Tulsa Native Bringing Top Football Talent To Arkansas

By Kyle Dierking, NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- He's a familiar face. From playing for his father at Tulsa Washington to being OU's QB in the mid-‘90's, he's a son of the Sooner State. Now he's back in the region - another role, another wrinkle - recruiting the top talent from the Tulsa-area.

"I'm just a regular guy like everybody else, it's just that my job is to coach football at the University of Arkansas," said Garrick McGee. "My dad always taught me, like when I was the quarterback at Oklahoma, which is a big time deal here in state of Oklahoma, he would always say, ‘you're just another guy - never forget that.'"

Garrick McGee hasn't stepped too far out of the spotlight. Fourteen years after playing his last game at Oklahoma, he's now the quarterbacks coach for the Razorbacks.

"I can come in here and sell a product that's just as good as anybody else in the country," McGee said. "I'm really proud of that. I really enjoy coming in and selling Arkansas and I like coming into Oklahoma recruiting."

And he hasn't wasted any time touting recruits on his home turf. After only having five Green Country players signed with Arkansas during the past five years, the Razorbacks inked four recruits from the area in its latest recruiting class.

"We consider it a border state for us, which it is. Tulsa's the next big city," McGee said. "It's important for us to come in and recruit Tulsa hard. I'm a Tulsa kid. I want to see our team load up with Tulsa athletes."

His late father, Larry, would be proud. Larry McGee was the head coach at Booker T. Washington from 1981 to 1989. He passed away in 2007.

"I've got a lot of connections in this town, of course because of my dad," McGee said. "He knew a lot of people in this town and he did a lot of things that helped out a lot of people in this city. I was always with him at all times."

And he's still helping Garrick recruit the Tulsa-area.

"It's a combination; everything's in place at Arkansas for me to come in here and sell and my dad has all the connections lined up. All I've got to do is not screw it up pretty much," McGee laughed.

Arkansas Football Signees From Oklahoma

2003: None

2004: Zack Snider, LB, Tulsa Union

2005: Felix Jones, RB, Booker T. Washington

2006: Chris Wade, DT, Miami

2007: Tim Dial, LB, Jenks; Michael Harris, RB, Booker T. Washington

2008: None

2009: Alvin Bailey, OL, Broken Arrow; David Gordon, DB, East Central; Robert Thomas, DL, Muskogee; Terrell Williams, LB, Tulsa Union

The Razorbacks 2010 Oklahoma Targets (According to Rivals.com)

Darryl Fields, RB, Madill

Denton Simek, OL, Prague

Trayvon Henry, LB, OKC Millwood

Eric Bennett, ATH, Booker T. Washington

Calvin Barnett, DT, Booker T. Washington

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