Little Rock Parkview junior forward Ethan Henderson became the fifth member of the 16-under Arkansas Hawks basketball team to commit to the Arkansas Razorbacks when he did so on Monday.
Junior forward Reggie Perry, 6-10, 225 pounds, of Thomasville, Ga., is the most highly regarded Hawk. Perry is rated as the nation's No. 9 prospect for the 2018 class by hoopseen.com, which ranks Henderson the No. 43 prospect.
Fort Smith Northside guard Isaiah Joe, 6-2, 170, is rated a 4-star prospect by ESPN and had scholarship offers from Alabama, Stanford and UALR before choosing the Hogs.
Jonesboro guard Desi Sills, 6-1, 170, had offers from Missouri, SMU, Alabama-Birmingham and UALR.
Little Rock Christian sophomore point guard Justice Hill, 5-11, 160, committed to to the Hogs in February just as other schools were just starting to show heavy interest, including Connecticut and Texas.
"I've been getting calls from all over the country from summer basketball coaches saying they had no idea that Arkansas was going to be able to get all five of those guys," Arkansas Hawks Coach Bill Ingram said. "They played against the kids and they know how good they are."
Ingram said he believes the commitments of the five Hawks is good for the players and the Razorbacks.
"I think it's a great situation for all parties involved, especially for the state of Arkansas because you have five Arkansans with offers and heavy interest from other Power Five conferences," Ingram said. "They all decided that this state is important enough for them for them to represent their own state."
Perry lived in Little Rock until about four years ago.
"I know Reggie doesn't live here now, but he's as close to an Arkansan as you can get," Ingram said. "Because he spent 6 to 8 years of his life here as a little boy growing up into his teenage years."
ESPN national recruiting director Paul Biancardi said adding the five Hawks is a big deal for the Arkansas program.
"I think it's a statement about how exciting things will be for Arkansas in the future," said Biancardi, who praised the recruiting efforts of Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson, associate head coach Melvin Watkins and other members of the staff. "This is pure recruiting right here."
Biancardi has 18 years of coaching experience at the Division I level.
"Mike and Melvin and his staff identified these kids early and made them a priority and attended all their games that I could see," Biancardi said. "And they did a sensational job of putting this together. I'm really impressed because that's a lot of talent."
Ingram said Hawks players are about more than just basketball.
"I would like to say how well these young men are performing off the floor, in the classroom, community," Ingram said. "Basketball is a huge part of their lives and they know they have opportunities to be positive influence on young people. They take that very seriously."
Ingram said the five Hawks are receiving support from the Razorbacks fan base.
"They're enjoying people from around the state encouraging them and saying how happy they are about them staying in-state," Ingram said.
E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 09/11/2016