Louisiana safety Donovan Johnson recaps Arkansas official visit

Arkansas hosted five official visitors this weekend with four aiming to make decisions in time for the early signing period that begins Wednesday. Louisiana safety Donovan Johnson intends to sign early and enroll early at either Arkansas... or the program he's committed to, Virginia.

Johnson, a 3-star and top-50 player out of the boot, has been committed to Virginia since this summer but Arkansas hadn't offered at that time and he hails from SEC country. His official now has Arkansas in the mix.

"My visit kinda like opened my eyes some," Johnson said. "I didn't expect it to look like this, be like this and I didn't expect the players to be so friendly with me and open. They were giving me real advice. They wasn't being fake or anything. They were being real with me. You know the facilities are always gonna look good. I like Coach Pittman. He was a real guy to me. That kinda stood out to me."

Johnson was hosted by fellow Louisiana native and safety Joe Foucha. The recruits got to take photos in the uniforms, tour facilities and campus, eat at the Catfish Hole and go out with their hosts. He also noted that he was impressed with Arkansas's nursing program.

"The highlight was when we went out to eat," Johnson said. "The fans showed a lot of love."

Johnson also got to spend time with the only official member of Pittman's staff on the defense, new defensive coordinator Barry Odom, the former head coach at Missouri.

"He's a nice guy," Johnson said. "Nice, friendly. He's an ambitious guy."

With a ceremony at school Tuesday, Johnson plans to decide between Arkansas and Virginia.

"It's just decision making. It will be a little difficult."

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