FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas head coach Chad Morris is all about improving the Razorbacks’ recruiting efforts in the state of Texas. From the moment he was hired away from SMU, all of the talk has been about Morris’s relationships and connections with high school coaches across the Lone Star State.
Without question, the Hogs must make huge strides in Texas in order for Morris’s tenure to be successful, but don’t overlook the importance of this year’s in-state class.
The 2019 crop is the deepest to come through Arkansas in several years – possibly since Bobby Petrino’s first signing class of 2008.
The total of in-state offers reached nine over the weekend when Bentonville-West outside linebacker/defensive end Kendall Young earned one with an impressive camp performance on Sunday.
Morris may not make a clean sweep of all 10, but he knows the importance of getting most of them to sign with the Hogs.
“It’s extremely important,” Morris said last week on the HawgSports.com podcast, The Hawg Hustle. “That’s what we’ve talked about, we’ve talked about winning the instate battle. If we’re going to turn this program around in a quicker fashion than what we want, what we feel, then we’ve got to be able to land these instate kids.
“You sit here looking at next year’s class being better than it’s been in quite some time. It’s been averaging anywhere from three-to-five, and now you’re sitting here with seven, eight, nine guys who can come in and are extremely well sought after all over the country. I feel like we’ve got to be able to land the majority of these kids. We’ve got to be able to get them here and let them know that they can have a huge impact in their home state.
“That’s been our approach from day one. However many kids there are, we’ve got to be able to land the majority of them.”
So far, the Razorbacks own just one verbal commitment from the in-state crop as Rison defensive back Malik Chavis has been on board since early March. After Chavis, the others are still very much in the air.
Warren’s duo of four-star wide receiver Treylon Burks, 6-3, 225, 4.4, and heavily-recruited defensive tackle Marcus Miller, 6-5, 300, are expected to visit the Hogs sometime this summer, but both play it pretty close to the vest.
Camden Fairview four-star offensive lineman Stacey Wilkins, Pulaski Academy four-star tight end Hudson Henry, and four-star defensive end Zach Williams of Pulaski Robinson all have high interest in the Razorbacks, but still have other visits to take this summer.
Four-star offensive lineman Darius Thomas of Jonesboro and wide receiver Jadon Jackson – Young’s teammate at Bentonville-West – have been on campus before but haven’t yet set official visit dates with Arkansas.
Young, 6-5, 210, said the Razorbacks’ offer places them atop his list, along with Missouri, that offered approximately a month ago.
Morris and his staff would like to see more in-state guys jump on board, but they understand that players want to take their time to ensure they’re making the right decision.
The month of June could be a big one for the Razorbacks in terms of momentum, though, as almost 20 official visitors will make their way to the Hill over the next few weeks.
“What we’re finding now is there’s more and more official visits happening in the spring,” Morris said. “This is a first. Matter of fact, we’re fixing to host nineteen official visitors between now and June 16, because a lot of them are going to try and make their decision before the start of their season.”
Danny West covers Razorback athletics and recruiting in football and basketball for HawgSports.com, affiliated with CBS Sports and 247Sports. He’s a regular guest on sports talk radio, 103.7, The Buzz in Little Rock.