Two teammates, defensive lineman Armon Watts and offensive lineman Brian Wallace Jr. of St. Louis Christian Brothers College High, will arrive today in Fayetteville for visits.
Watts, 6-5, 270 pounds, 5.1 seconds in the 40-yard dash, added a scholarship offer from Arkansas after impressing Razorbacks defensive coordinator Chris Ash and defensive line coach Charlie Partridge during Arkansas’ Elite Prospect Camp in July. He and his mother, Glenda Williams, are set to arrive at about 11 a.m. today.
Watts tabbed Arkansas as one of his top choices after receiving the offer, and he is looking forward to seeing more during his visit.
“See what the campus looks like and get a good detail of the facility,” Watts said. “See what it looks like, get to spend a little bit more time with the coaches, and hopefully I’ll get to see a practice.”
Watts praised Ash, Partridge and graduate assistant Eric Mateos for making him feel at ease and for staying in contact.
“I feel comfortable with the coaches,” Watts said. “As far as them recruiting me, I feel like they’ve done a great job. I talk to the coaches almost every day.”
Watts has offers from 13 other schools, including Missouri, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Indiana and Cincinnati. The trip also will allow his mother an opportunity to meet the coaches.
“She knows I’m excited about it because when I left the camp I told her how excited I was about it,” Watts said. “She knows I think very highly about Arkansas. They’re definitely one of my top schools.”
Watts admits he has thought about ending his recruitment while on the visit.
“It all depends on how things go down, how she feels about it,” said Watts, who expects to leave Saturday morning. “Who knows what happens? I feel like anything can happen.”
Wallace, 6-6, 304 pounds, 5.2 seconds in the 40-yard dash, had more than 20 scholarship offers, but his top five are Arkansas, Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio State. He and his father are expected to arrive this afternoon and will start their visit Saturday morning.
Wallace is rated by ESPN as the No. 16 offensive tackle and the No. 151 overall prospect in the nation, and the No. 3 recruit in Missouri.
Wallace said he is determined to find a school that has a positive atmosphere, academically and athletically, and plans to major in sociology.
He is being recruited by offensive line coach Sam Pittman and Mateos.
“I think it’s very important that you have a good relationship with your offensive line coach,” said Wallace, who has been invited to play in the U.S. Army All-American game in San Antonio. “ For one, that’s the one going to be teaching you on what you need to do.”
He plans to take his five official visits during the season and make his decision after the season.
WAITING FOR WORD Arkansas could pick up its15th oral commitment today when Shreveport Evangel Christian receiver Jared Cornelius announces his decision at about 3 p.m.
Cornelius, 6-1, 190 pounds, has scholarship offers from eight schools, including Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Tulsa and San Diego State. He will choose between Arkansas and Missouri. He and his mother visited Arkansas on July 19 for the Elite Prospect Camp.
Cornelius had 90 receptions for 1,585 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior.
Another prime target of Arkansas, running back Kevin Shorter of Newton, Texas, will announce his college decision Aug. 17.
Shorter, 5-11, 185 pounds, 4.38 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is expected to choose between Arkansas, Texas and Texas A&M. He and Razorbacks freshman cornerback D.J. Dean are cousins.
MONK ADDS OFFER
Bentonville sophomore guard Malik Monk added a scholarship offer from Indiana on Thursday, according to his brother, Marcus.
Malik Monk also has offers from Arkansas and Memphis.
Malik Monk, 6-4, 180 pounds,played at East Poinsett County last season. He is rated by ESPN as the No. 11 prospect in the nation in the 2016 class. E-mail Richard Davenport at
Sports, Pages 20 on 08/09/2013