The Recruiting Guy

Mbanasor forms strong relationships during Arkansas official visit

Defensive end Nelson Mbanasor.

— Relationships are key in any partnership and defensive end Nelson Mbanasor left Fayetteville feeling good about Arkansas after his official visit in Sunday.

“It was fun man, way more fun than I expected,” said Mbanasor, who was one of five official visitors the Hogs hosted this weekend. “I formed new relationships with players on the team- you know recruits and coaches. I had a blast.”

Mbanasor, 6-3, 265, 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Pflugerville (Texas) Hendrickson, has scholarship offers from Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Colorado, Texas Tech, Illinois, Houston, Duke, SMU and several others.

His hosts were two redshirt freshmen, defensive lineman Jonathan Marshall and defensive back Micahh Smith.

“They just showed me around and told me what the university is all about,” Mbanasor said. “It made me want to come here. They said even though they’re redshirts, they said they still loved it. They’re having fun at practice and in the weight room. They have great relationships with the coaches and the players on the team.”

He committed to Oklahoma State in May, but it doesn’t look like he’ll end up in Stillwater. He plans to make two other official visits and is looking at making a decision later this month.

“I’m going to Texas Tech next and then Illinois, “ he said. “I’m really just looking at the three schools….Arkansas, Texas Tech and Illinois.”

During the week, Mbanasor stayed in contact with Coach Bret Bielema, defensive coordinator Robb Smith, defensive line coach Rory Segrest and receivers coach Michael Smith. Despite visiting during a game weekend, Mbanasor was still able to spend a good amount of time with the staff.

“I got a good glimpse about what they’re about,” he said. “I’ve talked to each one everyday since I’ve been here. Coach Segrest is a great guy, Coach Robb Smith, Coach Michael Smith. Everybody, they’re just great people. “

Mbanasor met with strength and conditioning Coach Ben Herbert and found him intense.

“It was crazy man, dude was showing us the correct way to do a push up and he was sweating through it all,” Mbanasor said. “He was sweating the whole time. He’s a great guy. He can see by his face he has a lot of passion for what he does.”