Life is going to change in a major way for Beau Chene High School standout Devon Manuel. Coming from Arnaudville, Louisiana, a town with fewer than 2,000 residents, Manuel will be heading up to Fayetteville to play under the bright lights in Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium as the Hogs' 12th commit of the 2021 class.
The 6-foot-8, 310-pound offensive tackle committed to Arkansas Tuesday night over offers from Michigan State, Kansas, Louisiana-Lafayette, the University of Houston and more.
"Arkansas had been recruiting me so much, ever since Junior Day, Coach Davis has been recruiting me and talking to me every day," Manuel said. "I just knew this would be where I want to go, they got on me and stayed on me."
The Razorbacks offered Manuel on his visit to campus for Junior Day in March then made the cut for him into his top eight in late May.
"I developed a great relationship with Coach Davis and Coach Pittman, I only had a few coaches that I had that click with," Manuel said. "Everything in Fayetteville was so nice, I'm ready to rock and roll. I like the fan base, they're crazy."
He's the No.27-ranked player in Louisiana in his class and the first "boot boy" to commit to Arkansas in 2021 after offering 11. The Razorbacks have commitments from players in four adjacent states and six different states overall (Arkansas, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisiana).
Manuel is now Arkansas's third offensive line commit, joining Terry Wells from Wynne, Arkansas and Cole Carson from Bogata, Texas.
"The players started recruited me and now, we're on a few people," Manuel said. "That was a big plus. For the past two weeks I felt like they were already my teammates. They were texting me, calling me, just as much as the coaches were. Lucas Coley was the first one to talk to me, Jermaine, Terry, Cole Carson, just everybody was always hitting me up to see how things were going."
Manuel's junior film only has 1,500 views on HUDL, which goes to show how little exposure kids from Arnaudville receive. Based on the Rivals database, no football player from Beau Chene has signed with an FBS program in the last decade. In fact, as a 5.5 3-star, Manuel is the highest-ranked player ever from his high school.
"I'm happy to play on the highest level of college football, I feel like I need that jump to fully develop my game," Manuel said. "The level of competition I play now is nowhere near that. One hundred percent I was underlooked because of the area I'm from. A lot of coaches said they would've gotten on me but they didn't know anything about Arnaudville or Beau Chene. That was a risk I had to take, I could have transferred to private school but I rather stay with my team that I've been with since middle school and grind it out with them. I'm glad I stayed because it all worked out.
"Coach Pittman and Coach Davis have the best track record of developing. Me going there, ready to work hard, they're going to take my game to a whole other level. I know I have a lot to work on but they have great track records. They'll get a big, strong, determined, smart, athletic left tackle out of me."
Manuel's commitment adds 60 points to Arkansas's team recruiting score, taking them from No. 35 to No. 30 in the nation and holding steady at No. 8 in the SEC.
