FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas cornerback pledge and early enrollee Korey Hernandez of Ellenwood, Ga., Cedar Grove is now very familiar with the flight from Atlanta to Northwest Arkansas.
He made the trip twice this weekend, first coming with his mom for his official visit and then flying back to Atlanta on Saturday and back to Northwest Arkansas on Sunday.
“The official visit was more about more about letting my mom see the campus and the people that were going to be taking care of the next few years,” Hernandez said. “She loves it just like I do. I wanted to get her back home safe and then get right back up to Arkansas to take this next step in my life.”
Hernandez’s host was Razorback cornerback Kevin Richardson, who season ended with an injury earlier.
“He’s a great guy with a very outgoing personality,” Hernandez said. “He’s really looking forward to getting back on the field and wants to take me under his wing and help me out.”
Hernandez (6-0, 175) is fresh off leading his team to the Class AAA state title with a 30-19 win over Greater Atlanta Christian.
He had 50 tackles this season as Ellenwood finish the season on a 10-game winning streak with five of those wins in the playoffs.
“We had a great year, but I would say we won the title in the summer when we put in all the hard work to get ourselves ready for the season,” Hernandez said.
His third game of the season was a monster one while scoring four different ways – a 91-yard kickoff return, an 86-yard interception return, a 53-yard touchdown catch and a blocked punt return.
He threw in four tackles and broke up three passes for good measure in Cedar Grove’s 40-0 win over Decatur Columbia.
He ended the year with some 600 yards receiving, over, 1,000 all-purpose yards, those 50 tackles, 15 pass break ups and 7 interceptions, 3 of which he took back for scores.
“As for me, I feel like it was my best year ever and my coaches put me in position to make big plays on both offense and defense. I just tried to make the plays when it was my time,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez, who had 85 tackles, 3 interceptions and 12 pass break ups as a junior, committed to Arkansas before even visiting campus although he did take an unofficial visit late in July that cemented his commitment to the Razorbacks.
He chose Arkansas over Iowa, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Toledo and others.
"I had a lot of great offers, but Arkansas was just the fit for me, the perfect place,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez, who plans to major in business, is happy about enrolling in school early and getting a start on his college career.
“I can get used to going to classes, get a chance to workout with the guys and obviously learn the playbook and get a jump with the off-season program.”