Nashville athlete La'Michael Pettway attended Arkansas' game against Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday and announced his oral commitment to the Razorbacks on Sunday.
"Honestly, it's been weighing on me for a while," said Pettway, who told Arkansas' coaches Saturday night of his commitment. "Today, I decided I was ready."
Pettway, 6-3, 200 pounds, 4.47 seconds in the 40-yard dash, chose the Hogs over scholarship offers from 13 other schools, including Alabama, Louisville, Ole Miss, Arkansas State, Nebraska and Southern Miss.
He orally committed to Ole Miss in May but reopened his recruiting Sept. 1. Oral commitments are nonbinding.
Pettway said he appreciated how Barry Lunney Jr., Arkansas' tight ends coach who is serving as the lead recruiter for Pettway, stayed after him after his oral commitment to the Rebels.
"That showed me a lot," Pettway said. "I kind of figured we wouldn't be in touch as much, but he was still the same guy and he was a man of his word, and that impressed me a lot."
Arkansas now has oral commitments from all 10 of the in-state prospects it has offered. Pettway is Arkansas' 16th commitment for the 2015 class.
"I thought about this a lot, because the class of 2015 in Arkansas, we're pretty huge," Pettway said. "Us being together, that could make a big difference on Arkansas, and that's what we plan on doing in the future."
Pettway played quarterback the first three games of his junior season season and completed 33 of 56 passes for 342 yards, 5 touchdowns and rushed 47 times for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns. He moved to receiver, where he recorded 54 receptions for 1,054 yards and 17 touchdowns.
He had 27 receptions for 495 yards and 12 touchdowns going into last Friday's game. He also had 28 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 5 interceptions and 4 pass breakups at safety.
Arkansas is recruiting Pettway as an athlete and could look at him at receiver, safety and possibly outside linebacker. Pettway said Coach Bret Bielema is considering him as a two-way player.
"We talked maybe about me going both ways because of my size," Pettway said.
Petttway, who moved to Arkansas from Alabama while in elementary school, said several visits to Fayetteville convinced him to choose the Razorbacks.
"It's just that vibe about Arkansas, just the feeling of being there," Pettway said. "I haven't always been a Razorback fan, but being there numerous times I had a change of heart, and that's why I wanted to be there."
Sports on 10/27/2014