JUCO path led to desired exposure

FAYETTEVILLE -- As a junior and senior at Tylertown (Miss.) High School, defensive lineman Jalen Williams combined to make 213 tackles, but he somehow flew under the recruiting radar.

"I'd have to say I was under-recruited in high school," Williams said. "I don't really know exactly why. If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably because my school is really small."

Tylertown is a Class 3A school -- the state has six classifications -- and according to the Mississippi High School Activities Association, in 2020 it ranked No. 144 in enrollment with 312 students.

The only NCAA Division I scholarship offers Williams could recall getting as a senior came from Colorado and Southern Mississippi.

"My options were kind of limited," he said. "I thought I could do better, so I bet on myself and went to junior college."

The gamble paid off in a big way.

Several Power 5 schools offered Williams after his sophomore season at Jones College in Ellisville, Miss., including five from the SEC.

Williams, who signed with the University of Arkansas in December, also had offers from Georgia, Auburn, Ole Miss and Missouri.

Arkansas also offered Williams after his freshman season, when he could have signed with a Division I school because he qualified academically out of high school, but at that time he wasn't ready to commit to the Razorbacks.

Sam Pittman had just been hired as Arkansas' coach in December of 2019, and he was the program's third coach in four years after the Razorbacks had a combined 1-23 SEC record from 2017-19.

"Arkansas had been struggling and had a new coach," Williams said. "I wanted to wait and see what happened before I made a decision."

Playing a 10-game, all-SEC schedule, the Razorbacks finished 3-7 last season and lost three games by a combined seven points.

"I was impressed," Williams said. "I could see the potential with Coach Pittman."

Williams, 6-3 and 310 pounds, was expected to add depth to a defensive line lacking in numbers last season, but a back injury he suffered in the spring has put him behind on the depth chart.

"I'm not really sure how I hurt my back," Williams said. "I just remember that one day I was really in a lot of pain.

"I got to the point where they had to pull me out of practice at the end of the spring."

Williams also was limited in summer workouts, but he said prior to camp his back was feeling better.

"The pain's all the way gone compared to how it was when I first hurt it," he said.

Williams has been able to go through all of the preseason practices, but Pittman said he hasn't yet looked like the player Arkansas signed.

Playing in five games last season when Jones College's schedule was shortened due to covid-19, Williams had 30 tackles. He was ranked the No. 1 junior college defensive tackle in the country by ESPN.

"I have not seen him move yet like the tape we recruited him off of," Pittman said. "If you talked to him, he'd say the same thing.

"I have to think that there's still some type of back issue. He says there's not and the medical people say there's not, so there's probably not."

Pittman said part of the reason Williams isn't moving as quickly could be because he's still behind from missing practices in the spring and workouts in the summer.

"Part of that may be because he hasn't learned everything quite well enough yet and he's half a step behind," Pittman said.

Williams was recruited by Derrick LeBlanc, Arkansas' defensive line coach last season who was replaced by Jermial Ashley in February. Ashley came to Arkansas from Tulsa, where he was the defensive line coach the past six seasons.

"When Coach LeBlanc left, I was surprised, but I didn't regret signing with Arkansas," Williams said. "He was just one coach. I came here to play for Coach Pittman and Arkansas."

Williams said he quickly formed a good bond with Ashley.

"I like Coach Ashley a lot," Williams said. "He's a genuine dude. You can tell he cares about his players beyond football. He really wants what's best for us."

Coming from a junior college, Williams said he was blown away by Arkansas' facilities.

"Seeing the facilities here, it shocked me in a good way," he said. "When I got here, I wasn't used to all the stuff that we have. There are so many resources.

"I was like, 'Man, we get all this to ourselves?' It definitely was a big change from junior college."

Williams has four years to play three seasons at Arkansas, so this could be a redshirt year for him, especially with the Razorbacks adding three senior graduate transfers on the defensive line with Markell Utsey and Tre Williams from Missouri, and John Ridgeway from Illinois State.

But Pittman didn't rule out the possibility Williams could play a role this season if he continues to progress.

"We recruited him to come in [and play], and we thought he could help us," Pittman said. "I think he can, but right now his quick twitch, we've got to keep working on that and his ability to run."

The 17th in a series featuring newcomers to the University of Arkansas football team.