Arkansas’ football recruiting class is being recognized as one of the better ones in the nation at the midway point of the recruiting season.

The Razorbacks have 21 oral commitments and will be very selective with the remaining four scholarships.

Should the Hogs finish strong, the class could be one of the better ones in school history. One prospect who could possibly help Arkansas finish in the upper tier nationally is defensive end Darrington Sentimore of Destrehan, La.

Senitmore, 6-4, 270, 4. 6 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is committed to Alabama but made an official visit to Arkansas last weekend.

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“I’m narrowing my decision down to Alabama and Arkansas,” said Sentimore, who plans to visit Alabama after his season. “I’m committed to Alabama, but Arkansas reopened my mind. I don’t know when I’ll have a final decision.”

Sentimore wasn’t able to leave until early Saturday morning and arrived at Razorback Stadium about 30 minutes before Arkansas’ game with Tulsa. He left Monday.

“I loved the game,” said Sentimore, who has a 385-pound bench press, a 500-pound squat and a 4. 30 pro-shuttle time. “They have a wonderful crowd and great fans. I just felt so welcomed when I came there. The minute I stepped off the plane, I felt comfortable there.”

Sentimore has approximately 25 scholarship offers, including offers from Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee. He said he was taken aback by Arkansas’ weight facility.

“Their weight program, oh my God,” said Sentimore, who also has visited LSU, Alabama and Auburn. “That’s the biggest, the longest, weight room I’ve ever seen in my life.”

ODEN STILL SOLD ON UA Hargrave Military Academy offensive tackle Anthony Oden, who is orally committed to Arkansas, disputed a report on the Internet that he was planning to take visits to other schools. “I’m not going anywhere,” said Oden, who made an official visit to Arkansas for the Ole Miss game. “I have no idea what happened. I’m going to look it up and see what happened. The only visit I’m going to take is an unofficial [visit ] to Arkansas.” Oden, 6-8, 319, 4. 87, signed with Arkansas in February out of Indianapolis Lawrence North but enrolled at Hargrave after coming up short academically. JOHNSON STILL IN UA FOLD

One Arkansas commitment took his second official visit, but Ricky Johnson said Razorbacks fans have no need to worry.

Johnson, 6-1, 190, 4. 38, of Lafayette (La. ) Carencro visited Tulsa on Oct. 17-19 and took a visit to Georgia Tech over the weekend. He orally committed to the Hogs after taking an unofficial visit Aug. 30 for the Western Illinois game. Johnson said the visit to the Georgia Tech campus in downtown Atlanta was unlike Arkansas. “It went all right,” Johnson said. “It was a different environment with it being in the city. It looked pretty good. It was nice.” Johnson said his only other visit will be an official visit to Arkansas in December or January. “I’m just going to visit Arkansas,” Johnson said. “I’m still solid with Arkansas. They’re going to call me this week, so when I talk to them we’ll set it up.” The Razorbacks are recruiting Johnson as an athlete. He plays quarterback, receiver and running back for the Bears. Despite dealing with a nagging ankle injury the past few weeks, Johnson has rushed for 726 yards on 85 carries and 8 touchdowns and has 166 receiving yards this season.

E-mail Richard Davenport at: rdavenport@arkansasonline. com