Arkansas Football: Bumper Pool recalls the time Nick Saban offered him a scholarship
Bumper Pool, an Arkansas football fan favorite, recently recalled his recruitment process on The Hog Pod with Bo Mattingly
It’s hard to imagine senior linebacker Bumper Pool playing for someone other than Arkansas football, but the gifted, Lovejoy (Texas) High School football player was highly sought after by a dozen or so college football teams.
Before committing to the Hogs in 2016, Pool received offers from teams such as LSU, Texas A&M, USC, Michigan– and Alabama.
On a recent episode of his weekly podcast, sportscaster Bo Mattingly, asked Pool to recount the time Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban offered him a college football scholarship.
“I had to do a camp beforehand,” Pool said. “Me and Najee Harris had to do a little one-on-one rep in front of the whole camp and thank goodness the quarterback gave him a bad ball and I kinda made a play on it,” he said.
“It was just kind of like a crazy day, because I didn’t expect to get an offer or anything like that. I went to [Saban’s] office afterwards and they offered me that day. It was just a great experience hearing him give his recruiting speech to me. I didn’t think I was worthy at the time– it was just a cool moment and something I’ll remember.”
Not many people tell Saban no, but it seems like it was an easy choice for Pool, who noted that he’s been a Razorback fan since he was a little kid back when he committed to Arkansas.
Bumper Pool, anchoring one of the best defenses in college football, is helping Arkansas hold it’s opponents to just 14.5 points per game. Pool is the SEC’s second leading tackler through Week 5, with 49 total tackles.
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The Razorbacks will need Pool playing his best when they take on Ole Miss in Week 6 of college football.