Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson is expected to sign four basketball prospects to national letter of intents during the early signing period that starts today at 7 a.m and runs through next Wednesday.
The Razorbacks are hoping to hear good news from highly recruited Bentonville guard Malik Monk during the early signing period. Monk has said he would sign during the spring signing period, but he has left the door open to the possibility of signing early.
ESPN rates Monk the nation's No. 1 shooting guard and No. 5 overall prospect in the nation. He has officially visited Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon and Kansas.
The Arkansas men are one of seven Division I basketball programs planning to sign players in the early period, along with the Arkansas State men and women, UALR men and women, Central Arkansas women and the Arkansas women.
Athletes in baseball, volleyball, golf and tennis also can sign during the early period.
Forward Adrio Bailey, 6-6, 205 pounds, of Campti (La.) Lakeview will sign with Arkansas at 2 p.m. today at the school gymnasium. His coach showed Bailey's national letter of intent to him and his teammates at Monday's practice.
"He said hard work really pays off, and when he said that I almost got real emotional," Bailey said. "I put in a lot of work along the way and at the end of the day you see the outcome."
Bailey committed to Arkansas over scholarship offers from Wichita State, Murray State, Old Dominion and Louisiana Tech. He made an official visit to Fayetteville on Oct. 16-18.
"When I went on my visit it was everything I wanted it to be," Bailey said. "Coach Anderson told me he was going to be like a father away from home."
Bailey averaged 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 2.3 blocks his junior season while leading his high school to a 34-4 record.
Former Little Rock Parkview shooting guard Daryl Macon, who plays for Holmes (Miss.) Community College, said he is planning to sign with the Hogs at 1 p.m. Thursday at the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.
Macon said he wanted to hold his signing ceremony in his hometown.
"Like I've always said, it's a dream come true," Macon said. "I just wanted to bring it back home so all my family and friends could be there."
He earned first-team junior college All-America honors as a freshman while averaging 23 points and shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 36.9 percent from beyond the three-point line.
Macon, who played spring and summer basketball for the Arkansas Hawks, said he has worked hard to realize his dream of being a Razorback.
"I might shed a tear or two. I might not," Macon said. "When you've worked this hard to accomplish something that you've always wanted to do it can get emotional. I've been through a lot to get to this point."
Macon, 6-4, 185 pounds had scholarship offers from Alabama, Ole Miss, Louisville, Kansas State and Memphis.
Junior-college guard Jaylen Barford said he plans to sign with the Razorbacks at 1 p.m. Friday, while junior-college forward Arlando Cook also plans to sign that day.
Barford, 6-4, 205, who plays at Motlow Community College in McMinnville, Tenn., picked the Hogs over more than 20 other scholarship offers from Memphis, Missouri, Ole Miss and Xavier.
Assistant T.J. Cleveland recruited Barford out of high school and stuck with him through junior college.
"He's been a big mentor to me," Barford said. "He played at Arkansas, and he was a guard too. He played with a lot of good people at Arkansas, so I just listen to him anytime I talk to him or whenever he's giving me advice."
Barford averaged 20.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 5.1 assists per game last season and was named an honorable mention junior college All-American and first-team All-Tennessee Community College Athletic Association.
He was last week's National Junior College Athletic Association Player of the Week after averaging 24.5 points, 7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3 steals in 3 games. He was 19 of 35 from the field and 1 of 7 from beyond the three-point line.
"I'm on a mission this year trying to win the conference," Barford said.
Cook, 6-8, 205 pounds, plays for Connors State Community College in Oklahoma and committed to Arkansas over scholarship offers from Iowa State, Missouri, LSU, Arizona State, Kansas State and others.
Brad Winton of jucorecruiting.com said Macon, Barford and Cook will be on his list of the top 25 junior-college prospects when he releases his rankings in the near future.
Sports on 11/11/2015