Little Rock Christian RB Damarea Crockett Discusses Verbal Commitment to Boise State

Written by Ryan Wright

On Monday night a shockwave was sent across the state of Arkansas, an event in retrospect many should have seen coming. While on an unofficial visit to Boise State Little Rock Christian running back Damarea Crockett verbally committed to the Broncos leaving many high school and college football fans in Arkansas full of more questions than answers.

Crockett started receiving heavy recruiting interest after rushing for over 1,200 yards with 16 touchdowns as a junior. The 5’11”, 205-210 pound, athlete added another 250 yards in the passing game with another three scores. An early offer came in from Memphis but then more teams started watching tape and inquiring about Crockett leading to offers from Arizona State, Louisiana-Monroe, Navy, Yale, Vanderbilt, Army, Louisiana Tech, and Arkansas State. The one offer that never came was from the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Arkansas staff has gone all in on a couple of Class of 2016 running backs hoping that loyalty to a few will be returned on National Signing Day with a signed letter of intent. In the meantime, other talented backs like Crockett have started looking in other directions to find their own niche and give their immediate future a new direction walking away from the Razorbacks in spirit.

In a Recruiting News Guru exclusive interview I sat down with Damarea to get the inside scoop on his verbal commitment to Boise State and one last insight on the Arkansas Razorbacks recruiting process.

Interview
Damarea, what influenced you to commit to Boise State this early in the recruiting process?

“It just felt like family, it felt right when I got here. The facilities and everything looked nice, everything was nice. I loved it. It was more than what I expected.”

How did the commitment take place?

“I was talking to Coach (Lee) Marks (running backs coach), once I got back to my hotel I called my mom. I told her I wanted to be a Bronco.”

Did you have a relationship with Coach Marks when he was at Arkansas State?

“No I didn’t.”

What was Coach Marks’ reaction when you committed?

“They were all fired up and happy. They were just happy.”

How did you feel at that moment when you verbally committed?

“Before I committed I was just – it was just something that you know – I wanted to commit. I wanted to see it before I committed. When I got here it exceeded my expectations then I definitely had to commit.”

How did you feel after you committed?

“It was a relief being done with recruiting. I felt comfortable.”

Are you taking any official visits other than one to Boise State during your senior year?

“No sir, I will not take any official visits other than to Boise State my senior year.”

Have the coaches talked about how they will utilize your skill set once on campus?

“They just want me to come in and work hard. They want me to start at the back of the line and work my way up. They just want to use me how they’ve used every other running back they have had.”

Do you plan on recruiting other players to join you?

“Definitely. My first target is John Tate from Pine Bluff Arkansas.”

How are you going to pitch him to join you? What will you tell him?

“I’m going to be honest with him. I’m going to tell him it’s a great place. We’re going to go on our official visit at same time. When he gets up there he’ll see it’s really a family. It’s unlike any other school we’ve been to. We visited Arkansas together, it wasn’t like this. There is a different feel at Boise State. Everybody is together on and off the field.”

I have to ask, what about the cold weather at Boise? What will it be like when it starts snowing there for you?

“The way everybody talks about it, it’s going to be cold no matter where you play. If you want to go to the NFL you’ll have to play in Philly or in Green Bay one day. So you might as well get used to it.”

In regards to Arkansas, what are your thoughts about the Razorbacks? I think they were honest with you that they had a couple of targets in mind that they had offered and wanted to see how it went with them first. Are you upset by that?

“They told me – I couldn’t do anything about it but accept it. I felt disrespected but I just had to move on with my life. I’m not dwelling on it. It doesn’t matter now.”

Photo credit: twitter.com; Damarea Crockett
Photo credit: twitter.com; Damarea Crockett with Coach Marks