After junior cornerback Ryan Watts received his first Power 5 scholarship offer from University of Arkansas cornerbacks coach Mark Smith, numerous other colleges followed up with offers.
Watts, 6-2, 187 pounds, of Little Elm, Texas, had an offer from Illinois State prior to the Hogs offering on Jan. 16, but the floodgates opened with Oklahoma State, Utah, Baylor, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Minnesota, Washington, Central Florida and Tulsa all extending offers afterward.
"It surprised me. I knew that after your first big offer, then a lot of a schools start coming, but I didn't think it was going to be like that," Watts said.
The deluge of offers has been humbling.
"It's been surreal," said Watts, who has 3.8 grade-point average and plans to major in business."It's been one of my childhood dreams and to see it happen, it's been great for me."
He appreciates the Hogs believing in him before others started to take notice.
"They were the first one to actually believe and take a chance on me and pull the trigger," Watt said. "That did mean a lot to me. It showed they had faith in me."
Watts, who plans to visit Fayetteville on March 30, had 14 pass breakups while intercepting one pass as a junior. He's taken a liking to Smith in a short period of time.
"He's a pretty great guy honestly from what I've been talking to him lately," Smith said. "He's someone I can be myself around still be respectful, but be myself. He reminds me of my high school coaches and I respect all of my high school coaches."
Because of the early offer and his relationship with Smith, the Razorbacks will be in contention for Watts for the long run and have secured a spot in his top five.
"I've been watching them since I was a kid I've seen them on TV," Watts said. "I like how they do things down there. They were my first [Power 5] offer so they're definitely going to be in the top for the long time and towards the end of my recruitment and at the end of the process they're definitely going to be in my top five."
Email Richard Davenport atrdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 01/27/2019