Arkansas didn't just win over former Florida offensive lineman Joshua Braun during his official visit on Dec. 2-4, the Razorbacks also won over his wife Azucena.
Raised in Suwannee County in northern Florida, Azucena Braun said she was immediately smitten with the natural beauty of the Fayetteville area.
"It felt like home in a sense because I grew up in a small town and it's really country," said Azucena Braun, who will also attend the UA. "Like, full of nature. I loved it the moment we started driving to Fayetteville."
Joshua Braun, 6-6, 335 pounds, was a consensus 4-star prospect out of Suwannee High School in Live Oak, Fla. He committed to Sam Pittman at Georgia, but flipped his pledge to Florida for the 2020 class and former coach Dan Mullen after Pittman was hired at Arkansas.
High school sweethearts, Joshua and Azucena were married in June. Pittman included Azucena in the recruiting process both times when recruiting her husband.
"He also contacted me when he was first contacting Josh this second time," she said. "He's just a very kind man and I was really excited to officially meet him and just see the program he's running at Arkansas."
Joshua also received scholarship offers from Penn State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Central Florida, Duke and others after announcing his transfer.
The second time in the recruiting process was much different for her.
"It was a little hard for me to understand that my role is different now," Azucena said. "Back when he was being recruited in high school, I was just the girlfriend and I made sure I never had an opinion about where he should go or what he should do."
Making sure his wife was comfortable with his next stop was paramount, Joshua said.
"First of all, I wanted to make sure we found a place we would be happy living for the next two to three years," he said. "A place she felt comfortable being away from family."
Joshua was also familiar with Arkansas offensive line coach Cody Kennedy, who was a graduate assistant at Georgia in 2018. He also praised director of football relations Maddie Pool for her help during the process.
In the end, the decision to attend the UA and be Razorbacks was an easy for both.
"Once we saw Fayetteville was a great place to settle down and have a home, and once we saw the football aspect of things would be taken care of because its great program with great coaches and a great strength staff, it was a really easy decision to make," Joshua said.
His father Mike was a lineman at Army and his mother played basketball for Army in the late 1980s.
Joshua's parents also made the trip to Fayetteville with he and Azucena. He recalled when he knew he would be committing to Pittman.
"Seeing how happy my wife was in Fayetteville and how excited she was," Joshua said. "My dad was joking that I don't have to go to Fayetteville but it's going to be hard to do long distance [relationship] because your wife is moving to Fayetteville with or without you."
Joshua and Azucena first met in ninth grade while sitting across from one another.
"When our teacher was trying to figure out my name and she was like. 'How to do you say your name?' and I told her," she said. "He goes 'Whoa' and he just shouts across the room, 'Oh my gosh. That's a cool name,' and he goes on and on and I'm like, 'This is such a weird guy. What is wrong with him?'"
Azucena said she knew he was husband material while going on one of his beloved and somewhat unorganized picnics near the natural springs that are abundant in Suwannee County.
"He forgot everything," she said. "He was horrible at picnics even though he loved them. He forgot silverware, drinks, napkins, something to sit on and so I was like you know what, he's such a special being. I would love to be with him and witness more of his awful picnics."
Joshua said he fell in love with Azucena's kindness and love of others.
"Just seeing how kind and gentle she is with other people and how much she cares for the well being of everyone, it's just special to see," he said.