Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said Monday that freshman running back Braylen Russell is with the team and will be available to play in Friday's Liberty Bowl matchup against Texas Tech at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis.
Russell withdrew his name from the transfer portal Saturday for the second time since the end of the regular season after taking a visit to Ole Miss on Friday. Russell first entered the portal Dec. 10, but he reversed course the same day and then entered the portal again Dec. 15 before withdrawing the most recent time.
According to Pittman, he and Russell have an agreement that this is the last time the former four-star recruit will change course.
"He texted me and said 'Coach, I'd like to talk to you,' and that was after the second time he entered the portal," Pittman said. "Obviously we had an agreement there about... because the look wasn't good on him, nor me or the program. If we were going to have him back, we wanted to make sure that it was the last and final time. I felt good about that. He felt good about that. That's kind of what happened."
Russell totaled 304 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 47 carries as a freshman this season. His best game came at Mississippi State, when he ran the ball 16 times for 175 yards in starter Ja'Quinden Jackson's absence due to injury.
Pittman said that Russell somehow managed to be available for at least half of the team's bowl practices so far, despite being in the portal twice and visiting a conference rival.
"I think he's been to over half of them," Pittman said. "He's ready to go. He's obviously practiced Sunday and practiced today. He may have been to about four of them to this point. He's in good shape. He's looked good in practice."
A 6-foot-1, 253-pound Benton native, Russell is a highly-touted four-star prospect out of Benton High School and chose the Hogs over Arizona, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Texas A&M, South Carolina and others.
Russell is one of four scholarship running backs available for the bowl game, including Rodney Hill, Tyrell Reed Jr. and JuJu Pope. The Razorbacks and Red Raiders will kickoff at 6 p.m. CT Friday on ESPN.
