Cave City lineman takes wait and see approach

October 30, 2009 – 6:00 am

Cave City defensive/offensive lineman Alan Wright’s recruiting is in the wait-and-see mode.
“I sent out my highlight film about two weeks ago,” Wright said. “I’m just waiting to see what everybody thinks about that. The larger schools haven’t given out any offers and I’m waiting to see what they have to say about my highlight film.”

Wright, 6-5, 280, 5.0 has scholarship offers from Arkansas State and Central Arkansas and is drawing interest from Arkansas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, Memphis and others.

“I’ve been getting more attention from Ole Miss and I’ve gotten more mail from Arkansas and other places.” said Wright, who plays defensive end and nose tackle on defense and right tackle on offense.

Wright, who has impressive numbers in the weight room with a 330-pound bench press, 600 squat and a 265 power clean to go along with a time of 4.62-seconds in the pro-shuttle, is getting a look on both sides of the ball.

“Missouri State has said they would take me as an offensive or defensive lineman,” Wright said.

Wright, who worked out with a personal trainer and added about 50 pounds during the summer, said he’s been attended games at Arkansas State and Ole Miss and is planning to attend a game at Arkansas and Central Arkansas.

“The size I’ve put on during the offseason and the speed I’ve also gained has been tremendous in helping me as a player,” Wright said. “Last year I was 220-230 pounds and instead of being pushed around I’m the one doing the pushing around.”

“The biggest thing with him is that everybody wanted to see him move at 285-pounds compared to what he looked like last year,” Coach Bradley said. “Every coach that’s visited the school and looked at film at his current weight has been real impressed with him and how he rolls his hips and how he gets underneath people. His pass blocking has definitely improved by going to camps over the summer.

I think he has close to 50 pancake blocks We’re seeing different defenses than what we saw last year and he’s not getting as many opportunities to get those blocks. Last year he had a 104 pancake blocks. This year he’s lining up and having to block linebackers more often.

While he’s up in the 280-pound range, Wright thinks he can add more weight in the future.

“I think in college I can gain even more weight,” he said. “Also speed is going to come along with that.”

With schools still evaluating him, Wright is staying positive about the recruiting process.

“It makes me feel like I have something to prove,” Wright said. “I kind of like that in way but also I wish they would offer but I understand they want to see people mature during their senior season but honestly it fuels me and makes me want to play harder.”