Recruiting Roundup: Arkansas expected to miss out on Nelson, OVs heat up

Each week, HawgBeat.com provides a completely free update of everything going on in the recruiting world for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

*UPDATE - Tom Izzy of WDAY Sports in Fargo, North Dakota, says “not a done deal on Grant Nelson to Alabama. Not sure where that came from.”

With Ron Holland off to the G-League and Jordan Walsh staying in the draft, Arkansas basketball head coach Eric Musselman has one scholarship spot left to play with. He and the team hosted North Dakota State transfer Grant Nelson for a visit on Thursday and Friday, but it wasn't enough as the big man is expected to choose the Crimson Tide.

Nelson, who was one of the most-coveted prospects in the transfer portal, was expected to choose between Arkansas and Alabama. He came to his visit at Arkansas fresh off the heels of a visit to Tuscaloosa to check out the Alabama program.

There was actually a history between Arkansas and Nelson. The Devils Lake, North Dakota, native played a regular-season game inside Bud Walton Arena last season.

In that game, Nelson played 21 minutes and scored 17 points and brought in six rebounds.

As a junior in 2022-23, Nelson recorded 17.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.7 blocks per game for the Bison. He shot 52.1% from the field, 26.9% from three and 72.0% from the free throw line. Nelson scored at least 20 points on 11 occasions and he surpassed 30 points three times on the year.

Nelson has not made the decision official, but it's been reported by many credible outlets.

Arkansas' 2023-24 roster is still at 12 scholarship players, so it has one spot left to fill to reach the maximum of 13.

The Arkansas Baseball team received good news on Monday as Texas Tech transfer catcher Hudson White reportedly committed to the Razorbacks, per Joe Doyle of FutureStarSeries.com. White is the first portal addition of the offseason for the Diamond Hogs.

As a sophomore in 2023, White posted a batting average of .294 with 49 RBIs and 11 home runs while playing in 47 games. A patient hitter, White only struck out in 31 at bats while walking in 27. He also had 10 doubles, contributing to his OPS of .942.

White was named to the All-Big 12 Honorable Mention list after his stellar sophomore season and was seen as one of the best players currently in the portal.

A native of Keller, Texas, White was a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American and Perfect Game Freshman First Team All-American in 2022 after a season in which he had a batting average of .259 with 11 doubles, six homers and 40 RBIs. He walked 35 times while only striking out in 37 appearances.

He finished his Big 12 Freshman of the Year campaign with a .299 batting average over his final 45 games, including a .337 average in Big 12 conference play.

There are just two weekends left until the NCAA dead period begins again, so Sam Pittman and his staff are hard at work to host as many official visitors as possible.Over the weekend, the Arkansas campus was host to seven total official visitors.

Only one of them, four-star linebacker Brian Huff, came from inside the state.These official visits are important for the football team because it gives the team the chance to roll out the red carpet for recruits to potentially gain their commitments.

There were recruits from from the states of Texas, Florida and Alabama on campus this weekend, and there will be plenty more next weekend and the weekend of June 23.

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Lucas, Texas, native and four-star wide receiver Parker Livingstone was originally planning on taking an official visit to Arkansas over the weekend, but it did not pan out.

Livingstone told HawgBeat on Tuesday the visit would not be happening, and he doesn't plan to reschedule.

Arkansas has had success in the past from Lovejoy High School, where Livingstone plays. It's the alma mater of Bumper Pool, who ended his career with the most tackles in Arkansas program history.

Livingstone had recently announced a top five of Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas, South Carolina and LSU.

Arkansas’ roster for the 2023 football season is officially full as Dazmin James, a wide receiver from Clayton High School in North Carolina, committed to Arkansas.

James, a prospect in the class of 2023, reported an offer from the Razorbacks on Friday and made quick work of decision by committing on June 4.

James had initially committed to play at Iowa Western Community College in the JUCO ranks, but reported an offer from Arkansas on June 2 and quickly took an official visit to Fayetteville before committing.

A track athlete as well, James had offers to play football at North Carolina State and Liberty in addition to Arkansas. He had offers to compete in track at North Carolina A&T, North Carolina State and South Carolina.

Last season, James was a 4A Offensive All-Conference selection for Clayton High School. As a track athlete, James ran a 10.46 100-meter dash.

Arkansas junior infielder Harold Coll became the second Diamond Hog to hit the transfer portal since the end of the 2023 season, according to D1Baseball's transfer tracker.

Coll, a native of Boston, spent just one season with the Razorbacks as a junior college transfer from San Jacinto College. The 5-foot-11, 190-pound shortstop played in 32 games and started 19 for the Razorbacks. He slashed.232/.301/.463 with 19 hits, seven doubles, four home runs and 22 RBIs on the year.

Across two seasons with San Jacinto, Coll played in 112 total games and he drove in 96 runs, had 13 homers and had a batting average of .349. Coll hit for the cycle against No. 2 Wabash Valley on May 30, 2022, in the NJCAA Baseball DI World Series. He racked up a season-high five hits with a single, two doubles, a triple and a home run.

Arkansas baseball ended its season in disappointment, as the team was crushed by TCU twice in two days. But with the end of one season comes the beginning of another, and head coach Dave Van Horn is looking to reload for the 2024 season.

The Razorback skipper will do that by working the transfer portal. Tarleton State infielder Jack Wagner told HawgBeat he will be taking a visit to Fayetteville on Tuesday.

Wagner appeared in 48 games for Tarleton State last season, finishing with a batting average of .337 and an OPS of 1.143. He drove in 56 runs on eight doubles, four triples and 15 home runs.

At first base, the Wichita, Kansas, native made seven errors on the year with a .978 fielding percentage. He arrived at Tarleton State after playing at Kansas with Arkansas center fielder Tavian Josenberger at Kansas.

Wagner will have one final year of eligibility at his next destination.

HawgBeat will have the latest Arkansas baseball transfer portal updates on The Trough premium message board each day.

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