BEAVERTON, Ore. — One of The Opening participants, safety Will Sunderland is looking to visit Arkansas soon after leaving Oregon.
“They want me to get down there pretty soon,” Sunderland said. “So probably two weeks after The Opening, I’ll go down there and visit Arkansas.”
Sunderland, 6-3, 192 pounds, 4.56 seconds in the 40, of Midwest City, Okla., reports scholarship offers from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, Tulsa and others. He knows what he wants to do when he gets to Fayetteville. Video highlights CLICK HERE
“Meet the football players and tour around the campus,” Sunderland said. “Get familiar with all of the coaching staff and learn about the academics and talk to the head coach…mainly a one-on-one with him and get to know him better and learn the plays.”
Sunderland, who's playing for Alpha Pro this week at The Opening, is rated the No. 17 safety and No. 215 overall prospect in the nation by ESPN.
“I’m probably going to take some of my visits during football season and after football season,” he said. “I’ll take all five and Arkansas will be one of them.”
He said his other official visits will go to Ohio State, Nebraska, Kansas and Kansas State. Coach Bret Bielema has impressed him.
“When I talked to him, he talks about life,” Sunderland said. “It isn’t all about football. He asks about my grades and how my family is doing and what I’m doing at the house and stuff like that. He talks about life instead of football sometimes.”
His lead recruiter, offensive line coach Sam Pittman keeps Sunderland laughing.
“He’s always trying to crack jokes,” he said. “Coach Pittman is real cool. He just likes making people laugh.”
Early playing time tops Sunderland’s list of priorities when picking a school.
“If Arkansas tells me they’re going to guarantee me a spot my freshman year, you already know I’m going to Arkansas regardless,” Sunderland said. “I’m really looking for PT.”