FAYETTEVILLE — Marshawn Powell quit his AAU basketball team when he was 14 because coaches never played him.

That summer Powell practiced every day on a court near his home in Newport News, Va., shooting baskets with his older brother from 8 a. m. to nightfall. All the hard work paid off as Powell, a 6-7 forward, developed into one of the nation’s top prospects in the 2009 recruiting class.

On Wednesday, Powell signed a letter of intent to play for Arkansas next season. West Memphis 7-0 center Anthony Borden and Cloud (Kan. ) Community College 6-5 guard Jemal Farmer also signed with Arkansas.

The Razorbacks are also in the running for former Georgia forward Jeremy Jacob. Jacob, 6-8, plays for Chipola College in Florida after transferring from Georgia this past summer.

Jacob averaged 5. 2 points and 3. 3 rebounds in six games with the Bulldogs before sustaining a stress fracture in his left foot. He was granted a medical hardship but quit the team this summer.

Razorbacks Coach John Pelphrey declined to comment on any recruits since the school had not received any of the letters of intent by Wednesday night. Powell said his letter had to be signed by his mother, and West Memphis Coach Larry Bray said he didn’t have a fax number for Arkansas until Pelphrey called him with one Wednesday evening.

“I’ve called Coach Pelphrey nine times,” Bray said. “I have the signed papers and I’m just waiting on the fax number.”

Cloud Athletic Director Matt Bechard confirmed that Farmer signed and the letter had been mailed to Arkansas. Cloud was playing a game in Independence on Wednesday night and Farmer and Coach Kevin Muff were unavailable for comment.

Powell, on the other hand, was more than happy to talk about his Razorbacks future. Powell originally committed to Arkansas in late May before reconsidering his options.

He took an official visit to Arkansas this summer and toured the campus with good friend Stefan Welsh, a junior guard at Arkansas who is from Newport News. Powell averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds a game for the Miller School in Charlottesville, Va.

“I told him, ‘Don’t B. S. me around, tell me what’s bad about the place, too,’” Powell said. “He told me what it was and how it is. It didn’t sound that bad to me.”

Miller Coach Fred Warner said Powell is an offensive threat because he has great hands and a variety of scoring moves from the low post. Those skills and his athletic ability make him a good fit for Pelphrey’s style of play.

“He’s a very aggressive kid, and he plays really hard,” Warner said. “His basketball IQ is higher than most kids in high school. He’s a nice kid, but he’s a little bit nasty on the floor.”

Powell said he doesn’t have any worries about playing far from home. The Miller School, a boarding school, is several hours from Newport News.

“I’m going to be the first person in my whole family to go to college,” Powell said. “It’s a proud moment that someone in my family made it. I have two little brothers and one little sister and I’m going to show them the street is not the only way.”

Farmer chose Arkansas instead of Alabama-Birmingham and Nebraska. He averaged 16 points and five rebounds a game as a freshman and earned All-Jayhawk Conference honors.