In Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, linebacker-defensive end Richard Yeargin III said he has Arkansas in his top 15 and plans to make an official visit to Fayetteville because of his relationship with defensive line coach Charlie Partridge.
Another plus for the Hogs is that Partridge, while at Wisconsin, was the first coach to offer Yeargin a scholarship during the second semester of his sophomore year.
"Arkansas made the cut because for one coach Charlie Partridge is a good guy," Yeargin said. "He's been recruiting me since I was a freshman."
After trimming his list of approximately 50 scholarship offers, also included Michigan and Tennessee as schools that would get an official visit.
Yeargin, 6-4, 230, 4.6 seconds of Fort Lauderdale, (Fla.) University School said the Hogs also offer the opportunity to come in and play early because of the depth chart and the new coaching staff.
A school must show a personal interest before winning Yeargin over.
"First thing they have to convince me that they have my best interest at heart not only on the field but off the field," said Yeargin, who reports Partridge private messaging him on Twitter every day. "Football ends in one place. I have to have stability in my coaches."
Yeargin, who has a 3.8 grade point average, will be one of 163 of the top prospects in the nation participating in The Opening, an event held at Nike Headquarters on June 30 to July 3.
"I look at the Opening as a mini- testing everything that I'm about," Yeargin said. "My competiveness my skills, my attributes. It's going to be a great experience going out there against the best of the best players in the country. I blessed to have an opportunity like that. I pray that God keeps me safe and lets me compete at my best."