The Arkansas Razorbacks are fully back in the swing of things with spring practice beginning Thursday and the NCAA recruiting dead period ending, and several big-name prospects are headed to the Hill for visits this weekend.
Most of these visitors are coming from the high school ranks, but there is one transfer who is slated to take an official visit. Branson Hickman, a center from SMU, is expected to be on campus on March 8.
Hickman entered the transfer portal on Jan. 29 as a graduate transfer, and also has an official visit scheduled to TCU on March 22. He was ranked the No. 4 center by Pro Football Focus last year, posting an overall grade of 79.8 on 952 total snaps for the Mustangs.
TCU could be a real threat to the Razorbacks for Hickman's services, as the Horned Frogs are coached by his former college coach Sonny Dykes.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Friday, weather permitting, the recruits on campus Saturday will have a chance to check out the Razorbacks baseball game against McNeese State, and they’ve got other stuff planned as well.
“We got a home run derby,” Pittman said. “We’ll have a little home run derby in here. If the weather will allow us, we’re going to take him to the baseball game. We have an OV this weekend as well. We had three or four guys in here yesterday. We’ll have three in here today.
"We need to take advantage of it because we’re going to be gone for the next two weekends. We’re trying to have a little bit more fun with it. In my first year here, we went out there in the Hogpen and it was a wonderful junior day to take them out there. The fans were crazy out there. That’s the plan for tomorrow.”
Arkansas’ highest-rated commit in the class of 2025 will be on campus this weekend, as four-star offensive and defensive lineman Carius Curne from Marion told HawgBeat he is planning to be in attendance.
Curne is ranked the No. 206 player in the class of 2025 according to Rivals, and chose the Hogs over offers from Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and others on Feb. 7.
The Razorbacks started their spring drills Thursday morning, and there were three prospects were in attendance, all in the class of 2025. Four-star athlete Omarion Robinson from Little Rock Parkview,
four-star safety Charles Bass and Montgomery, Alabama, wide receiver DJ Vinson all had the chance to take in Arkansas' practice.
Robinson is ranked the No. 118 player in the country and has been to campus a handful of times, and has plans to visit Oklahoma this weekend.
Bass hails from East St. Louis, Illinois, and is ranked the No. 99 player in the nation. He has offers from Michigan, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU and others. He comes from the same high school that produced Arkansas offensive lineman Paris Patterson in the 2023 class.
Vinson has yet to receive a rating from Rivals, but he holds offers from Tennessee, App State and a few others in addition to Arkansas.
Another athlete coming this weekend from Little Rock Parkview is Monterrio Elston. He plays both slot receiver and running back and is a shifty, speedy athlete who can make good things happen when he gets the ball in space.
Arkansas, Missouri, Arkansas State and Memphis are the early offers for Elston, but expect more programs to take notice throughout the year.
A former Arkansas commit is also slated to be in attendance on Saturday, as four-star safety Marcus Wimberly will take a visit to Arkansas. It's the first visit he'll have made since de-committing on Dec. 1 of last year, a choice he made because, he told HawgBeat, he felt like he "rushed into" it without taking the time to think it through.
Wimberly has gotten a lot of love from the Sooners, and has visits set to SMU, Memphis, Alabama, Ole Miss and Oklahoma on tap this spring.
Coming from the state of Georgia this weekend, three-star running back Amauri Anderson is another name for Hog fans to pay attention to. He holds early offers from Colorado, Florida State, Miami and South Carolina in addition to the Razorbacks.
Right now, Arkansas has two running backs committed in the class of 2025, but it's important to get as many athletes as possible on campus early in the recruiting cycle in case things shake up down the line.
One in-state athlete who may be running under the radar of college programs is 2026 lineman Deminio Patterson from Robinson High School in Little Rock. He just transferred from West Helena, but 6-foot-5, 320-pound junior linemen don't grow on trees in-state.
Patterson has some interest from Ole Miss and now has the eye of Arkansas offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who extended the visit invite.
There are more recruits who will be on campus this coming weekend, so stay tuned to The Trough — HawgBeat's premium message board — for the full visit list.
OTHER VISITORS:
- Darnell Williams, 2025 ATH out of Texarkana committed to Ole Miss. No Arkansas offer but I bet that changes soon.
- Braden Nash, 2026 RB from Bentonville West
- Zaccheus Harris, 2026 LB/DE out of Nashville Arkansas
- Alec Huie, 2026 OL from Clinton
- Javeon Fricks, 2025 TE/DE from Mineral Springs
- Quentin Murphy, 2025 ATH from Parkview, holds Arkansas, Georgia, Georgia Tech and several other offers. (there's been some question about whether some of the offers he holds are legit, but I can confirm the Arkansas, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Syracuse ones are legit.)
- Dawson Matthews, 2026 lineman from Ada, Oklahoma
- Cash Farris, 2025 safety from Alma
- Kyron Marshall, 2026 WR from Parkview
- Jermaine Penny, 2025 ATH from Parkview
- Josh Thomas, 2025 OL from Greenbrier
I'll keep adding as more get back to me.
Most of these visitors are coming from the high school ranks, but there is one transfer who is slated to take an official visit. Branson Hickman, a center from SMU, is expected to be on campus on March 8.
Hickman entered the transfer portal on Jan. 29 as a graduate transfer, and also has an official visit scheduled to TCU on March 22. He was ranked the No. 4 center by Pro Football Focus last year, posting an overall grade of 79.8 on 952 total snaps for the Mustangs.
TCU could be a real threat to the Razorbacks for Hickman's services, as the Horned Frogs are coached by his former college coach Sonny Dykes.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Friday, weather permitting, the recruits on campus Saturday will have a chance to check out the Razorbacks baseball game against McNeese State, and they’ve got other stuff planned as well.
“We got a home run derby,” Pittman said. “We’ll have a little home run derby in here. If the weather will allow us, we’re going to take him to the baseball game. We have an OV this weekend as well. We had three or four guys in here yesterday. We’ll have three in here today.
"We need to take advantage of it because we’re going to be gone for the next two weekends. We’re trying to have a little bit more fun with it. In my first year here, we went out there in the Hogpen and it was a wonderful junior day to take them out there. The fans were crazy out there. That’s the plan for tomorrow.”
Arkansas’ highest-rated commit in the class of 2025 will be on campus this weekend, as four-star offensive and defensive lineman Carius Curne from Marion told HawgBeat he is planning to be in attendance.
Curne is ranked the No. 206 player in the class of 2025 according to Rivals, and chose the Hogs over offers from Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and others on Feb. 7.
The Razorbacks started their spring drills Thursday morning, and there were three prospects were in attendance, all in the class of 2025. Four-star athlete Omarion Robinson from Little Rock Parkview,
four-star safety Charles Bass and Montgomery, Alabama, wide receiver DJ Vinson all had the chance to take in Arkansas' practice.
Robinson is ranked the No. 118 player in the country and has been to campus a handful of times, and has plans to visit Oklahoma this weekend.
Bass hails from East St. Louis, Illinois, and is ranked the No. 99 player in the nation. He has offers from Michigan, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU and others. He comes from the same high school that produced Arkansas offensive lineman Paris Patterson in the 2023 class.
Vinson has yet to receive a rating from Rivals, but he holds offers from Tennessee, App State and a few others in addition to Arkansas.
Another athlete coming this weekend from Little Rock Parkview is Monterrio Elston. He plays both slot receiver and running back and is a shifty, speedy athlete who can make good things happen when he gets the ball in space.
Arkansas, Missouri, Arkansas State and Memphis are the early offers for Elston, but expect more programs to take notice throughout the year.
A former Arkansas commit is also slated to be in attendance on Saturday, as four-star safety Marcus Wimberly will take a visit to Arkansas. It's the first visit he'll have made since de-committing on Dec. 1 of last year, a choice he made because, he told HawgBeat, he felt like he "rushed into" it without taking the time to think it through.
Wimberly has gotten a lot of love from the Sooners, and has visits set to SMU, Memphis, Alabama, Ole Miss and Oklahoma on tap this spring.
Coming from the state of Georgia this weekend, three-star running back Amauri Anderson is another name for Hog fans to pay attention to. He holds early offers from Colorado, Florida State, Miami and South Carolina in addition to the Razorbacks.
Right now, Arkansas has two running backs committed in the class of 2025, but it's important to get as many athletes as possible on campus early in the recruiting cycle in case things shake up down the line.
One in-state athlete who may be running under the radar of college programs is 2026 lineman Deminio Patterson from Robinson High School in Little Rock. He just transferred from West Helena, but 6-foot-5, 320-pound junior linemen don't grow on trees in-state.
Patterson has some interest from Ole Miss and now has the eye of Arkansas offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who extended the visit invite.
There are more recruits who will be on campus this coming weekend, so stay tuned to The Trough — HawgBeat's premium message board — for the full visit list.
OTHER VISITORS:
- Darnell Williams, 2025 ATH out of Texarkana committed to Ole Miss. No Arkansas offer but I bet that changes soon.
- Braden Nash, 2026 RB from Bentonville West
- Zaccheus Harris, 2026 LB/DE out of Nashville Arkansas
- Alec Huie, 2026 OL from Clinton
- Javeon Fricks, 2025 TE/DE from Mineral Springs
- Quentin Murphy, 2025 ATH from Parkview, holds Arkansas, Georgia, Georgia Tech and several other offers. (there's been some question about whether some of the offers he holds are legit, but I can confirm the Arkansas, Georgia, Georgia Tech and Syracuse ones are legit.)
- Dawson Matthews, 2026 lineman from Ada, Oklahoma
- Cash Farris, 2025 safety from Alma
- Kyron Marshall, 2026 WR from Parkview
- Jermaine Penny, 2025 ATH from Parkview
- Josh Thomas, 2025 OL from Greenbrier
I'll keep adding as more get back to me.
