The Arkansas Razorbacks, with their class sitting at No.50 in the nation heading into the day, hope to finish strong and sign some key new pieces to their current class of 18.
It's Sam Pittman's first signing class at Arkansas and his first ever as a head coach at the DI level. The Razorbacks will ultimately end up towards the bottom of the SEC recruiting rankings but they're also one of three programs that experienced a coaching change just before the early signing period. Missouri and Arkansas have had the toughest go of it but the Tigers held on to 10 of their original commits, several more than the Hogs.
Pittman retained three commits from Chad Morris's class, added six more ahead of early signing, added three immediately eligible grad transfers and brought in 20 more seniors for official visits in January leading up to Signing Day. Those 20 official visits resulted in nine more commitments with eight signing today. The Hogs patiently await the decisions of five more targets.
Follow all of today's signing day action right here and join the discussion with hundreds of fellow Arkansas fans on the Trough...
Today's Big Announcements
Savion Williams - 8:30 a.m. (TCU lean) SIGNED WITH TCU
Marcus Henderson - 9:20 a.m. (Arkansas/Ole Miss) SIGNED WITH ARKANSAS
Allen Horace - 9:30 a.m. (UTSA lean) SIGNED WITH UTSA at 7 a.m.
Jalen St. John - 2 p.m. (Arkansas lean) SIGNED WITH ARKANSAS
Malik Hornsby - 2-2:30 p.m. LIVE on ESPNU (Arkansas lean) SIGNED WITH ARKANSAS
Pittman Post-Signing Press Conference
Live Updates...
9:30 a.m...
Tennessee offensive guard Marcus Henderson picks Arkansas over Ole Miss and signs his NLI
WATCH FILM
6:18 a.m...
2019 stats: 65 tackles (29 solo), 9 TFL, 5 sacks, 4 blocked PAT
Recruiting battle: Troup County defensive tackle Andy Boykin picked up a bunch of very impressive early offers in his recruitment including Auburn, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and more. Boykin committed to the Auburn Tigers as a sophomore but backed off his pledge in August 2019. Georgia also pushed for a flip from Boykin ahead of his senior season. In the end, it was Arkansas and Auburn left for Boykin and the Razorbacks had the best situation for him, making him feel at home on his official visit the weekend before signing day. Boykin is the only true defensive tackle in the 2020 class.
6:45 a.m...
2019 stats: LB: 45 tackles (31 solo), 10 TFL, 2 forced fumbles, 1 PBU; TE: 27 receptions, 437 yards, 7 TD
Recruiting battle: Although three Power Five schools were among the first 20 programs to offer Turner, neither Georgia nor Georgia Tech were in the mix. It was Florida Atlantic pushing the hardest to land his commitment down the stretch when Arkansas swooped in with an offer on Jan. 6. He immediately set up an official visit to Fayetteville the first weekend after the dead period and needed less than 24 hours to pick the Razorbacks. He announced his commitment as he walked into a sold out Bud Walton Arena to watch the Kentucky game. Turner is one of five 2020 signees at linebacker.
7:05 a.m...
2019 stats: 65 tackles, 19 TFL, 8 sacks, 1 PBU, 1 blocked punt
Recruiting battle: Jaqualin McGhee earned his first offer after his junior season from Appalachian State and while plenty of programs showed interest, he ended his recruitment with Cincinnati, Arkansas, West Virginia and Kansas State offers. McGhee was one of Pittman’s first offers as the head coach at Arkansas and instead of waiting to take his official visit in January and decide, he went ahead and pulled the trigger on his commitment a couple days before the new year. His official visit solidified his decision three weeks later.
7:15 a.m...
2019 stats: 35 receptions, 325 yards, 8 TDs, 70 pancakes
Recruiting battle: Collin Sutherland, younger brother of former Texas A&M, current Miami Dolphin OT Keaton Sutherland, started earning offers leading up to his senior season as he trained and put on 30 pounds. Kendal Briles took notice of Sutherland in May of 2019 at Florida State and extended an offer but it took until the eve of Signing Day for the Hogs to pull the trigger on one. Sutherland had taken an official visit to UTSA and committed to UNLV four days before flipping to Arkansas, a dream program for him where his eldest brothers attended school.
7:20 a.m...
2019 stats: 171 tackles (105 solo), 47 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and 5 FF
Recruiting battle: Robinson (Little Rock) standout JT Towers was considering offers from West Point and Navy before Sam Pittman came in and shocked him with the opportunity of a lifetime. Towers, who played through a painful toe injury his senior season, excelled at linebacker and Pittman and Barry Odom knew they couldn’t pass on a player with his nose for the ball. The No.10 player in the state of Arkansas chose the Hogs on the same day he received his offer, January 6. Towers picked up a late offer from Utah but his recruitment was already shut down.
7:23 a.m...
2019 stats: WR: 19 receptions, 578 yards, 5 TD, 10 carries, 55 yards, 1 TD; DB: 36 tackles (28 solo), 1 TFL, 4 interceptions, 12 PBU, 2 forced fumbles
Recruiting battle: Transferring from Catholic Memorial in Boston to Suffield Academy in Connecticut for his senior season, Johnson played with three other P5 signees and won a championship. Despite not coming from a familiar recruiting ground, Johnson first appeared on Arkansas’ radar during the season and took an unofficial visit to Fayetteville under the former coaching staff in early November. After the coaching change, he became one of the first defensive backs offered by new cornerbacks coach Sam Carter. With most of his other offers being from FCS or Group of Five schools, Johnson committed to the Razorbacks during his official visit, the same day as Jacorrei Turner and Eric Thomas. Georgia swooped in with an offer a couple of days later, but he never wavered with his pledge to Sam Pittman.
7:35 a.m...
2019 stats: 60 tackles, 46 solo, 27 TFL, 14.5 sacks, 1 INT and 6 FF
Recruiting battle: Despite having some prototypical Power 5 size, out in Pensacola, Florida, Eric Thomas went almost totally unnoticed by Division-I coaches but analysts have commented since seeing him perform in a camp setting that whoever gets him is getting a steal. Well, the Hogs are the thieves this signing day. Thomas chose Arkansas over an offer from Colorado State.
7:55 a.m...
2019 stats: 42 tackles (25 solo), 3 TFL, 15 PBU, 3 INT
Recruiting battle: Louisiana native Nick Turner began picking up offers after his junior season and committed to Georgia Tech after visits to Virginia, Tulane, Tennessee and many other programs. Arkansas began recruiting Turner after his Tech commitment and took an official visit when Chad Morris was still the head coach. Arkansas carried over his recruitment and got him to flip in January. In the end, Arkansas beat out Georgia Tech and Memphis for his signature.
Commits' Signing Times
Most of Arkansas's commits have informed HawgBeat that they'll sign and send in their Letter of Intent at 7 a.m. in their timezone (the earliest they can send it in), but they will still have official signing ceremonies at their schools after:
Khari Johnson - 6 a.m. CT, ceremony at 6 p.m. CT
Jacorrei Turner - 6 a.m. CT, ceremony at 2:50 CT
Jaqualin McGhee - 6 a.m. CT, ceremony at 5 CT
Andy Boykin - 6 a.m. CT, ceremony at 12 CT
Collin Sutherland - 7 a.m. CT, ceremony at 11:15 a.m. CT
Eric Thomas - 7 a.m. CT, ceremony at 2:20 CT
Nick Turner - 7 a.m. CT, ceremony at 3 CT
JT Towers - 7 a.m. CT, ceremony at 3 CT
*Ebony Jackson will not sign today but can sign before May enrollment (Jackson did not qualify and is headed to Iowa Western C.C.)
Nine Early Signees
Arkansas had been recruiting Slusher for a couple years but Chad Morris and his crew couldn't get an official visit before the No.3 prospect in Oklahoma decided to be an Oregon Duck. When Morris was let go, Slusher was very interested in who would be taking over the program and when Pittman got the job, it only took him a couple days to lock in a visit. Slusher flipped from Oregon to Arkansas on early National Signing Day and was the only early 4-star signee. He chose Arkansas over Nebraska, Oregon and 22 other Division-I offers.
Slusher is already enrolled at Arkansas.
Originally announcing a top five of Arkansas, Memphis, Oklahoma, Ole Miss and Tennessee, Toll eliminated the Tigers and Rebels for an all-Power Five final three. He visited the Volunteers before picking the Razorbacks. The Sooners appeared to pose a large threat, with some even speculating he might flip as Arkansas struggled throughout the season and ultimately fired Chad Morris, but Toll stuck with the commitment to his in-state school.
Toll is already enrolled at Arkansas.
Darin Turner was the last Morris commit to decommit but the first to re-join the 2020 class under Sam Pittman on the second day of the early signing period. He held several early offers including Auburn, Clemson and LSU. Turner, ranked as the No. 14 athlete prospect in the nation, would prefer to play wide receiver at Arkansas but has consistently stated he'd play wherever his coach needs him to play.
Turner is already enrolled at Arkansas.
Arkansas began pursuing Kelin Burrle while recruiting his defensive back teammate Donovan Johnson. Johnson ended up sticking to his Virginia commitment on early Signing Day but Burrle did pick the Hogs–without ever having visited. The Louisiana 3-star committed to Frank Wilson at UTSA very early in his recruitment but left the class when he was let go. Burrle held 18 offers including LSU, Kentucky, Tennessee, A&M and more.
Burrle is already enrolled at Arkansas.
A former high school tight end, Julius Coates took stops at two JUCO programs before calling the Hogs with two years left to play two seasons. Division-I programs started recruiting him heavily leading into his second year at EMCC and he racked up offers from schools like Colorado, New Mexico, ULL and Western Kentucky. Coates committed to Colorado in October but after getting even more offers, he reopened his recruitment. Arkansas won out over Oregon and Nebraska for the Illinois native.
Coates is already enrolled at Arkansas.
Despite visits to Mississippi State and Memphis, Stewart has had Arkansas at the top of his list since being offered Nov. 30, 2018, and pulled the trigger a little more than four months later. He had a strong showing on the camp circuit over the summer and added Power Five offers from Kansas and Oklahoma State, but never wavered in his commitment to the Razorbacks.
It was a win most fans probably would like to forget, but the day after visiting Fayetteville for Arkansas’ season-opening win over Portland State, Wallace decided to pull the trigger on his in-state school. He had visited the campus several times before then and was also being pursued by Oklahoma State and Ole Miss, with Miami starting to show interest, as well. As commitments came flying off the board following the firing of Chad Morris, he stuck with his pledge and even told HawgBeat that he “made the right decision and I don’t plan on leaving Arkansas.”
Update: After charges were pressed against Wallace, the Bryant native is now searching for a JUCO home and will not be in Arkansas's 2020 class.
Dominique Johnson was Arkansas's big early Signing Day surprise. Johnson was committed to Missouri since June of 2019 but decided to follow Barry Odom, Brad Davis and Sam Carter to Arkansas instead. There was a bit of drama with his decision as he picked up his Missouri hat, threw it down on to the ground and unzipped a jacket to reveal a Razorback shirt. Johnson's family implied via social media that the Tigers were planning to move the running back to linebacker once he got on campus and that didn't sit well with them. In the end, Missouri's loss was Arkansas's gain. Johnson held six offers before signing.
Despite recruiting White Station offensive lineman Ray Curry for months and months prior to Chad Morris's firing, it wasn't until Sam Pittman and Brad Davis came to Arkansas that the Hogs really got in the race for his signature. The 3-star Tennessee native took final one-day visits to both Arkansas and Missouri before his decision. Curry flipped from Missouri to Arkansas on early Signing Day to follow Davis. He holds 19 Division-I offers including Auburn, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Miss. State and many more.
Transfer Additions
Enrolled for spring
Enrolled for spring
Duke Transfer Kicker AJ Reed
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