Keeping The Momentum Going

In his weekly recruiting column for Hawgs Illustrated, Dudley E. Dawson writes about how Arkansas hopes to keep its momentum going this weekend as it brings in nine prospects for official visits. This story is free and sponsored by the Arkansas Toyota Dealers.

With a Cotton Bowl championship, a top five national finish and word that star tailback Knile Davis is coming back next season, Arkansas has a ton of momentum headed into three big recruiting weekends.

That will get underway today when nine top prospects roll into Fayetteville for their official visits as the Razorbacks hope to add to a class that is currently ranked 16th nationally by Scout.com.

The most highly-ranked of the players due in this weekend is Lakeland (FL) offensive lineman Evan Goodman (6-4, 300), who is a soft commit to Arizona State – where his twin brother is a freshman.

Goodman, ranked as the 16th-best tackle in the country and a four-star prospect, has already visited Notre Dame and Nebraska and is likely to visit Florida State.

He has a big fan in Scott Kennedy, the Scout.com national scouting director.

“While watching Goodman, the superlatives are easy to come up with,” Kennedy writes. “He fires off the ball quickly. He absolutely wants to bury the guy in front of him. His athleticism is reminiscent of a linebacker rather than an offensive lineman. He is quick enough to not only engage a blocker, but change his angle of contact and keep his defender constantly off balance. Needs to work on his hand placement as they tend to drop in pass pro.”

The group is heavy on linebackers and cornerbacks as the Razorbacks look to polish off their 2012 class with some commits at those spots.

The linebackers in this weekend include Birmingham (AL) Jackson-Olin standout Beau Hankins (6-2, 230), Montgomery (AL) Carver’s Harding Harper (6-2, 215) and North Bergen (NJ) prep star Vincent Ascolese (6-2, 215).

Hankins has made it clear that he is likely to commit to Arkansas this weekend if all goes well and his former high school teammate Harper is down to Arkansas and Vanderbilt and could do the same.

Ascolese does not have an offer from Arkansas yet, but hopes to get one this weekend and has a final three of Arkansas, Illinois (Jan. 20-22) and Cincinnati (Jan. 27-29).

A couple of top-notch conerbacks in soft Missouri commit Will Hines (6-1, 180) of Waco, Texas and Chris Humes (6-1, 190) of Birmingham (AL) Spain Park are also due in.

Hines has said he will make his decision between Arkansas and Missouri soon after his visit – unless he takes a visit to TCU –and has expressed a desire to play in the SEC.

Humes does not have an offer from Arkansas, but could get one this weekend during his official visit.

He does already have offers from Auburn, Louisville, Kentucky, Mississippi State and UAB.

The Razorbacks will also be hosting a trio of their own commits in Hebron (Texas) defensive end Deatrich Wise (6-5, 240). Longview (Texas) wideout Eric Hawkins (6-0, 170) and defensive end Jamichael Winston (6-5, 240) of Mobile (AL) Vigor.

Arkansas is expected to host around 20 official visitors on Jan. 20-22 and could also bring in some recruits the final weekend ahead of the Wednesday, Feb. 1 national signing date.

The Razorbacks will add two players next week as mid-term junior college signee Austin Flynn (6-5, 255) and New Market (AL) Buckhorn walk-on defensive lineman Justin Oates (6-4, 250) both begin classes at Arkansas.