Arkansas will host three official visitors -- two play positions of need while the third is committed to the Hogs -- this weekend for the Florida game.
Athlete Jaiden Cole, offensive lineman Kelby Wickline and athlete De'Vion Warren will begin visits today or Saturday.
Cole, 6-0, 199, 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Monroe (La.) Neville, visited the Fayetteville for the Red-White game and is looking forward to visiting again.
"Arkansas is like one of my top three schools so I'm really looking forward to the atmosphere and how the coaches treat me," said Cole, who will arrive Saturday.
Arkansas, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Oklahoma State and Houston are some of his scholarship offers. The Hogs are recruiting him to play safety.
Cole said Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Houston top his list. He liked his first trip to Fayetteville.
"It's a nice city and the fans were yelling at you to come to Arkansas," Cole said.
Cole has rushed 85 times for 823 yards and 11 touchdowns in 8 games this season, and said he is looking forward to touring the facilities and spending more time with Coach Bret Bielema and his lead recruiter, receivers coach Michael Smith.
"And see what they have to say about everything," Cole said.
Cole said his father will support his decision.
"The biggest thing for him is to make sure I like it and make sure I'm comfortable wherever I go," Cole said.
Cole said he would probably visit Oklahoma State next Saturday.
His decision will likely come sooner rather than later after his visits to Arkansas and Oklahoma State.
"At the most a week and a half," he said.
Wickline, a 6-4¼, 282-pound offensive lineman at Jones County Junior College in Ellisville, Miss., is expected to arrive today with his mother.
First-year Coach Steve Buckley said Wickline is lean for a big guy and is what you're looking for in an offensive lineman.
"He's going to be 300 pounds in another year," Buckley said. "He has great feet, can run, he's a 5 flat [40 yard dash] kid every time. Very athletic for an offensive lineman, long arms, tough as nails. just a heck of a football player."
Buckley led the Bobcats to a 6-3 record this season after taking over a program that went 2-7 the previous year. He did it by keeping 11 players on the roster and adding 44 newcomers in the 2016 signing class.
One of the new guys was Wickline, who transferred from Texas-San Antonio. His father Joe has been a college coach since 1982 and is now the offensive coordinator at West Virginia.
"I've known his daddy for a long time," said Buckley, who has 17 athletes with Division I offers. "That's how we ended up getting Kelby here."
The elder Wickline stopped by the school while recruiting for West Virginia and heard Buckley saying he needed an offensive tackle.
"He didn't tell me, but he called back two days later and said I have one you might be interested in and I said 'Who's that?' And he said 'My son.'"
Kelby arrived on campus in July and flourished this season and now has about 15 scholarship offers, including TCU, North Carolina, Oklahoma State, Southern Miss, Kentucky, Missouri, West Virginia and others.
Coach Bret Bielema and receivers coach Michael Smith saw Wickline play last Thursday during Arkansas' open date and extended an offer Monday. Arizona State offered Tuesday.
Wickline, who's expected to graduate in December and will have three years to play three, has officially visited Missouri and has plans to take trips to TCU and North Carolina.
He's undecided on his fifth official visit. He grew up in Stillwater, Okla., while his father was an assistant at Oklahoma State. Because his familiarity with the Cowboys and West Virginia, he'll take unofficial visits to the two schools.
Buckley said Wickline is a joy to coach.
"He never misses anything, very accountable, great student," Buckley said. "I can't say enough great things about Kelby."
Arkansas commitment Warren is expected to arrive in Fayetteville on Saturday.
Warren, a 5-11, 168-pound quarterback for Monroe (La.) Ouachita Parish, has rushed 107 times for 1,046 yards and 21 touchdowns in 9 games, but is expected to be a receiver for the Hogs.
E-mail Richard Davenport at
rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 11/04/2016