Athletic Arico Evans, a University of Kansas commitment, plans to make an official visit to Arkansas during the Jan. 30-Feb.1 weekend.
Evans was a jack of all trades for Dallas Hillcrest, where he completed 67 of 107 passes for 1,076 yards and 17 touchdowns and rushed for 1,358 yards and 17 touchdowns on 184 carries as a senior for the Class 5A Panthers.
"I'm highly interested in Arkansas," he said. "It's an SEC school, and the fans are all about the Hogs."
Evans, 6-2, 190 pounds, will finish up an official visit to Texas Tech today and then visit TCU on Jan. 23 before his trip to Fayetteville. The appeal of the SEC is strong.
"I love the SEC," Evans said. "That's the biggest conference there is, and that's a lot of competition. I love competition."
Running backs coach Joel Thomas, who signed an extension with Arkansas earlier in the week, is his lead recruiter.
"He's a really good man," said Evans, who hosted Thomas for an in-home visit Thursday. "I've learned that he will not pressure a kid. He will give you all the facts about the school and let you make your decision.
"He's a really good person to talk to. We can talk about anything. Not even about football. We talk about life and stuff like that, and that's the type of coach you would like to have."
Evans, who helped lead his team to a 9-2 record, recorded a time of 4.50 seconds in the 40-yard dash as a junior but hasn't been timed since. He could play receiver, running back or defensive back in college.
Evans said he wasn't totally pleased with his season.
"I really think I could've done better to help my team out," he said. "I was just doing anything to help my team win. I really didn't pay attention to any of my stats. I just wanted to win."
Evans doesn't have an offer from Arkansas but is a strong candidate to receive one. He was a team captain as a junior and a senior.
"I knew after my sophomore year it was going to be my team," Evans said. "I was going to have to work and make sure they put in the work."
His mother was a record-setting sprinter in high school and his uncle, Donovan Pitts, was a receiver at Texas in the 1980s. Evans will likely add more weight in college once he adjusts his diet.
"I hardly even eat," Evans said. "I probably eat once a day."
THE LEMMYS
Arkansas offensive line coach Sam Pittman will be recognized as one of the nation's top six recruiting assistant coaches during The Lemming Report, which will be broadcast Friday evening on CBS Sports Network.
Tom Lemming is entering his 36th year of covering the national recruiting scene and will give out his annual college and high school football awards during the show.
According to Lemming's rankings, Pittman has signed eight four-star offensive line prospects since arriving in Fayetteville.
"He's got a great reputation of producing offensive linemen and a great reputation as a recruiter," Lemming said. "The combination makes it real good for us to pick those type of guys. Not just recruiters, but recruiters that can coach, and those are the kind of guys I like to recognize for Lemmy Awards."
Pittman, who has had 16 linemen selected in the NFL Draft, landed highly recruited offensive lineman Jalen Merrick a week ago, beating out the likes of Florida, Florida State, Alabama and LSU.
"That's a very good catch for him, especially with Merrick being so far away from home," Lemming said.
The Hogs hosted four-star offensive lineman Toby Weathersby on an official visit this weekend, and Pittman could make it nine four-star prospects Pittman has landed if he signs with the Razorbacks.
FORD COMMITS TO K-STATE
Bentonville junior quarterback Kasey Ford orally committed Saturday to play baseball at Kansas State.
Ford has a football scholarship offer from Louisville and was drawing interest from Arkansas and numerous other schools.
Arkansas' baseball team also showed interest in Ford, whose older brother attend Kansas State.
MONK IMPRESSIVE
Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson and associate head coach Melvin Watkins watched Bentonville junior guard Malik Monk play Thursday night in the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Championships in Springfield, Mo.
Monk had 26 points and 16 rebounds in a 63-55 loss to High Point (N.C.) Wesleyan Christian
Monk, 6-4, 173 pounds, is rated by ESPN as the No. 4 prospect in the 2016 class and has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Baylor, Memphis, Florida Connecticut, Kansas and others.
He had 21 points and 12 rebounds Friday in a 47-28 victory over Waynesville, Mo. He closed out the tournament with 50 points and eight rebounds Saturday in an 86-73 loss to Chino Hills, Calif.
E-mail Richard Davenport at
rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 01/18/2015