FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is getting a productive playmaker in Magnolia, Texas, receiver Mike Woods.
Woods (6-2, 170 pounds, 4.43 in the 40-yard dash), who flipped to Arkansas from SMU on Sunday, is one of nine or so prospects scheduled to take official visits to Fayetteville this weekend.
He is a mid-term graduate and has plans to sign with the Razorbacks during the Dec. 20-22 early signing period. He will enroll in January and go through spring practice.
He had 155 catches for just under 3,000 yards, 41 touchdowns and averaged 19.1 yards per catch in his high school career.
“Mike is a two-time captain, does a great job representing our program in the classroom with great grades, out in the community with giving back through Hurricane relief to working at his church and giving back to his community there,” Magnolia coach Sterling Doty said. “I just can’t say enough about the young man that he is.”
Woods - who averaged 101.8 yards receiving per game his senior season - caught 51 passes for 1,018 yards with 15 touchdowns this season. He rushed 11 times for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns.
That followed a breakout junior season in which he caught 75 passes for 1,456 yards and 21 touchdowns.
“As a football player, he is just phenomenal,” Doty said. “He can make all the catches, has great acceleration. He was a big-time player for us and that was well-represented in the number of offers he had.
“What he has been able to do for us and what he has meant to our program the last three years just can’t be really put into words. I am really looking forward to seeing him play in the SEC West and seeing him be a big-time playmaker for the Razorbacks.”
Woods has 21 offers, including from Texas Tech, Minnesota, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Northwestern and Iowa State.
He was recruited by SMU under now Arkansas head coach Chad Morris and Justin Stepp, the Mustangs' former receivers coach who is expected to take the same role with the Razorbacks.
“Tulsa was his first offer, SMU his second and Northwestern his third,” Doty said. "...He made his pledge to SMU and the others just continue to come and stretch all the way from Cal to Virginia.
“He had an opportunity to go play Big Ten ball, Big 12 ball, SEC ball and Pac-12 ball, but he landed the plane because of the relationship he has with Coach Morris and Coach Stepp. He believes in them and they believe in him.
“Coach Morris and Coach Stepp did a phenomenal job recruiting him and keeping him committed to them when other schools kept coming in. Now he has an opportunity to go be a Razorback and he is all ‘Woo Pig Sooie, Go Razorbacks.’”
Doty said Woods should excel in Morris’ offensive scheme.
“You get him into space, you move him around and on our level he warranted double teams starting back last year (as a junior),” Doty said. “He had a great little sophomore year, gained a lot of interest from a lot of college recruiters and then his junior year just busted on the scene.
“We just moved him around and got him the ball the best that we could by moving him the backfield, even playing him at quarterback.”
Magnolia finished 5-5 overall, 4-3 in conference play this season and lost 24-20 to Cedar Park in the first round of the Class 5A Division I state playoffs.
“Mike played an integral role down the stretch,” Doty said. “We had a three-game losing streak and had two games to get into the playoffs and he played almost every down on offense and defense and did a great job on both sides of the ball and helped get us into the playoffs for the third straight year.
“We played a pretty good Cedar Park team in the first round and lost a nail biter to them, but I can’t say enough about him and his ability to lead our football team. Arkansas is getting a great person and a great player.”