LITTLE ROCK — The 10th in a series profiling new additions to the Arkansas football team.

Will Hines said he wants to make a major impact at cornerback for the Arkansas Razorbacks, but he knows that won’t be easy.

“I want to be known,” said Hines, of Waco, Texas. “I guess we’re at point zero now. All of us freshmen have to work our way back up. I want to get noticed and get a lot of playing time.”

Hines, 6-1, 180 pounds, 4.47 seconds in the 40-yard dash, originally committed to Missouri last summer but switched to the Razorbacks after taking an official visit to Fayetteville during the Jan. 13-15 weekend.

Danny Ramsey, who coached Hines at Waco High School before moving to Tomball High School, said Hines has the right size and the right attitude to excel in college.

“You can’t coach height,” Ramsey said. “When he wants to, he’s a competitor. If there’s something to compete for, he’s out there. It’s tough to ingrain that into a kid.

“He’s a gamer when it’s time to compete against somebody. He’ll be the first one to be in the front of the line.”

It took a similar type of effort from Arkansas’ coaches to convince Hines that Arkansas was the right choice for him. Razorbacks cornerbacks coach Bobby Allen was in charge of Hines’ recruiting effort, and he didn’t give up after Hines originally pledged to the Tigers.

Hines said all the hard work by Allen, and his official visit to Fayetteville, helped sway his decision. He chose Arkansas over scholarship offers from 12 other schools, including Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, Texas Tech, Baylor and Michigan.

“I liked all the players and the facilities,” Hines said, “and the new facilities they’re building made me want to be a part of the program.”

Ramsey said Allen did a “top notch” job of pursuing Hines after his oral commitment to Missouri.

“Coach Allen asked, ‘Hey, Coach, do you mind if we continued to recruit Will?’ ” Ramsey said. “I said, ‘I don’t have a problem with it as long as Missouri doesn’t have a problem with it.’ They told Will it was fine for him to look around.”

Ramsey said he appreciated Allen’s upfront approach.

“Coach Allen made every indication if it was a done deal and he was sealed and he was going to Missouri and had no other real aspirations to do anything else that he would leave him alone,” Ramsey said. “So I respect that, too.”

Allen’s approach and continued interest also made an impression on Hines.

“He just kept it real,” Hines said. “Most of the other schools had stopped, but he really wanted me real bad, and he just kept on recruiting me.”

Hines recorded 35 tackles, 3 interceptions and 12 pass breakups as a senior last season, and Ramsey said Hines has all the physical skills it takes to succeed in college.

“Will is, athletically, probably in the top three athletes I’ve coached,” he said.

Hines said it will be important for him to improve on the mental aspects of the game while trying to adapt to college football.

“I just need to stay relaxed,” said Hines, who reported to Arkansas in early June. “Take it serious but don’t overdo it. Because when you overdo it, you mess up.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 07/11/2012