On The Trail

          UA jersey tour: OL Jalin Barnett

          For someone who only recently has taken football seriously, ESPN 300 offensive lineman Jalin Barnett has come a long way.

          Before high school, Barnett’s primary focus wasn’t on the football field. He was a gamer -- just not wearing pads and cleats. Video games, like many youngsters, fueled Barnett’s passion.

          “I was way more about Xbox and stuff like that,” Barnett said. “I loved 'Halo.' That was my game.”

          It was only until the seventh grade when he took football seriously. And it was around the middle of his freshman season when he actually began watching extensive amounts of football on TV. Coincidentally, this was about the same time he began garnering interest from college coaches.

          Fast-forward to Wednesday, and Barnett is the top-ranked player in the state of Oklahoma and also an Under Armour All-American. Barnett was the guest of honor during an Under Armour Game jersey presentation Wednesday at Lawton High School.

          At 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds, Barnett can play guard or tackle. He’s considered the nation’s top-ranked offensive guard and is ranked No. 43 in the ESPN 300. Barnett is 30 pounds leaner since the spring and said he notices the difference when he lines up on the ball.

          “It was getting kind of hard to move around,” Barnett said, referring to once being 330 pounds. “This summer, I worked hard. I knew if I got skinnier, I could move a lot better. Now I’m catching safeties.”

          Barnett has roughly a dozen offers but has trimmed his list to four schools -- Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arkansas and Oregon State. He’s taken an official visit to Arkansas and is looking forward to upcoming official visits.

          So what is about the four schools that attracts Barnett?

          “With Oregon State,” he said, “a couple of kid who went to my school are there. I like [offensive line] Coach [Mike] Cavanaugh. I have a great relationship with him. With Oklahoma State, a couple of our kids went to school there, too. I feel like that’s a really great team, and I like all the coaches.

          “With Oklahoma and Arkansas, I’ve been watching them for a while. They’ve really opened my eyes with the things that they do.”

          Barnett said none of the four schools lead the race, but many believe Oklahoma and Arkansas are running neck and neck for top billing. Barnett said he hopes to make a decision by the end of October.

          Some more random thoughts from Barnett:

          On who he's looking forward to seeing at the UA game: “I’m looking forward to playing side by side with Josh Wariboko. I met him at a couple of camps. I found out he did track, and I did track. He and I have gotten real cool.”

          Best player to play in the UA game: Jameis Winston

          Earliest football memory: “It was around when I first started, back in the third or fourth grade, I blocked two kids at once. I blocked an end and a safety coming off the edge.”

          Why do you wear your number? “I wear 77. I got it my freshman year. The kid in front of me just graduated, and he was pretty good. I wanted that number because I wanted to see if I can be better.”

          A “did you know” fact: “My shoe size is 18.”