HawgBeat - Recent Arkansas commitments show boost in state of Mississippi
Arkansas hasn't recruited well in the state of Mississippi historically, but things look like they're changing.
arkansas.rivals.com
While Arkansas has not historically recruited well in the state of Mississippi, things are starting to pick up for the Razorbacks in the Delta.
Arkansas' starting quarterback KJ Jefferson hails from Sardis, and the Hogs gained the signature of Alex Sanford Jr. out of Oxford in the class of 2023.
Prior to Jefferson’s arrival, though, Arkansas hadn’t had a significant contributor from Mississippi since 2017, when wide receiver Jonathan Nance — who later transfered from the program — joined the Hogs out of Perkinston.
The Hogs received their second recruit in the class of 2024 with the addition of defensive tackle Dion Stutts on March 11. While he plays for Memphis University School in Tennessee, Stutts' family hails from Batesville, Mississippi, roughly an hour south of Memphis.
On Monday, Arkansas got more good news when Ocean Springs native Noreel White announced his pledge to Arkansas. He is a four-star athlete who holds offers from Ole Miss, Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida State and others.
Rivals shows White's primary recruiter at Florida State as new co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson, who coached defensive backs for the Seminoles prior to his arrival at Arkansas.
Woodson has a home connection to Mississippi, as it is his home state. It's also a state he's recruited heavily in his time as an assistant coach.
"Mississippi is my home state," Woodson said on Feb. 1. "So I feel like any kid that’s an SEC-caliber player that can help us get better, we’ll have a chance to go into that state and compete. Anywhere in the southeast, the main thing is us just covering the footprint, whatever we decide that’s going to be the footprint for Arkansas."
New to Arkansas, Woodson spent two years at Memphis before heading to Auburn, where he also spent two years before moving on to coach defensive backs at Florida State. In Memphis' 2017 recruiting class, the Tigers grabbed eight recruits out of Mississippi.
That's to be expected, as Memphis sits right on the state line of Mississippi and Tennessee, but when Woodson took a job as an assistant coach at Auburn — where he met Arkansas defensive coordinator Travis Williams — he recruited the state of Mississippi on the Plains well, too.
Rivals credits Woodson for the recruitment of three prospects from Mississippi in Auburn's 2019 class, defensive ends Charles Moore and Jaren Handy, as well as linebacker Derick Hall II. All three were four-star recruits, with Hall starting all three seasons he has been at Auburn.
When he got to Florida State, Woodson once again pulled a recruit from the state of Mississippi to his class, grabbing Quindarrius Jones, an athlete out of Meridian, Mississippi.
Since Woodson’s arrival at Arkansas, the Hogs have hosted a plethora of recruits from Mississippi, including Kamarion Franklin, a 2024 defensive end who is ranked No. 12 in the nation according to Rivals. He visited with 2025 four-star defensive back Jarcoby Hopson Jr. back in January.
It’s safe to say while Woodson is coaching at Arkansas, recruits in the state of Mississippi will be interested in coming to Fayetteville.
