FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas entered the month of July with just six verbal commitments for the Class of 2019. Fans weren’t quite ready to hit the panic button, but there were some groans as the Hogs’ class ranked around 60th in the nation and almost dead-last in the SEC recruiting race.
Things have changed in a hurry.
In the last four weeks, the Razorbacks have added ten commitments – one of which hasn’t yet been made public – and the class now ranks No. 22 in the nation according to 247Sports’ team rankings.
“We’ve got a lot of good momentum,” assistant coach Justin Stepp said on Monday. “We’ve got a lot of good kids. Our brand is out there right now. We’ve just got to keep the momentum going. This is a special place. If we can get kids here, we’ve got a shot. This place pretty much sells itself. We’ve got a lot of momentum and we’re excited about where we’re going.”
The Hogs’ latest commitments came from inside the Natural State, as Warren defensive tackle Marcus Miller jumped on board last Saturday and four-star wide receiver Treylon Burks decided to join him Monday morning. Both announcements came after Miller and Burks spent a day with Arkansas’ coaching staff during Friday’s “Woo Pignic” event on the Hill.
Miller, 6-4, 310, chose the Razorbacks over two other SEC opportunities from Missouri and Tennessee.
“I committed to Arkansas because it’s family and I feel like I’m at home there. It takes a lot of weight off my back now. Now I can worry about getting Treylon in the boat,” Miller said Saturday morning.
Approximately 48 hours later, Miller’s best buddy got in the boat.
Burks, 6-3, 225, 4.4, turned down offers from Auburn, LSU, Clemson, Florida State, Ole Miss and several others Monday morning when he called Arkansas head coach Chad Morris.
“They made me feel like I was at home this past weekend,” Burks said. “My boy Bubba (Miller) committed there, and I wanted to stay around him as much I can. I also talked to my family about it and this is what we decided. It just feels good to get it over with. We’re excited and Coach (Chad) Morris was very excited.”
Now that Burks has gotten his much anticipated decision out of the way, he plans to help the staff lure in another major in-state target and the nation’s top tight end prospect, Hudson Henry of Pulaski Academy.
“Now we’ve got to go get Hudson Henry,” Burks said. “We’ve got to get him, so we’re going to try and get him to come on now.”
Burks and Miller’s commitments cap off a wild run of recruiting for the Razorbacks, who plan to sign somewhere in the neighborhood of 21-22 new additions in this year’s cycle.
Miller’s pledge came as part of a three-commitment day, as Richmond (Texas) Fort Bend Travis linebacker Zach Zimos and Pflugerville (Texas) Hendrickson safety Myles Brooks gave the staff good news on Saturday morning.
Zimos and Brooks also attended the cookout last Friday.
The Hogs’ wave of momentum could continue later this week, too, as heavily-recruited defensive tackle Enoch Jackson of Mansfield (Texas) Legacy plans to announce his college decision on Friday.
Jackson, 6-0, 290, is down to Arkansas, Clemson, and Texas Tech, but also held offers from Florida, TCU, Oklahoma State and others.
Camden (Ark.) Fairview offensive lineman Stacey Wilkins is also expected to decide this Friday, but most expect him to choose the Oklahoma Sooners.
Next Monday, Phenix City (Ala.) Central running back A’Montae Spivey will choose between Arkansas and LSU, with most predicting him to call the Hogs.