The Arkansas Razorbacks have landed yet another talented in-state tight end. DeWitt tight end Dax Courtney officially called the Hogs on Twitter Saturday morning after silently committing to first-year head coach Sam Pittman on August 4.
"I really wasn't 100% sure when I was offered but I had a pretty good idea it's where I would end up because I love this state," Courtney told HawgBeat. "I was raised in it and I've always wanted to be here. When Coach Pittman and Coach Cooper started hitting me up, it was just crazy."
The 6-foot-6, 210-pound 3-star prospect kicked off his recruitment with a bang at the end of May, earning offers from Kansas, TCU and Baylor. Memphis, North Texas, Kansas State and Arkansas State, his dad's alma mater, followed along in short order.
The Razorbacks offered on June 16, helping Courtney achieve a life-long dream. He's one of nine in-state prospects with an offer from the Hogs and he's the second in the 2022 class to make his pledge, joining 3-star defensive lineman JJ Hollingsworth.
After Arkansas offered, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Penn State, Michigan State and Purdue also bought stock–however, no option was more intriguing than staying home and playing for Pittman, Cooper and the Hogs.
"Coach Pittman is just down to earth, as good of a guy as you can get," Courtney said. "Coach Coop really follows in the footsteps of Pittman, they really act the same way. With the coaching staff they've built, I really can't imagine them having any more bad seasons, I feel like they're about to turn Arkansas around."
As a sophomore, getting coached by his dad and receiving passes from his brother, Courtney racked up 36 catches for 631 yards and seven touchdowns. The DeWitt Dragons went 7-5 in 2019, losing to Arkadelphia in the second round of 4A playoffs.
Courtney still has two years in DeWitt before he heads northwest to Fayetteville. In the meantime, he'll be working hard to get better and helping the coaches recruit more commits for the 2022 class.
"I want to prove to everyone in the state that they didn't make a mistake," Courtney said. "I'm just going to stay on my grind and everything else will take care of itself. I'll for sure be a recruiter, I'm going to get on my guys as soon as I can. I'll keep my list classified."
Not yet officially ranked by Rivals, Courtney is No. 7 in HawgBeat's Natural State Top 25. Arkansas is now just the 12th program in the nation to have two rising junior commitments.
