This article is part of a running series on the Arkansas Razorbacks' 2020 junior college targets.
The Arkansas Razorbacks have a good recent hit rate with junior college recruits and they're now on the prowl for more experienced talent in the 2021 class.
In 2018, Arkansas signed two junior college players that turned out pretty well, Rakeem Boyd and Dorian Gerald, and of the Hogs' two additions in 2019, one was a starter last season, Myron Cunningham.
Pittman noted after signing one junior college prospect, 6-foot-7 defensive lineman Julius Coates, in his first class at Arkansas that JUCO athletes are great–if you can evaluate them well enough.
"Junior college wise, I never want to go heavy junior college because I think we can build our team young," Pittman said. "I just want the best players we can get, so if we can go into the junior colleges and get one, two or three outstanding players that we think can change our program immediately, you have to be right on that now, you have to be correct on your evaluation. I don’t think we’d ever sign a whole huge number of junior college players just because I believe you have to base your whole program out of freshman and start in the state of Arkansas."
Pittman's staff has offered 10 2021 JUCO prospects and only one of them is committed already–linebacker Gereme Spragins of Hutchinson C.C., to Maryland. Another, Isaiah Coe from Iowa Western, cut the Hogs out of his top five that included Oklahoma, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Missouri and Memphis.
The head hog hired long-time Hutchinson head coach Rion Rhoades to coach his linebackers and his connections should help ensure Arkansas has the latest and best intel on the top JUCO prospects.
More:
Closer look at Hutchinson C.C. DT DeMeco Roland
Closer look at Independence C.C. TE Quentin Moore
Closer look at Garden City C.C. DE Arvell Ferguson
Jacorius "Joko" Willis is one of three prospects Arkansas has offered from Independence C.C. Willis was offered after tight end Quentin Moore and defensive back Kamal Hadden.
Picking up his offer on May 11, Willis was already familiar with the University of Arkansas as he was offered by the Hogs coming out of high school in LaGrange, Georgia. He also had a relationship with Barry Odom and was offered by Missouri. The outside linebacker earned 13 offers coming out of Troup HS, including Arkansas, Tulane, Missouri, Kentucky, A&M, Indiana and many more.
The former 3-star graduated from the same high school, Troup, as Arkansas 2020 defensive tackle signee Andy Boykin and played for the same coach, Tanner Glisson.
Unfortunately, Willis was ineligible to play DI football in 2019 and committed to play for one of the most prominent JUCO teams in the nation–Independence C.C. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound athlete was redshirted his freshman year due to an abundance of talent at Dream U but will be eligible to graduate after his redshirt freshman year.
