Big 12 Teams Finding Recruiting Success in Arkansas

Over the past few years, Big 12 teams such as Baylor, Kansas, and Texas A&M have done an excellent job of recruiting the state of Arkansas. Credit must be given to those programs that consistently focusing on bringing in talent from the state of Arkansas every recruiting season. We are going to examine some of the recruits those three schools have pulled out of Arkansas as well as take a look at some of the recruits currently committed to those programs. Looking first at the Baylor Bears. The Bears have done an excellent job the past three seasons of recruiting the southern Arkansas area. In 2018, the Bears were able to secure the commitment Gerry Bohanon out of Earle High School. When the Bears offered him a scholarship, Bohanon was rated as the number eight dual-threat quarterback in the country. The Bears in landing Bohanon have gotten a good teammate that has produced in the action he has seen and a student that has earned Academic All-Big 12 honors. Baylor has not stopped with Bohanon, the Bears have placed an emphasis on recruiting the state of Arkansas. Baylor has offered scholarships to running back [player_tooltip player_id="100935" first="Isaiah" last="Broadway"], wide receivers [player_tooltip player_id="75062" first="Quincey" last="McAdoo"] and [player_tooltip player_id="75066" first="Isaiah" last="Sategna"], tight end [player_tooltip player_id="75073" first="Dax" last="Courtney"], offensive linemen Will Diggins and Timothy Dawn, and cornerback [player_tooltip player_id="75089" first="Tamerius" last="Bell"]. The Bears have been able to secure the commitment of Camden Fairview’s Timothy Dawn. Dawn is a powerful offensive lineman that uses his speed well to get into the defensive linemen. Baylor’s recruiting of Arkansas has proven to be beneficial, so it only makes sense that the Bears continue to focus on the state of Arkansas. Meanwhile, another former Southwest Conference rival has been focusing on the western side of the state of Arkansas. The Texas A&M Aggies have been successful the pas two seasons in landing players that are valued by numerous college football programs. The Aggies were able to secure the services of Fort Smith Northside cornerback [player_tooltip player_id="74935" first="Dreyden" last="Norwood"]. Norwood will get the opportunity to earn some playing time for a talented Aggie defense. Meanwhile, the Aggies have continued to work on improving the offensive side of the ball. Texas A&M was able to earn the commitment of talented Fayetteville wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id="75066" first="Isaiah" last="Sategna"]. Sategna has excellent speed and will give Jimbo Fisher another weapon in which to stretch the field. As for the Kansas Jayhawks, the Kansas coaching staff has done an excellent job recruiting the state of Arkansas. In the class of 2021, the Jayhawks were able to sign Mena tight [player_tooltip player_id="74947" first="Mason" last="Brotherton"] who will give the Jayhawks a dependable tight end as a run blocker. However, he can also be used effectively in the passing game. Meanwhile, on the defensive side of the ball the Kansas coaching staff brought in an impressive pass rusher out of Joe T. Robinson High School in the form of [player_tooltip player_id="74943" first="Deldrick" last="Withers"]. Withers brings the Jayhawks a quick pass rusher and a player that can stop the run. He was extremely disruptive presence in the offensive backfield in 2020. The Jayhawks have put a focus on the state of Arkansas again for 2022. On the offensive side you will find names like [player_tooltip player_id="75081" first="Austin" last="Myers"], [player_tooltip player_id="75067" first="Joe" last="Himon"], [player_tooltip player_id="75070" first="James" last="Jointer"], [player_tooltip player_id="100935" first="Isaiah" last="Broadway"], and [player_tooltip player_id="75077" first="Travelle" last="Anderson"]. On the offensive line, [player_tooltip player_id="75080" first="Brock" last="Burns"], [player_tooltip player_id="92751" first="Brooks" last="Edmonson"], and [player_tooltip player_id="75064" first="Andrew" last="Chamblee"]. The names that we just dropped could start for the Jayhawks within the first two years. The bottom line is that the state of Arkansas is producing more division one athletes every year. The recruiting in Arkansas has improved every year over the past decade and that is a trend that I look to continue. More focus is being placed on high school football in the state of Arkansas and with that renewed focus, fans and scouts will see players commit not to just division one schools. The Big 12 schools are just early to the party!