Commentary

Hogs Making Final Recruiting Push

As is normal with the last week of recruiting, there is plenty of intrigue involving the Arkansas football program.

That includes a trio of young men coming in this weekend for official visits in Egg Harbor Roll (NJ) Cedar Creek quarterback Damon Mitchell (6-foot-3, 205 pounds), Osceola athlete Korliss Marshall (6-0, 185, 4.3 seconds 40-yard dash) and Houston Bellaire tailback Denzell Evans (6-0, 205, 4.5).

The most drama involves Mitchell, who acquired more than 20 offers from West Virginia and others during the recruiting process before committing to Georgia Tech in July.

The dual-threat quarterback went on to pass for 2,025 yards and 22 touchdowns, and rush for 1,027 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior.

He stayed strong with the Ramblin’ Wreck until a Sunday night visit from Arkansas coach Bret Bielema, who had been recruiting him for Wisconsin when he was the coach there.

At that point, Mitchell — whose nickname is Duwop — decided he would take an official visit to Arkansas.

"It's an SEC school, and I feel like I owe it to myself to check it out," Mitchell told the Philadephia Inquirer earlier this week. "I have to take a look at it."

Georgia Tech was not pleased and told Mitchell if he got on a plane to Arkansas, he would no longer have an offer.

The Yellowjackets upped the ante and appeared to move on Wednesday night when they offered McEachern, Ga., quarterback Ty Griffin (6-0, 190) and got an immediate commitment.

Mitchell could end up at Rutgers if things didn’t work out with Arkansas, but Cedar Creek coach Tim Watson would be surprised if Mitchell doesn’t end up a Razorback.

"You're talking about the SEC West with Alabama, LSU, Texas A&M, Florida," Watson said. "He'll have to step up, but it would force him to be the best player he can be."

Bielema offered Mitchell, who just started playing quarterback as a junior, as a safety at Wisconsin before he began to develop as a quarterback as a senior.

Just as with Plantation (Fla.) South Plantation tailback Alex Collins, Mitchell will be making his second official visit with Bielema as he visited Wisconsin in October.

Marshall has always been regarded as one of the state’s best athletes and it was thought he was just a qualifying ACT score away from getting some big offers.

After rushing for 1,711 yards and 24 touchdowns this season, he got his offer from Arkansas on Wednesday and is taking his visit this weekend before firming things up with a commitment.

Marshall, who has a huge fan in former Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner, rushed for 4,347 yards and 60 touchdowns in his Osceola career, but could end up at tailback, wideout or cornerback while also returning kicks as a Razorback.

His previous offers were from Arkansas State, UCA, UAPB, Missouri State and UAB, where he was previously scheduled to visit this weekend.

 Evans is a Houston commit, but hoping for an offer from the Razorbacks this weekend and says he will flip right away if he gets one on his visit.

Arkansas is still waiting to hear on seven players that have already taken official visits to Fayetteville, including Altee Tenpenny of North Little Rock.

The offensive linemen Arkansas had in still considering the Razorbacks are Miami Booker T. Washington’s Denver Kirkland (6-5, 335), Houston Bellaire’s Dwayne Johnson (6-6, 275) and Phoenix (Ariz.) Mountain Pointe’s Kenny Lacy (6-5, 270).

The other visitor who still has Arkansas on his list is Tulsa (Okla.) Booker T. Washington safety and Oklahoma commit Dominique Alexander (6-2, 200), who was once a Razorback commit and recently visited both Arkansas and Kansas State.

Collins and Lacy are both set to announce on Monday, while Kirkland will unveil his choice Wednesday on ESPN.

Dudley E. Dawson is the recruiting editor for Hawgs Illustrated, an NWA Media publication. His recruiting column appears each Friday. Email [email protected].

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