Arkansas football coaches, who will hit the recruiting trail on Sunday, are in position to add a record-setting number of mid-term enrollees that would be able to start school in January and go through off-season conditioning and spring practice with the Razorbacks.
That number could reach double figures according to Arkansas coach Bret Bielema.
“We have an extreme number if everything goes as planned,” Bielema said at his Monday press conference. “We may have as many as eight to 11 players in here at mid-term, which would be a record here at Arkansas by quite a bit.
“Not junior college players either. We are going to have a handful of them, but we are going to have five to six offensive and one or two defensive players that we plan on joining the program in January, which is just really, really good for us. We’ve got bodies to work with, build with.”
Arkansas is set to add a trio of offensive linemen in January in Nashville’s Kirby Adcock (6-foot-5, 300 pounds), Richmond (Ill.) Burton’s Dalton Wagner (6-9, 310) and Festus (Mo.) Jefferson’s Shane Clenin (6-6, 295) as well as Arizona Western tight end Jeremy Patton (6-6, 248).
The Razorbacks will also likely add Punta Gorda (Fla.) Charlotte running back Maleek Williams (6-2, 235), Atlas (Ala.) Etowah quarterback Daulton Hyatt (6-4, 190) and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College wideout Jonathan Nance (6-1, 180).
Arkansas is also hoping to add Tulsa (Okla.) Union linebacker Kyrie Fisher (6-2, 240) and Florence, Ala., fourstar safety J’Marick Woods (6-4, 205) at mid-term.
Woods is down to Arkansas, Michigan and Mississippi State and he will make his decision known on Dec. 2, just a few days after the entire Razorback coaching staff is set to visit him.
The NCAA contact period begins Sunday and ends Jan. 28. The contact period allows six in-person, off-campus contacts per prospective student-athlete.
Some other possibilities include a pair of junior college players in Blinn (Texas) College defensive tackle Javier Edwards (6-3, 350), Mississippi Gulf Coast receiver Brandon Martin (6-4, 220) and Bald Knob walk-on commit De’Shawn Gulledge (5-10, 175).
“We will have a sprinkling of junior college players,” Bielema said. “I think one of the things that I am really proud of in our program is that after that first year, I really took a step back in how we evaluate junior college players and what they do.
“The last several have been drafted here and done things right in our program. I also think that (redshirting junior college offensive linemen) Deion Malone and Paul Ramirez, guys that haven’t played this year, are going to have a big effect on next year.
“So we are doing the right things there.”
Bielema said his staff has a plan in place and is ready to execute after a Saturday at home watching football.
“I mapped it out about two weeks ago and we reaffirmed it this week,” Bielema said. “This year the recruiting calendar gives us that Sunday right after Missouri so we will go two straight Sundays and then there is a bonus Sunday, that third Sunday that allows us to go see high school players although junior college players are off limits because they are signing in that normal signing window, that Dec. 14 signing window.
Arkansas will host official visitors in Fayetteville on the weekends of Dec. 2-4 and Dec. 9-11.
“It will be full throttle that Sunday through Thursday,” Bielema said. “We will have two official visit weekends the first two weekends of December.
“I’ve also been invited to speak at a junior college bowl game and that will be a week from Friday.
“This is the time of the year when you really make your hay on the recruiting road. I am excited to get out there. We have a good product and a good opportunity to sell.”