Arkansas Lands McKay

In his weekly recruiting column, Dudley E. Dawson writes about how Louisville (KY) Moore wide receiver MeKale McKay (6-6, 190, 4.4) chose Arkansas over Ole Miss on Thursday and how he will also play basketball for the Razorbacks. This story is free and sponsored by the Arkansas Toyota Dealers.

Both the Arkansas football and basketball teams landed a recruit - and it happened to be the same guy.

Louisiville (KY) Moore wide receiver/small forward MeKale McKay (6-6, 190, 4.4) announced Tuesday that he would be a Razorback over a month after the national signing date.

“I am just so happy,” McKay told The Courier-Journal minutes after his signing. “I told every program that I wanted to play both sports, I don’t want to sell myself short. They were all about that and I am just so excited to be a Razorback.”

McKay – who becomes the Razorbacks’ 25th player in the 2012 class - chose Arkansas over Ole Miss and will be on football scholarship, but will also play basketball.

Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino was obviously pleased with the late addition.

"We are excited to add Mekale to what we feel like is a very fast and athletic class," Petrino said. "Mekale is a big, strong receiver with great hands who has an extremely physical style of play. We've led the SEC in passing the last three seasons and our goal each year is to accomplish that. Mekale joins a talented group of incoming receivers that combine to bring a number of different strengths to the field."

McKale clearly fell in love with Arkansas' offensive system.

“The intelligence of the system with the coaching staff and players was really impressive,” McKay said. “Those guys do an excellent job with formation and confusion of the defense. They go hard every day like it’s a game day.

“I live by the rule when you work hard everything pays off. I can’t wait.”

During his official visit, he was able to talk with offensive coordinator Paul Petrino about what his role would be.

“They believe that with my size, speed and athletic ability that I can come in and make an impact right away as a freshman,” McKay said after his official visit to Arkansas . “They are planning on playing me at both the inside and outside receiver spots and make it tough for the defensive backs to match up with my size.”

He had originally committed to UTEP, but backed out right before signing day and opened back up his recruitment.

McKay ended up taking visits to both Arkansas and Ole Miss.

He caught 38 passes for 894 yards and 13 touchdowns this season and also averaged 17 points and 6.4 rebounds for his basketball team while being named the Region 6 co-player of the year.

He also had offers from Kentucky, Indiana, Cincinnati, Illinois, Louisville, Marshall and Central Florida.

“I am going to be all about football during basketball season and then go over and try to help win basketball games when we wrap up football season,” McKay said.

Mustangs head coach Shedrick Jones recently summed up McKay’s skills on the basketball court.

“He’s played all five positions for us this year, and we’re very, very blessed that he has that capability,” Jones told the Louisville Courier-Journal. “It’s really scary when you think it’s only his fourth year of organized basketball and he’s doing what he’s doing.”





MeKale McKay