Category: Arkansas recruiting

Three-star wide receiver commits to Arkansas

Antonio Jordan chose Arkansas over offers from Florida State, South Carolina, Tennessee and LSU.

Three-star in-state wide receiver Antonio Jordan committed to the Arkansas Razorbacks out of Warren High School on Sunday. He is the second wide receiver to commit to the Hogs for the class of 2025 and the 14th overall commitment Arkansas has received.

Jordan earned Class 4A All-State honors at Warren during his junior season. Florida State, South Carolina and Tennessee are schools that Arkansas beat out for Jordan’s commitment. Both 247Sports and On3 have Jordan listed as the eighth best receiver in Arkansas in the 2025 class heading into his senior season at Warren. 247Sports lists Jordan as the 121st best receiver in the nation entering 2024.

He is the second three-star receiver to commit to Arkansas from the class of 2025, joining Kamare Williams from Palm Beach Central High School in Florida. Jordan is listed as 6-foot-6, 230 pounds by 247Sports.

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Connor Howes is Arkansas’ second OL commit in as many days

Connor Howes is Arkansas’ first player rated higher than three stars in the 10-person class so far.

One day after Arkansas flipped a commit from Baylor to the Razorbacks, Sam Pittman and Co. grabbed another offensive line commitment in the Class of 2025.

Connor Howes, a four-star recruit from St. Cloud, Florida, became the 10th member of Arkansas’ class when he announced his commitment on Friday. Of the 10, three are offensive linemen, including Blake Cherry from Owasso, Oklahoma, and Kash Courtney from Carthage, Texas.

Arkansas’ class is now ranked 42nd in the country and 12th in the SEC, in front of Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Florida and Mississippi State. Kentucky and Florida each have more four-star commits than Arkansas, which only has one, but the lower number of overal commits keeps the Gators and Wildcats behind the Razorbacks for now. Howes is Arkansas’ lone four-star, though he is just a three-star in the 247Sports rankings.

When it comes to in-state recruiting, Arkansas has landed the fourth- and fifth-ranked players from the Natural State in the class. Two of the remaining three in the top five have not yet fully committed, though Carius Curne, from Marion, started with the Razorbacks before changing his mind for LSU. He is still taking recruiting trips elsewhere, however.

Four-star quarterback committed to Arkansas transfers to Conway

Reminder that the transfer portal, as it were, has been open in high-school sports for a lot longer than college.

Tne transfer portal is still open, looks like.

High-school football players have been transferring from school to school for a competitive advantage for generations. No transfer portal required. But now that one exists at the college level, high-schoolers moving draws a bit more interest than it once did.

That’s the case for Grayson Wilson, who is set to leave Central Arkansas Christian this late spring and will play his senior season at Conway High in the fall, instead. CAC is located in North Little Rock and plays at the 4A level. Conway is about 25 miles north of Little Rock and plays at the 6A level.

Wilson draws special interest in Northwest Arkansas because he’s a Razorbacks commit. He’s rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals and  threw for 3,413 yards with 41 touchdowns and two interceptions last year. Competition will be stiffer at 6A.

Arkansas currently has a bevy of young quarterbacks on its roster. Starter Taylen Green has two seasons of eligibility left. Malachi Singleton is a redshirt freshman and KJ Jackson is preparing for his first year of college football, period. Walk-on Austin Ledbetter handles things for the scout team.

In the age of the portal, however, it’s hard to imagine Arkansas could ever quite have enough quarterbacks.

Five-star recruit Will Riley includes Arkansas in final five

Will Riley, listed as a five-star recruit by On3, has announced his final five. Arkansas made the cut.

John Calipari has already landed some key additions to the Arkansas Razorbacks’ 2024-25 roster in his first month on the job.

Now, the Hogs have made the cut for one of the top five wing prospects in the class of 2025.

Both On3 and 247Sports reported late Thursday that 6-foot-8, 178-pound small forward Will Riley has announced his final five. Arkansas made the cut, as did Alabama, Kentucky, and Arizona. Riley is also considering Australia’s National Basketball League, a professional league.

A product of The Phelps School in eastern Pennsylvania, Riley is listed as the No. 9 overall prospect in On3’s latest Top 150 basketball recruiting rankings. Riley had previously shown interest in Villanova, Duke, Michigan and UCLA.

Calipari has already added two big names to his first roster in Fayetteville. Earlier this week, McDonald’s All-American Karter Knox committed to Arkansas.

Previously, former 7-foot-2 Kentucky freshman center Zvonimir Ivisic became Arkansas’ first addition under Calipari via the transfer portal.

A big 2025 recruit de-commits from Arkansas

This is one you cannot lose if you’re Coach Sam Pittman.

This is NOT someone coach Sam Pittman wants to leave the state.

Arkansas had its first de-commitment of the 2025 class on Monday afternoon.

Consensus four-star offensive tackle Caruis Curne posted on X (Twitter) his decision to de-commit from the University of Arkansas. According to the 247Sports composite, Curne had a .945 rating.

Curne wrote in his post,

I have decided to de-commit from the University of Arkansas. I have the utmost respect for the coaching staff and appreciate their hard work during my recruitment. I hope that everyone will respect my decision as I attempt to do what is best for me and my family.

The Marion, Ark. native was the highest-rated recruit in Arkansas’ 2025 class, and with the position desperate for some high school recruiting success, this de-commit is a huge blow to Coach Pittman’s already fragile standing in the program.

But on the other hand, Curne might decide to return home after all is said and done. It wouldn’t be the first time a big recruit has de-committed just to recommit later in the recruiting cycle.

In-state talents like Shamar Easter (class of 2023) and Braylon Russel (class of 2024) de-committed after being one of the first to announce in their respective classes, and both are currently in the middle of spring football for the Hogs.

With Curne’s departure, Arkansas’ 2025 class moves 41st in the nation per 247Sports. It’s left with only four total recruits in the classes.

Nation’s No. 3 guard, five-star Peterson, puts Arkansas in final eight

Darryn Peterson is the third-ranked player in the Class of 2025 and has Arkansas in his top eight.

Darryn Peterson, the No. 3 player in the Class of 2025, is expected to visit Arkansas, according to On3Sports.

Peterson, a 6-foot-5 guard from Huntington Prep in West Virginia, announced the Razorbacks, Ohio State, North Carolina, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, Baylor and Kentucky as his final eight schools of choice. That dropped Auburn, South Carolina, Oregon, Louisville, Michigan State, Texas and UCLA.

Peterson is the No. 1 shooting guard in the land in the 247Sports composite rankings just behind AJ Dybantsa of California and Cameron Boozer, son of former NBA and Duke star Carlos Boozer, out of Florida.

Only five players from the Class of 2025 have committed thus far, leaving Peterson’s chances wide open. He signed an NIL with Adidas and Arkansas is a Nike school, though it’s unclear what hurdles, if any, that will provide.

Arkansas coach Eric Musselman has landed commits from two players in the Class of 2024 in shooting guard Isaiah Elohim and small forward Jalen Shelley. Elohim is ranked No. 42 nationally and Shelley is No. 65 nationally.

Ashton Bethel-Roman makes it official: He’s a Hog

Ashton Bethel-Roman is the best wideout recruit to sign with Arkansas since Treylon Burks.

When Ashton Bethel-Roman’s name wasn’t released Wednesday morning among Arkansas football’s signees, some fingernails were chewed in certain parts of the Razorbacks fan base.

Grow ’em back.

The four-star wide receiver from Texas turned down Oregon, Texas Tech, Cal and Ole Miss to stick with Arkansas, signing after lunch during early signing day Wednesday.

Bethel-Roman, who initially committed on the Fourth of July, is one of two Top-100 players Arkansas landed; the other, defensive end Charleston Collins, signed in the morning.

Arkansas should have time to let Bethel-Roman develop as the Razorbacks return their top five wide receivers from last year’s team and will be breaking in a new starting quarterback for the first time in three years after KJ Jefferson entered the transfer portal.

Arkansas signs the No. 5 cornerback in the country

Selman Bridges’ addition bolsters an already good Arkansas cornerback group.

Cornerback is quickly becoming a position of strength for the Arkansas football team.

Wednesday’s signing of Selman Bridges on helps.

Bridges is one of the jewels of Arkansas’ early signing period Class of 2024. The 6-foot-3 cornerback is ranked in some services as the fifth best at his position in the country.

Bridges chose Arkansas over Texas, Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Ole Miss among others. He will join a group that returns key players Jaheim Singletary, Jaylon Braxton and Kee’yon Stewart that should keep Arkansas’ pass defense solid in 2024 after the Hogs ranked in the top 35 in FBS in passing yards per game allowed.

Arkansas signed 15 players on Wednesday, nine of whom were on defense.

Hogs get linebacker help with Justin Logan signing

Logan is one of nine signees Arkansas had on the defensive side of the ball Wednesday.

Jaheim Thomas should be back with Arkansas in 2024. Antonio Grier may be.

But outside of those two linebackers, the Razorbacks lack depth. So Wednesday’s early signing period was important.

Justin Logan was one of those key pieces. The Georgian signed with the Hogs, joining Harding Academy’s Wyatt Simmons to give Arkansas two linebacker signings on the day.

Logan had offers from Colorado, Duke, Kansas and Missouri, among others. He was ranked as one of the top 20 inside linebackers in the country and had 52 tackles as a senior with Kell High School last year.

Arkansas signed 15 high schoolers on Wednesday, nine of whom were defensive players.

From KJ Jefferson’s rival high school, Arkansas signs Julius Pope

Julius Pope is tackling machine who could stick at linebacker if he bulks.

Sardis, Mississippi, has been a boon for Arkansas football in recent years.

Coach Sam Pittman is hoping his latest signee from Sardis is as good as his last. Julius Pope, a linebacker from South Panola High School, inked with the Razorbacks on Wednesday, following Arkansas’ luck with KJ Jefferson, from North Panola High, a half-decade before.

Pope, a 6-foot-0 and 195-pound linebacker, is a three-star player rated as the 20th best propsect in the state of Mississippi. His build now is that of a safety, though Arkansas could choose to redshirt him in hopes he adds weight to continue to play linebacker.

The Razorbacks need help there as Chris Paul Jr. and Jordan Crook both entered the transfer portal in the offseason.

Overall, Pope was one of 15 high schoolers to sign with Arkansas on early signing day. The Hogs had 17 commits entering the day. Safety Jeremy Cook and wide receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman did not sign, though they were not expected to on Wednesday, either.