumble cost the Razorbacks the game. The Vols are coming off a 10-3 season, and Arkansas finished 9-4.
It all comes down to how Bledsoe sees it on the first Wednesday in February.
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