After attending two days of Arkansas’ three day camp and receiving a scholarship offer, Hayden Johnson left Fayetteville knowing he would eventually be a Razorback.
“Honestly right when I left Arkansas, I kind of knew that was going to be the place, but I didn’t want to pull the trigger too early,” Johnson said. “I wanted to let it to sit for at least a couple of days. I got to come home and sit down with my family and we made the decision that was going to be it. We just wanted to make sure we were thorough and we made the right choice.”
Johnson, 6-3, 245, 4.8 seconds in the 40 yard dash. of Columbia, (Mo.) Rock Bridge impressed Coach Bret Bielema and running backs coach Jemal Singleton during the first two days of the June 14-16 camp.
He recorded 70 tackles, 12.5 sacks and 10 rushing touchdowns as a junior. Most schools recruited Johnson to play defensive end while the Razorbacks offered him as a fullback.
Bielema and Singleton help make Johnson and his parents feel at home.
“They were huge in welcoming me in there,” Johnson said. “I got to sit down in coach Bielema’s office. He talked to me and my family and we just really kind of meshed well with him. Everybody got along. It made a lot of sense to us. Same thing with coach Singleton. Their friendlessness is just ridiculous. My parents loved them probably more than I did. We absolutely loved them down there.”
Johnson, who has a 3.92 grade point average and plans to study pre-med, picked the Hogs over 23 other scholarship offers from schools like Purdue, Tulsa, Wyoming, Louisiana Tech and Bowling Green.
“Probably mid-July is what we’re looking at,” Johnson said of the next trip to Fayetteville.