Arkansas quarterback commitment Rafe Peavey plans to report to Fayetteville on Jan. 10 to begin life as a Razorback.
Peavey, 6-2, 208, 4.5 seconds in the 40 yard dash, of Bolivar, Missouri believes time with strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney will help prepare him for spring practice.
“Really it is important for me to come down early and get a feel for things,” said Peavey, who officially visited the Razorbacks over the weekend. “I will probably take a light load, like 15 hours and get in the weight room with Coach Herb to get me physically ready. Getting with Coach Chaney will be priceless.”
A good portion of the fan base is expecting Peavey to play a major role next season.
“I am just going to try and be the best quarterback I can be for the most part and let the rest take care of itself,” he said.
Peavey has actively recruited for the Arkansas since first pledging to the Hogs during the summer of 2012. He was able to spend a few minutes with highly touted Houston Westside receiver Frank Iheanacho who was about to leave Fayetteville for an official visit to Oregon after getting in town on Wednesday.
“I got to meet him, it was really brief, was maybe like two minutes,” Peavey said. “But it was a good two minutes.”
Shortly before 11 official visitors arrived, the Hogs was surprised to hear receiver commitment Jared Cornelius had flipped to TCU after taking a midweek official visit to Fort Worth.
“The whole thing with Jared, we’ll just move on to the next one,” Peavey said. “I am just trying to do my part.”
Peavey, who’s rated a 4-star plus prospect and the No. 8 quarterback in the nation by national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network, completed 127 of 185 passes for 2,294 yards and 16 touchdowns while also having 187 carries for 1,557 yards and 27 touchdowns.
For his career, Peavey had 343 rushes for 2,718 yards and 53 touchdowns while completing 317 of 473 passes for 5,990 yards and 54 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
He hung out with linebacker Brooks Ellis, tight end Hunter Henry and quarterback Austin Allen.
“It went pretty well,” Peavey said. “I enjoyed it. I didn't realize how funny everyone was. It was pretty cool. Every one got along great and that is what I was really looking for.”
Strong in his faith, Peavey is determined to be a positive influence during his college career.
“Doing right in all aspects of my life is something that I have done from day one and I’ve just had my older brother teach me to do all of that,” he said. “I’ll just continue to do that and just be different and be content with that.”
Peavey said the Saturday night trip to the Catfish Hole was something special.
“That was pretty awesome,” Peavey said. “I did not expect that at all. Everybody was like 'wait until you go to the Catfish Hole.”
He’ll be roommates with another midterm enrollee, cornerback Chris Murphy, who also visited over the weekend.
“I met him at the South Carolina game so I hung out with him a little bit, but on our official we got to know each other better,” Peavey said.