Recruiting Roundup: Hogs sign in-state TE, more PWOs
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Each week, HawgBeat.com provides a completely free update of everything going on in the recruiting world for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Roundup
Shamar Easter signs with Arkansas
The class of 2023 is officially finished for Arkansas on the high school level, as four-star tight end Shamar Easter, an Ashdown native, signed his letter of intent Wednesday on National Signing Day.
Easter committed to Arkansas in Aug. 2021, but he pushed back his signing from the Early Signing Period after tight ends coach Dowell Loggains left the Razorbacks to join the South Carolina staff as its offensive coordinator. A visit to Fayetteville in January, however, sealed the deal for him.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Wednesday he trusted Easter because he believed the pass catcher wanted to be at Arkansas.
"I think Shamar wanted to come to Arkansas," Pittman said. "You’d have to ask him, (but) I think he wanted to come to Arkansas for a long, long time. Any time there’s change, sometimes there becomes panic in it. Obviously recruiters will tell you, ‘You need to go visit here, you need to visit there.’ If you trust those people, then you do. But certainly Arkansas and Coach Turner… Coach Turner’s got a way about him."
Easter, 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds, will join Arkansas after the spring semester.
Hogs pick up PWO safety from Little Rock
Following a visit to Arkansas over the weekend, Little Rock Mills two-star safety Anton Pierce went public with his decision to join the Razorbacks as a preferred walk-on on Thursday.
Pierce — who had originally committed to play at Army — made the announcement on his Twitter page around 7 p.m. Thursday.
While he played on both sides of the ball in high school, Pierce will join the safeties at Arkansas. Defensively last season, he tallied 65 tackles — three of those for loss and one sack — eight pass breakups, four interceptions and three forced fumbles.
Pierce, standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing 203 pounds, will join fellow Mills athlete JaBrae Shaw, who committed to Arkansas as a preferred walk-on a week prior.
Long snapper chooses Arkansas, his 'dream school'
Max Schmidly, a Charlotte, North Carolina, native, will be joining the Razorbacks as a preferred walk-on long snapper. He went public with his decision on Monday.
Schmidly, whose family is from Arkansas, told HawgBeat Fayetteville has always been a place he's loved.
"Arkansas' always been a place that I've always loved," Schmidly said. "It's honestly my dream school. My family's from Arkansas."
Schmidly's cousin, Parker Henry (formerly Schmidly), is married to former Arkansas tight end Hunter Henry. The Henry family name is one that is known by Arkansas fans, and Schmidly said he's ready for fans to know his family name.
"We've known (the Henry's) for a while now, and it's pretty special to represent Arkansas as a Schmidly," Schmidly said.
Arkansas gains PWO commitment from tight end out of Texas
Arkansas signed two four-star tight ends in the class of 2023 in Shamar Easter and Luke Hasz, and they gained another commitment from Addison, Texas, tight end Luke Johnston on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound tight end held preferred walk-on offers from Ole Miss and Texas A&M in addition to Arkansas. He made his decision public via his Twitter account.
From Trinity Christian Academy in Addison, Johnston also held a scholarship offer from New Mexico. He was given his PWO offer from Arkansas on Jan. 16.
Arkansas sends out more offers for future classes
Arkansas hosted over 30 recruits last weekend during the last Prospect Day in the month of January, and a few of those recruits left with offers from the Razorbacks.
At least seven athletes reported offers to Arkansas this week, including wide receiver Jaden Perez, a recruit in the class of 2025 who has started to gain traction, reporting eight total offers.
To see a list of prospects who visited Arkansas last weekend and reported an offer following and to keep up to date as more offers are sent out, you can join The Trough, HawgBeat's premium message board.
2023 linebacker targets choose Maryland, UCF over Hogs
Following the introduction of Travis Williams as Arkansas' new defensive coordinator, two linebacker recruits who were committed to UCF — where Williams previously served as DC — announced they were decommitting from the Knights.
Andrew and Michael Harris — twins from Altamonte Springs, Florida — had included Arkansas in their final list of schools, but ended up choosing to play college football elsewhere.
Andrew Harris stuck with his initial decision and chose UCF on National Signing Day, while Michael is heading north to play at Maryland.
Arkansas basketball misses out on highly-ranked guard
The Arkansas basketball 2023 recruiting class is finished, and Eric Musselman is working ahead on the class of 2024. One guard is out of the picture, though, as he committed to elsewhere.
Elijah Moore, ranked the No. 68 player in the nation according to Rivals, chose Syracuse on Jan. 28. He had taken an official visit to Arkansas when the Hogs hosted Alabama on Jan. 11.
A four-star recruit out of New York City in the Bronx, Moore held offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Syracuse, Illinois and more.
The Hardwood Hogs currently do not have any commitments in the 2024 class.