Closer Look at Razorbacks' 2021 JUCO offers: Jones County LB KJ Cloyd
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 11 2021 JUCO prospects and five of them are committed as of mid-June. Linebacker Gereme Spragins of Hutchinson C.C. committed to Maryland. Defensive tackle Isaiah Coe from Iowa Western, cut the Hogs out of his top five then announced his pledge to Oklahoma. Indy C.C. linebacker Joko Willis committed to Kentucky and his tight end teammate Quentin Moore committed to Washington. Finally, defensive back Jadarrius Perkins out of Mississippi Gulf Coast committed to Oregon.
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 Garden City C.C. DE Arvell Ferguson
Kevon "KJ" Cloyd is one of two athletes Arkansas has offered at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Mississippi. Cloyd, an outside linebacker, joined his teammate defensive tackle Jalen Williams in gaining an offer from the Hogs on May 27.
Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Arizona, Austin Peay, ECU, Arkansas State, Southern Miss, South Alabama, ULM and Troy have all offered the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Mississippi native.
Coming out of high school in Columbia, Mississippi, Cloyd didn't have any Division-I offers and chose to enroll at Jones County. In his first season, he racked up 46 tackles, three-and-a-half tackles for loss, and two sacks. He was one of the most productive outside linebackers in his region this season, earning him a place on JCGridiron's LBs to watch list.
Jones County had four 2020 players sign with Power Five programs including Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Florida State. The Bobcats went 7-3 in 2019, advanced to the MACJC playoffs and were ranked No. 10 in the final NJCAA poll.
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