Junior offensive lineman Trace Oldner has been to Arkansas for summer camps, and on Saturday he’ll get to experience his first Razorback game when the Hogs play Florida.
“I’m really excited to get up there because I’ve been around Fayetteville and the campus, and I’ve seen the stadium when I was up there for the camps, but I haven’t seen it on a game day,” Oldner said. “So I’m really excited to see how the atmosphere is.”
Oldner, 6-5, 300 pounds, of Richmond (Texas) Foster has a scholarship offer from Indiana while drawing interest from Arkansas and several others. He’s visited Tulane, Oklahoma and Texas this season.
It appears other schools are close to offering him.
“I’ve heard Oklahoma is going to offer soon, and Tulane is going to offer soon,” Oldner said. “I’ve been hearing a lot from UT and U of H [Houston] and a lot from Utah. I’ve been getting a lot of mail from Utah.”
Oldner’s father, Ward, is from Dumas, and his mother, Shelly, is a Louisiana native who was a cheerleader at LSU. His mother accompanied him to Fayetteville for the Hogs’ three-day camp in June and was impressed with Coach Bret Bielema and offensive line coach Kurt Anderson.
“One of the things I liked the most was Coach B and Anderson sharing with me what they had planned for Trace and how they would take care of him while there,” his mother said. “That is very important to me.”
Trace Oldner, who weighed 255 when he took part in Arkansas’ summer camp two years ago, said defensive backs coach Paul Rhoads visited his school last Friday. He said he’s gotten better as the season has progressed.
“As the season has gone on, I’ve just been getting better each week,” Oldner said. “I’ve been playing right guard; I think I’m really strong on my pass protection. … We’re going into the playoffs. It will be interesting to go against some better competition.”
He would welcome an offer from the Razorbacks.
“I would be ecstatic to get an Arkansas offer,” Oldner said. “I really like the whole Arkansas feel. It’s a SEC school, and I like how they’re big on their offensive line. So they’re definitely one of my favorites.”