Five 2020 Prospects Who Could be First to Commit to Arkansas
The Razorbacks have inked 25 new signees for the 2019 class and have yet to lock down a 2020 commit despite 62 other teams in the nation having at least one commit (including all other 14 SEC teams). The Hogs have been cut into "favorite lists" for eleven of the nation's most elite recruits but it's not always the most elite that commit first.
With the 2019 class mostly behind us, let's take a closer look at five candidates to be the first #DiamondGangXX member:
It's a tight race right now for Georgia 3-star wide receiver Ze'vian Capers from outside the Atlanta area but Justin Stepp is putting in the work to get him. Capers is "nearing a decision" and has it down to Arkansas, Clemson, Florida and South Carolina with the Razorbacks and the Gamecocks being the more likely choices at this point. Capers has visited both Arkansas and South Carolina recently and he plans to be back in Fayetteville on March 9. Stepp visited him twice in seven days to close out the first contact period of the 2020 cycle.
Elite 4-star cornerback Lorando Johnson out of Lancaster High School in Texas is already down to just three schools. The Razorbacks offered him on Dec. 3 and it's between them, the LSU Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies. Johnson is considered an LSU lean at this time but corner's coach has been putting in the work, and mileage, to land this guy. If they can get him to visit this spring they might have a chance.
This 6-foot-4, 270-pound offensive tackle was just on the Hill for an unofficial visit and loved his trip. He said he's narrowed his options down to Arkansas, Texas and Texas A&M so it will be interesting if the Hogs can convince him to leave the state. Garth holds five other SEC offers so to say he's not SEC caliber at his 5.6 3-star ranking would be wrong. He says he's not sure about his commitment timeline so perhaps he could use a slight nudge from the coaching staff to be "the guy." He says he'll be back on the Hill soon.
This in-state prospect is blowing up with offers right now, so if I were Arkansas, I'd take his commitment as soon as they can get it. He projects as a linebacker at the next level and that's going to be a big position of need in this class, so they absolutely should just go ahead and add Stewart to the class. It would be fitting to have an Arkansan as the first 2020 commit and with the in-state talent as slim as it is in this class, the Hogs should try to keep all the Power-5 prospects they can.
If Brandon Frazier remains a 5.5 3-star prospect after the next round of evaluations I'd be shocked, shocked, I tell you. The Texas tight end has been picking up a ton of offers lately after the Razorbacks were among the first to offer him this summer after a great camp performance. He took a visit to TCU to kick off his winter recruitment and he did seem to enjoy the trip a lot but he wasn't the only tight end in the building that day and he already has an Arkansas official visit in mind.
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