Interview: Little Rock 2016 RB Damarea Crockett Finds New Home with Missouri Tigers

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

Validation for success can come in many forms, especially in high school football. Success can be a recruiting ranking, a stat line, and/or a winning record on the field. Little Rock Christian Academy running back Damarea Crockett had all of those things. The one thing that was, from the outside looking in, painfully withheld was SEC caliber worthiness. On Saturday the Arkansas Class of 2016 talent got his validation.

Crockett entered his senior season with a well-placed chip on his shoulder. The 6’0”, 212 pound, running back had wrapped up a highly productive junior campaign rushing for over 1,200 yards with 16 touchdowns, totaling over 1,600 all-purpose yards, 19 total touchdowns. He went on to show his physical capabilities at the Nike SPARQ combines posting a Day 1 score of 124.62 and then bested himself on Day 2 nailing a 128.22. Among the display of speed and power included a 4.4 time in the 40-yard dash, a vertical jump of 40.3, a shuttle run of 4.0, and a power ball toss of 37 feet. The scores led the nation at that time.

Growing up in Little Rock, Crockett was a fan of in-state powerhouse Arkansas. He visited the Hogs in April and camped with them in June, running a 4.45, but still did not get the offer he had hoped to receive. The first offer that came in was from Memphis and then the recruiting flood gates opened up with Louisiana Tech, Arkansas State, Colorado State, Boise State, Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Army, Navy, and Louisiana-Monroe. The Boise State offer turned out to be the big offer with Crockett committing on July 13.

The chip on the shoulder grew because an in-state offer from the Razorbacks did not come and some analysts believed he was not a SEC caliber running back. The slight goes to both Crockett and Vanderbilt, add Arizona State and the Pac-12 in there as well. Crockett finished his senior year with over 2,000 total yards, 31 total touchdowns, 1,627 rushing yards along with 29 touchdowns, a 4-star ranking on Rivals, and had guided the Warriors to a 12-1 record before falling to eventual state champs Pulaski Academy in the third round of the playoffs (semifinals).

The last piece of validation came when the Missouri Tigers rolled the dice attempting to lure Crockett away from Boise State. The play worked for the 2013 and 2014 SEC East Division champs. The offer and acceptance also leaves an egg on the face of many of the doubters along the way. Crockett has legitimate 4.4 speed and is more than just a straightaway runner showing shiftiness in space and the ability to get back to full speed quickly. Although not a focus of the offense, he can also catch the rock out of the backfield. Crockett can also contribute on special teams running kickoffs back for touchdowns for Little Rock Christian. If there is a knock, and that is a slight one, he may run up and down too often through the hole, but that is something easily fixed with time and coaching.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview I caught up with Damarea after he returned home from his official visit to Columbia when he flipped from Boise State to the Missouri Tigers. In his own words, Damarea explains the reasons behind his decision and gives insight to how the trip went for the now “SEC” caliber running back.

Interview

Damarea, first, congratulations on your commitment to Missouri.

“Thank you.”

Obviously the trip went really well.

“It went very well. It was lovely.”

If you will, breakdown the trip for me from the time you got to Columbia.

“When I got there, the first thing they had for me was a huge box of pizza waiting. They took me to the hotel and then later I met the coaches and my host. Then we hung out with the players. It was a family atmosphere there. They took me in right away like I was one of their own.”

Who was your host?

“Jason Reese (sophomore TE from Euless, Texas).”

When you talked to the coaches what did they talk to you about to help convince you Missouri was the place for you?

“They talked to me about how important this recruiting class is for Mizzou. It’s not the future of Mizzou but one that needs to help Mizzou get back to where it was. They want us to come in and learn the tradition from the older guys and work hard to get the program back to where it was.”

When you toured the campus, saw the facilities, and met the students, what stood out to you?

“The campus was beautiful. Everything stood out to me. The buildings were nice, the facilities were A-I, the stadium was huge, and the school had a big atmosphere.”

This might be a touchy subject but one I’m sure a lot of people are interested in finding out more about. What was the tipping point for you going from Boise State to Missouri?

“It was – the thing that tipped me, nothing against Boise State, not that I did not like them but I felt like Missouri was a better opportunity for me and closer to home. The campus is just six hours away from home and I get to play against the Hogs every year.”

I was going to ask you about that. Was the fact that you get to lineup against Arkansas every year over the next three or four years a motivating factor for you in your commitment with Missouri?

“Ah – it wasn’t the main reason but it was a pro for me when committing to Mizzou.”

Was playing in the SEC a factor for you as well?

“Oh yeah.”

Did you have a hand in Markell Utsey (DT – Little Rock Parkview, AR) flipping from Arizona to Missouri?

“I told him, I was decommitting from Boise. He told me he was thinking about doing the same with Arizona. I told him, “Bro, I’m about to do it. We’re in a similar situation. We’re both far from home but can be closer to home and play in a great conference.”

There is a limited time left before National Signing Day, but are you going to try to recruit some players to join you at Missouri?

“I’m not sure yet but were going to try to get as many people as we can this last week and half.”

What did you do or what will you do to celebrate your commitment to Missouri?

“I’m not sure yet. I celebrated well Saturday night. We went to Jason Reese’s house and had a bunch of people over.”

Sounds like fun. We’ll leave it at that. Damarea, again, congratulations on your commitment to Missouri and good luck with the Tigers.

“Thank you.”

Photo credit: Crockett family: Damara at Missouri.