Arkansas freshman running back T.J. Hammonds didn't appreciate getting up before dawn when he first started doing serious summer workouts after his sophomore season at Pulaski Robinson.

It's a good thing assistant coach Brian Maupin made sure Hammonds kept at it.

"The improvement started happening when I stayed over his house and woke up at 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning," Hammonds said. "Just grinding through the week and weekends."

Maupin said the workouts were not easy on Hammonds.

"Sometimes I would wake him up and I would get ready and come back and he hadn't moved a muscle," Maupin said.

Hammonds, 5-11, 203, 4.42 seconds in the 40-yard dash, remembers that first morning workout.

"I actually remember the first time, I stayed up all night playing Call of Duty until around 12 or 1," Hammonds said. "I got two hours of sleep and got up and I was like, 'Coach, can I lay back down please' and he said 'No you can't. We got to go, we got to go. ' "

Hammonds said he recalls Maupin chewing him out on the drive to school.

"I feel asleep in the car and got to the weight room and fell asleep on the bench and he woke me up and told me to run two laps," Hammonds said. "I ran two laps and it woke me up."

Maupin said he the early workouts helped Hammonds develop mental and physical discipline, and he want from being on the radar of some colleges to a high-level major college prospect with numerous scholarship offers his junior season.

"When you invest that much energy, time, effort and discipline into your life at such a young age, T.J. will tell you it sets you up for success in life," Maupin said.

Hammonds was a 600-yard rusher with six touchdowns as a sophomore, but his improved burst and top-end speed caught the attention of coaches at college camps that summer and carried over into the first week of his junior season.

Hammonds touched the ball nine times in the season-opener against Bauxite, accumulating 170 yards and scoring one rushing touchdown and another receiving.

Schools like Auburn, Kansas State and Tulsa reached out to Coach Todd Eskola after the game.

Arkansas tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr. also made contact with Eskola after Hammonds' week 1 performance, even though Hammonds was already on the Hogs' radar.

By the time Hammonds' junior season was done -- he rushed 58 times for 852 yards and 7 touchdowns and caught 41 passes for 1,172 yards and 11 touchdowns -- he had an offer from Tulsa, then added offers from Alabama, Auburn, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Marshall and Louisiana Tech during the second semester of his junior season. The Hogs offered Hammonds in late February.

The Razorbacks under Coach Bret Bielema along with previous staffs like to make sure a prospect is a good fit academically, athletically, socially and character wise before extending an offer to an in-state prospect.

Hammonds said he was frustrated about not getting an earlier offer from the Hogs, but Lunney explained why.

"I didn't know if it was because they weren't interested, but Coach Lunney told me to just stay calm because they always fight that with in-state kids," Hammonds said. "Because you know they have to make sure of everything because it's different than an out-of-state kid."

"You can offer an out-of-state kid and take that offer back. If you offer an in-state kid and you take that offer back it's going to cause a lot of commotion. He told me all that. He told me to stay with us and that offer will come."

Hammonds committed to the Hogs in April.

Hammonds validated all the attention his senior season -- rushing for 1,375 and 22 touchdowns, along with 23 catches for 661 yards and 6 touchdowns -- and ESPN rated him a 4-star prospect, the No. 35 wide receiver and the 223rd prospect overall.

Thursday, Hammonds was on the practice field for the Razorbacks, who started him out in the backfield. He could also see action at slot receiver along with returning kicks.

"I wasn't going to be one of those decommitting guys," Hammonds said. "I wanted to make sure Arkansas was the right place because I knew I wanted to be there growing up and watching them play all the time and I wanted to be a Hog all my life."

Sports on 08/06/2016