THE RECRUITING GUY

Porter: UA visit an eye-opener

Katy, Texas, running back Kyle Porter will choose between Arkansas, TCU and Texas on National Signing Day.

One of Arkansas' top remaining targets, running back Kyle Porter, made an official visit to Fayetteville over the weekend and was taken aback by what he saw.

"It was great," said Porter, whose godmother lives in Bentonville. "It was a lot more than I expected. They have everything football-wise and academically."

Porter, 5-11, 194, 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Katy, Texas, will choose either Arkansas, Texas or TCU on Wednesday.

He previously visited the Longhorns and Horned Frogs.

He couldn't name one thing that stood out during his visit.

"I just didn't know there was this much stuff here at Arkansas," said Porter, one of six recruits who visited over the weekend.

Porter rushed 235 times for 1,938 yards and 36 touchdowns this past season while leading the Tigers to a 16-0 record and the Class 6A Division II state title.

Freshman running back Rawleigh Williams hosted Porter for the weekend.

"He told me it was a great university, especially for running backs," Porter said. "He said they don't call it 'Running Back U' for no reason. He was just giving me a feel for the campus and life outside of football here in Arkansas."

Arkansas' two-time Heisman Trophy runnerup Darren McFadden, coming off a 1,000-yard season with the Dallas Cowboys, attended the Hogs' 75-68 overtime victory over Texas Tech at Bud Walton arena.

"I saw him, I didn't talk to him," Porter said. "He and his family were there."

The Hogs hope to sign two running backs with the departures of Jonathan Williams and Alex Collins.

One top back, Devwah Whaley of Beaumont (Texas) Central, is already committed to sign Wednesday. The Razorbacks also have Williams, Juan Day and Denzell Evans on scholarship.

"They've still got three who have played coming back next year.," Porter said. "Devwah's committed here, so that's a good bit of backs, but it's not a bad number."

National recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network rates Porter a four-star prospect. Porter would be working with running backs coach Jemal Singleton if he decides to sign with the Hogs.

"He teaches great fundamentals for all of his backs," Porter said. "You saw with Alex Collins, he did not really fumble last year. He had great ball security and that's from Coach Singleton."

Porter was asked if the Hogs tried to sell him on Williams and Collins sharing the backfield and each running for more than a 1,000 yards in they 2014 season.

"Well, they should sell you on that," he said. "If you get that many yards, that's a good sell for anybody. He didn't really try to sell, though. He just told the facts, and those are facts."

POLLARD GOES WITH GAMECOCKS

Arkansas gained four public commitments over the weekend, but they also lost one when athlete Kiel Pollard changed his commitment from Arkansas to South Carolina on Sunday.

Pollard, 6-2, 225, 4.68 of Moultrie (Ga.) Colquitt Count, received a late offer from the Gamecocks and visited Columbia on Jan. 15.

The proximity of the South Carolina campus, which will allow Pollard's family to more easily travel to his games, was the main reason for the flip.

The Hogs now have 20 public commitments for he 2016 class.

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 02/02/2016