-- TYRIE CLEVELAND --
It was reported Monday that four-star wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland of Houston (Texas) Westfield had removed Arkansas from consideration, and that he would decide between Florida, TCU and Houston on Wednesday.
This is one of those cases -- because Cleveland is one of those guys that doesn't return calls or texts 90 percent of the time -- where no one knows what to believe.
As far as Arkansas is concerned, nothing has changed since he left Fayetteville after his official visit. Cleveland has maintained the same message -- a positive one -- with the Razorbacks all along.
Cleveland's coaching staff -- which includes a head coach who has a brother on staff with the Houston Cougars -- said Cleveland was dropping Arkansas because they're a run-heavy offense. First of all, allow me to get the facts out of the way before I go further: Arkansas threw it 28.7 times per game, Florida threw it 28.9 times per game, and Houston averaged 2.1 more pass attempts per game than the Razorbacks. TCU, because of its fast-paced style, ran 192 more total plays than Arkansas ran in the same amount of games, so it's no surprise that they averaged exactly 11 more attempts per game.
Putting facts aside for now, the part that I find hard to believe coming from Cleveland's staff is this idea that they're just now finding out what kind of offense Arkansas runs. If you're a wide receiver, two days before signing day is not the time to find out that a school is "run-heavy." The coach probably didn't realize it at the time, but that's just a pretty dumb thing to say given the circumstances.
In short, I don't buy any of it. As one source said when this report hit the internet, "Did they get quotes from Tyrie? Is it Tyrie saying that, or is it Tyrie's coaches saying that? Ok then. Until Tyrie says something like that, it's just his coach talking."
Now, I don't know what Cleveland's going to do Wednesday, but I do know he's still saying the same things to Arkansas, and those things definitely don't line up with them being dropped from contention.
I'm not at all trying to build false hope here. If I find out Arkansas has indeed been dropped, I'll definitely say so and not keep anyone wondering about it. I just don't think that's happened to this point.
-- KRISTIAN FULTON --
Let's not try to overanalyze this. LSU is the safe prediction here. It's well documented by now that his parents -- especially the father -- want Kristian at LSU. Historically, only a few schools have been able to overcome such an obstacle and Arkansas has never been one of them.
I can shoot down the talk from Fulton's father that Arkansas was eliminated. That's simply not true, as Kristian will indeed have them as an option on Wednesday.
As of today, the day before signing day, it's still the same message over and over again: "He wants to choose Arkansas, but I don't know if he can."
Until he shows that he can, I'm sticking with LSU as my prediction. I will say this, Briston Guidry told me the day after he committed to Arkansas that Kristian "wants to get out of here, I think he might come with me." That was last April, several months ago now and the same "he wants to get away from home" is still being said of Fulton today by different people.
But again, he'll have to prove me wrong on Wednesday. Not a jaw-dropping prediction here, but I think he stays at home like so many from the New Orleans area tend to do.
-- KYLE PORTER --
After reaching out to a few people down in Texas on Monday, I can tell you this: No one knows what Kyle Porter is going to do on Wednesday. Anyone who thinks they know is only guessing, in my opinion. I don't believe Porter has notified any of the three staffs involved one way or the other; I think they'll all find out at the same exact time on Wednesday.
There are a lot of pros and cons for Arkansas. The pros: Porter is the type of guy that you can believe when he says he has an open mind about recruiting. Some say that, knowing good and well exactly where they're going in the end. Not this kid. As I said in another thread, he's a very smart young man. His mother, who made the trip to Fayetteville, is a very smart lady. You can always tell which guys are visiting because it's a very huge, important decision for them and they're truly looking to find answers for all of their questions. The guys who are just visiting for a good time are pretty easy to spot, too.
The cons: This is a Texas kid who has two other Texas schools in his final three, and this past weekend was Porter's first time to see Fayetteville. Not that that's a terrible thing, because he was pleasantly surprised by what he found at Arkansas, but at some point you have to question how much that might impact his final decision. I don't know how many unofficial visits he made at the other two schools, so it could mean nothing or it could mean everything. My point is, for a guy who's from a family that would have no problem making the trip anytime they wanted to, and a guy that has been on Arkansas' radar forever, I always look for how many times a kid has been on campus on his own dime and he never made it unofficially.
-- CALVIN BUNDAGE --
Bare with me on this one because I've got two different people telling me two different things on Bundage. One has been in contact with Bundage every day and he believes the Hogs still have a very good chance with the safety from Oklahoma. Another person tells me he thinks it'll be Oklahoma State or Oregon.
If there was an award for coaches that find the hardest players to read in America, Arkansas' staff would win it this year. Most of the early commitments were pretty easy to guess. This is me tooting my own horn, but for a while there I had a nice little run of accurate predictions going when it came to Arkansas' targets for this class.
Those days are over. These final kids are tough.
Bundage will let the world know at 2:30 tomorrow.
-- DYLAN HAYS --
Just for further clarification on what's happening with the offensive lineman from Little Rock Christian, here's the deal: There is absolutely a chance for Hays to be a Letter-signing part of this year's class, but that will be determined as the Hogs see how things unfold on signing day. For now, I have confirmed we are to list him as a greyshirt.
I know this one took many fans by surprise Monday night, but I don't think it should have.
The first time Arkansas' staff saw him last summer at camp, he went home with a preferred walk-on opportunity. I said then that that was pretty rare and was probably a good sign that he's one to keep an eye on for a late offer.
On Sunday I shot Dylan a text to congratulate him on the late offers from Indiana and Missouri, not knowing that Arkansas was about to get very heavily involved. We went back and forth and I asked about his timeframe on a possibly decision (to potentially flip from UCA to either Indiana or Missouri) and he replied, "I'm going to talk to you soon." Being the idiot that I am, I start prepping for what I think is his very near announcement that he's going to Mizzou -- still without a clue that Arkansas had reached out.
To make a long story short, he filled me in and I agree with him that the specifics of a scholarship and when he'll be placed on one are irrelevant at this stage. The kid is just happy to be living his dream of playing for the Razorbacks and I'm happy for him. I just want to remind everyone that you are more than welcome to celebrate or gripe about the recruiting class, but when you start making it player-specific I've got no choice but to delete it. Gripe about the coaches all you want, they're making pretty good money, but not the kid. Especially one who's willing to pay his own money to play for your team.
It was reported Monday that four-star wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland of Houston (Texas) Westfield had removed Arkansas from consideration, and that he would decide between Florida, TCU and Houston on Wednesday.
This is one of those cases -- because Cleveland is one of those guys that doesn't return calls or texts 90 percent of the time -- where no one knows what to believe.
As far as Arkansas is concerned, nothing has changed since he left Fayetteville after his official visit. Cleveland has maintained the same message -- a positive one -- with the Razorbacks all along.
Cleveland's coaching staff -- which includes a head coach who has a brother on staff with the Houston Cougars -- said Cleveland was dropping Arkansas because they're a run-heavy offense. First of all, allow me to get the facts out of the way before I go further: Arkansas threw it 28.7 times per game, Florida threw it 28.9 times per game, and Houston averaged 2.1 more pass attempts per game than the Razorbacks. TCU, because of its fast-paced style, ran 192 more total plays than Arkansas ran in the same amount of games, so it's no surprise that they averaged exactly 11 more attempts per game.
Putting facts aside for now, the part that I find hard to believe coming from Cleveland's staff is this idea that they're just now finding out what kind of offense Arkansas runs. If you're a wide receiver, two days before signing day is not the time to find out that a school is "run-heavy." The coach probably didn't realize it at the time, but that's just a pretty dumb thing to say given the circumstances.
In short, I don't buy any of it. As one source said when this report hit the internet, "Did they get quotes from Tyrie? Is it Tyrie saying that, or is it Tyrie's coaches saying that? Ok then. Until Tyrie says something like that, it's just his coach talking."
Now, I don't know what Cleveland's going to do Wednesday, but I do know he's still saying the same things to Arkansas, and those things definitely don't line up with them being dropped from contention.
I'm not at all trying to build false hope here. If I find out Arkansas has indeed been dropped, I'll definitely say so and not keep anyone wondering about it. I just don't think that's happened to this point.
-- KRISTIAN FULTON --
Let's not try to overanalyze this. LSU is the safe prediction here. It's well documented by now that his parents -- especially the father -- want Kristian at LSU. Historically, only a few schools have been able to overcome such an obstacle and Arkansas has never been one of them.
I can shoot down the talk from Fulton's father that Arkansas was eliminated. That's simply not true, as Kristian will indeed have them as an option on Wednesday.
As of today, the day before signing day, it's still the same message over and over again: "He wants to choose Arkansas, but I don't know if he can."
Until he shows that he can, I'm sticking with LSU as my prediction. I will say this, Briston Guidry told me the day after he committed to Arkansas that Kristian "wants to get out of here, I think he might come with me." That was last April, several months ago now and the same "he wants to get away from home" is still being said of Fulton today by different people.
But again, he'll have to prove me wrong on Wednesday. Not a jaw-dropping prediction here, but I think he stays at home like so many from the New Orleans area tend to do.
-- KYLE PORTER --
After reaching out to a few people down in Texas on Monday, I can tell you this: No one knows what Kyle Porter is going to do on Wednesday. Anyone who thinks they know is only guessing, in my opinion. I don't believe Porter has notified any of the three staffs involved one way or the other; I think they'll all find out at the same exact time on Wednesday.
There are a lot of pros and cons for Arkansas. The pros: Porter is the type of guy that you can believe when he says he has an open mind about recruiting. Some say that, knowing good and well exactly where they're going in the end. Not this kid. As I said in another thread, he's a very smart young man. His mother, who made the trip to Fayetteville, is a very smart lady. You can always tell which guys are visiting because it's a very huge, important decision for them and they're truly looking to find answers for all of their questions. The guys who are just visiting for a good time are pretty easy to spot, too.
The cons: This is a Texas kid who has two other Texas schools in his final three, and this past weekend was Porter's first time to see Fayetteville. Not that that's a terrible thing, because he was pleasantly surprised by what he found at Arkansas, but at some point you have to question how much that might impact his final decision. I don't know how many unofficial visits he made at the other two schools, so it could mean nothing or it could mean everything. My point is, for a guy who's from a family that would have no problem making the trip anytime they wanted to, and a guy that has been on Arkansas' radar forever, I always look for how many times a kid has been on campus on his own dime and he never made it unofficially.
-- CALVIN BUNDAGE --
Bare with me on this one because I've got two different people telling me two different things on Bundage. One has been in contact with Bundage every day and he believes the Hogs still have a very good chance with the safety from Oklahoma. Another person tells me he thinks it'll be Oklahoma State or Oregon.
If there was an award for coaches that find the hardest players to read in America, Arkansas' staff would win it this year. Most of the early commitments were pretty easy to guess. This is me tooting my own horn, but for a while there I had a nice little run of accurate predictions going when it came to Arkansas' targets for this class.
Those days are over. These final kids are tough.
Bundage will let the world know at 2:30 tomorrow.
-- DYLAN HAYS --
Just for further clarification on what's happening with the offensive lineman from Little Rock Christian, here's the deal: There is absolutely a chance for Hays to be a Letter-signing part of this year's class, but that will be determined as the Hogs see how things unfold on signing day. For now, I have confirmed we are to list him as a greyshirt.
I know this one took many fans by surprise Monday night, but I don't think it should have.
The first time Arkansas' staff saw him last summer at camp, he went home with a preferred walk-on opportunity. I said then that that was pretty rare and was probably a good sign that he's one to keep an eye on for a late offer.
On Sunday I shot Dylan a text to congratulate him on the late offers from Indiana and Missouri, not knowing that Arkansas was about to get very heavily involved. We went back and forth and I asked about his timeframe on a possibly decision (to potentially flip from UCA to either Indiana or Missouri) and he replied, "I'm going to talk to you soon." Being the idiot that I am, I start prepping for what I think is his very near announcement that he's going to Mizzou -- still without a clue that Arkansas had reached out.
To make a long story short, he filled me in and I agree with him that the specifics of a scholarship and when he'll be placed on one are irrelevant at this stage. The kid is just happy to be living his dream of playing for the Razorbacks and I'm happy for him. I just want to remind everyone that you are more than welcome to celebrate or gripe about the recruiting class, but when you start making it player-specific I've got no choice but to delete it. Gripe about the coaches all you want, they're making pretty good money, but not the kid. Especially one who's willing to pay his own money to play for your team.
