WHITE HALL — Jeremy Sprinkle signed the paperwork in front of the student body, coaches and administration Wednesday morning at White Hall.
Sprinkle made it official: He’s going to be an Arkansas Razorback.
As the cheerleaders performed special cheers, the student body applauded and the coaches smiled in recognition, Sprinkle sat quietly with his mother and father, Billy and Sheila, absorbing it all. His father picked up the Arkansas helmet that had been placed on the table and said, “We are whole hog.”
It could have been very different for Sprinkle, who reportedly will be transformed into a tight end in Fayetteville. He was a wide receiver for White Hall coach Mike Vaughn during his senior season where he led the team with 45 catches for 841 yards and six touchdowns. But it wasn’t until the third game of the year that Sprinkle began to shine.
“We lost our first two games of the year trying to run the ball,” Vaughn said. “So I had to make a decision that we were going to start throwing it. We went to a shotgun spread and started throwing it around and started having some success. And it allowed us to get the ball to (Sprinkle) more.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Sprinkle caught only eight passes his junior year for 147 yards and 3 touchdowns. It was the movement to the spread offense that put Sprinkle on the map and garnered the recognition necessary to attract the staff at Arkansas.
“It was a big change for us moving to a different offense,” Sprinkle admitted. “It really helped get me the ball more. I’m really thankful for my coach. That was important for me as well as the team.”
And the team benefited. After an 0-3 start put the Bulldogs in an early hole, Sprinkle and the spread went on a nine-game winning streak that ended in the semifinals of the Class 5A playoffs.
As the Bulldogs were seeing more and more success, Sprinkle was seeing more and more letters of interest. He received letters from basically every school in the Southeastern Conference but narrowed his decision to Arkansas pretty quickly.
“It feels good to get it off my chest and get it over with,” Sprinkle said as students filed out of the gymnasium. “I really like the coaches up there. I’ve been up there for several camps. Not many people actually get this opportunity.”
He looked up as students and faculty exited the building and added, “It’s very exciting having the school and community supporting me. I’m very thankful for it.”
Sprinkle’s father said this is not a complete surprise to him.
“I’m just so proud of him,” Billy Sprinkle said. “I knew he had a lot of potential to do something big. And I believe he is on his way to doing something big. I just can’t say enough about my son. I am just so proud of him.”
And with obvious emotions inside, a stoic mother recalled what it took to reach this plateau.
“It was mostly on him, his dedication and desire to reach higher goals,” Shelia Sprinkle said. “It was also a lot of driving and a lot of laundry. A lot of reminders.”
“He’s kind of forgetful about things. He didn’t always know which uniform he was supposed to wear…which socks…”
Shelia won’t have to concern herself about the color of Jeremy’s socks next football season as his football apparel will be laundered by university staff. And with the school colors at White Hall basically the same as Arkansas, red, white and black, the socks shouldn’t be a problem either.
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Arkansas football signees
Vin Ascolese, LB, 6-3, 220, North Bergen, N.J., High; Cordale Boyd, OL, 6-3, 303, Memphis, Tenn. Ridgeway High; Ray Buchanan Jr., CB, 5-11, 180, Suwanee, Ga., Peachtree Ridge High; Jared Collins, CB, 6-0, 170, Tulsa, Okla., Booker T. Washington HS; D’Arthur Cowan, WR, 6-3, 180, Olive Branch, Miss., High; Demetrius Dean, TE, 6-3, 250, Fayetteville High; Austin Flynn, DE, 6-5, 260, Torrance, Calif. (Los Angeles Harbor College); Keon Hatcher, WR, 6-2, 195, Owasso, Okla., High; Eric Hawkins, WR, 5-11, 170, Longview, Texas, High; Will Hines, CB, 6-0, 187, Waco, Texas, High;
Nate Holmes, RB, 6-1, 180, Port Arthur, Texas, Memorial High; Taiwan Johnson, DE, 6-3, 238, Manvel, Texas, High; Brandon Lewis, DE, 6-5, 235, Memphis Ridgeway High; Defonta Lowe, S, 6-3, 190, Bearden High; Otha Peters, LB, 6-2, 225, Covington, La., High; Darius Philon, DT, 6-1, 280, Mobile, Ala., Vigor High; Donovan Roberts, RB, 6-0, 204, Norman, Okla., High; Jeremy Sprinkle, ATH, 6-6, 220, White Hall High; A.J. Turner, LB, 6-2, 212, East Poinsett County High; Jeremy Ward, OL, 6-4, 290, Pottsville High; Jonathan Williams, RB, 5-11, 210, Allen, Texas, High; Demetrius Wilson, WR, 6-3, 180, Glendale, Ariz. (Glendale Community College); JaMichael Winston, DE, 6-6, 238, Mobile Vigor High; Deatrich Wise Jr., DE, 6-5, 236, Carrollton, Texas, Hebron High