Arkansas has added another signee — Camden (N. J. ) wide receiver / defensive back Matt Marshall — to its 2008 football recruiting class, but it will be at least two months before Marshall is sealed and delivered.

Marshall, 6-2, 209 pounds, 4. 43 speed in the 40-yard dash, signed a non-binding financial aid agreement May 2 with the Razorbacks after taking an unofficial visit to Fayetteville on April 16. He also signed a nonbinding financial agreement with Iowa in late April.

Because Marshall didn’t sign during the national signing period (Feb. 6-April 1 ), the financial aid agreement he signed with Arkansas and Iowa are non-binding until he enrolls as a full-time student in the fall at either school. Normally, an athlete who signs a national letter is obligated to that school for one year and can’t be contacted by other colleges.

“It worked in my favor in the long run,” Marshall said. “I’m so happy to be a Razorback. After taking my visit to Arkansas, I loved it. Everything there is beautiful, and I see myself having a great experience there. The people, socially they’re great and they love Arkansas Razorback football.” Marshall had 20 catches for 340 yards and 7 touchdowns last season and had 49 tackles and 3 interceptions from his safety position. “I want to be the best athlete I can be, and the University of Arkansas will give me that,” Marshall said. “It will give me great football and a chance to go to the NFL, and it also gives me a chance to be an Olympian in track and field.” Marshall is also an excellent hurdler in track. He’s recorded personal bests of 7. 38 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles and 13. 88 in the 110 hurdles. North Carolina, Maryland and South Carolina also offered scholarships, according to Marshall.

BACK VISITS ARKANSAS Arkansas hosted one of the top running backs in the nation on an unofficial visit Thursday.

D. J. Adams 5-10, 212, 4. 48 of Norcross, Ga., has more than 30 scholarship offers, including one from the Razorbacks.

His mother is originally from Arkansas and he still has many relatives living in the state, including her parents.

Adams’ family — including his parents, younger sister Faith and his grandparents — arrived in Branson, Mo., on Monday to celebrate his grandparents’ 50 th wedding anniversary.

They then made their way to Fayetteville on Thursday to take an unofficial visit to Arkansas. Assistant coaches Tim Horton and Lorenzo Ward gave the whole family a tour of the Arkansas campus.

“The visit was very informative, very nice, and it actually was more than I expected,” said Adams, who has a 375-pound bench press and a 515-pound squat. ” The coaching staff is really nice. The facilities are some of the best I’ve seen, and I’ve been to some places around the country. I got a chance to talk to some of the players that were doing their summer workouts.

“Arkansas definitely moved up on my list after the visit.” Adams and his father had a 10- to 15-minute visit with Coach Bobby Petrino. “That went well,” said Adams, who rushed for 1, 462 yards on 205 carries last season. “He’s a very laidback guy. You can tell he’s very smart, a very smart football guy compared to a lot of other coaches I’ve been around. He knows what he’s talking about, and you can tell he knows what he wants to do. “ That’s something I look for in a coach.” Adams said Petrino mentioned that he expected Arkansas to be in the running for a SEC championship in the near future, along with the national championship STEPHENSON CUTS HOGS Arkansas’ basketball team is no longer in the running for New York City combination guard Lance Stephenson, who’s considered one of the top prospects in the 2009 class. Stephenson’s father, Lance Sr., said Wednesday night that he and his son have narrowed his list of prospective schools to Southern Cal, UCLA and Kansas. The elder Stephenson said in April that Arkansas was in his son’s top five, but that was after Lance played in the Real Deal on the Hill tournament in Fayetteville. E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@ar kansasonline. com