Monday, Nov. 19, 2012
University of Arkansas Student-Run Newspaper Since 1906
Vol. 107, No. 55
Cobi Hamilton:
A Breakout Performer In a Dismal Season Andrew Hutchinson Staff Writer D eb orah Hamilton didn’t let her son play football growing up because it was too violent and she didn’t want him to get hurt. Instead, Cobi Hamilton played baseball as a centerfielder. From his childhood years until his freshman year in high school, he played with guys like former Razorback second baseman Bo Bigham and current Razorback pitcher Randall Fant. “In my mind, he was a baseball player,” Deborah Hamilton said. Then, one day in P.E., he was playing football with some of his friends. One of them threw Cobi the ball and he caught the pass, as well as the attention of the football coaches.
Late Bloomer When Hamilton joined the Texas High football team in Texarkana, Texas, he was just a “tall, thin kid,” Texas High head coach Barry Norton said. Because he had never played football before, Hamilton needed to start with the basics. As an underclassman, he worked with an assistant coach on his running form every morning. “Early on he was just learning to play, but he was a guy I saw potential in,” Norton said. “Once he learned how to run, he won the 200-meter state championship in track.” Hamilton brought that speed to the field and started to develop it over his junior season. That season, he caught 29 passes for 726 yards and seven touchdowns. By the time his senior year rolled around, he was primed for a breakout season. “He worked extremely hard,” Norton said. “He would stay after practice and work even more. Every Thursday, he would make the quarterbacks stay with him and work on routes.” His hard work paid
off in the form of 64 receptions for 14 touchdowns and a single-season school record of 1,071 yards. He was named the All-Northeast Texas Offensive Player of the Year as awards started piling up. Rivals.com rated him as the No. 63 receiver in the country, Scout.com rated him as No. 108 in the country, and he earned All-District and AllArea honors. Nine Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division IA, schools offered Hamilton a scholarship, including Auburn, Oklahoma State and Texas.
Becoming a Razorback However, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his mother and become an Arkansas Razorback. Deborah Hamilton, formerly Deborah Cooper, was a guard on the 1976-77 Razorback women’s basketball team and was one of the first two African-American women to play basketball at Arkansas. When Hamilton arrived as part of the 2009 recruiting class, Arkansas had a lot of depth at wide receiver. In the 2008 recruiting class, Joe Adams, Greg Childs and Jarius Wright signed with the Razorbacks. “I put in a lot of time being behind all of those great receivers and learning the little things from them,” Hamilton said. Although he didn’t get a lot of passes thrown his way, he did show flashes of great play. Against Mississippi State, as a freshman, Hamilton caught three passes for 131 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown and 58-yard touchdown. During his sophomore year, he caught seven passes for 111 yards against South Carolina and had a breakout performance against LSU in Little Rock. After his first reception lost a yard, his next two receptions were 80- and 85-yard touchdowns. The second came as time expired in the second quarter, giving Arkansas a 21-14 lead at the half, which ultimately led to a victory and Sugar Bowl berth. During his junior year, he had one 100-yard game, with 132 yards against New Mexico, but again, he wasn’t consistent throughout the season. “When we had Jarius, Joe and Greg here, everyone talked about Cobi as the 200-meter guy that takes a while to get going, but when he gets down field, he can really blow by some people,” senior quarterback Tyler Wilson said. So as he did in high school, Hamilton started working with an assistant coach, but this time he was looking to improve his quickness, not speed.
Stellar Senior Season “I got real serious in the weight room two years ago, and I really wanted to focus on my quickness off the line of scrimmage,” Hamilton said. Hamilton’s statistics prove that his work paid off yet again. He has become much more consistent and evolved from the “200 meter guy.” Coming into the season, he only had four 100-yard receiving games in 39 games, but has matched that total through just 11 games this season. “He’s explosive,” Wilson said. “He’s done a great job of figuring out how to get off the line quicker and that has made him such a dynamic receiver.” UA offensive coordinator Paul Petrino has also pointed to Hamilton’s quickness as something that makes him stand out among other receivers. “He has an ability to stop and get out of his breaks,” Petri-
see HAMILTON page 11
Logan Webster Staff Photographer
Change in Venue Boost in Economy LSU game should have a good impact on local economy, but officials say game will hopefully be moved back to Little Rock in the future. Full Story, Page 4
New Bar Away from Dickson
When it comes to bars, most people, including locals, do not know the hidden gems outside of the Dickson vicinity. Full Story, Page 6.
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