FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas could very well have a second graduate transfer quarterback on the roster, this one with two years left to play.
Texas A&M signal caller Nick Starkel (6-3, 225), who is set to graduate in June, finished up his official visit to Arkansas on Saturday and could join SMU graduate transfer Ben Hicks (6-2, 220) in the Razorback quarterback room.
“It’s been great,” Starkel said. “I enjoyed meeting the coaches and all the players last night and watching practice and stuff so it’s been really good. Every one was nice and it was a family atmosphere here. I liked that.”
Starkel arrived on Thursday night, visited campus, watched an Arkansas practice on Friday and spent time at the Catfish Hole restaurant, where he ran into Arkansas’ ESPN Super Fan Canaan Sandy.
“The Catfish Hole was awesome,” Starkel said. “I have never seen anything like that, that’s for sure. It was a unique experience. I got to meet the Super Fan…He was awesome. It was a fun time.”
Starkel has been hosted by Arkansas tailback Rakeem Boyd, his former Texas A&M teammate.
“It was awesome,” Starkel said. “Rakeem is a really good guy. It’s just been good hanging out with him. He’s been helping me and taking me around everywhere. That’s been really nice.”
Starkel is also familiar with Arkansas defensive coaches. Both John Chavis and Ron Cooper came from Texas A&M to Arkansas. Razorback head coach Chad Morris, offensive coordinator Joe Craddock and wide receivers coach Justin Stepp recruited him in high school.
“Obviously Coach Chavis and Coach Cooper were at A&M,” Starkel said. “So it was good to see them. Coach Morris, Coach Craddock and Coach Stepp have been recruiting me since high school when they were at SMU. It's been good to see them as well and touch base with them.”
He got to see Hicks practice on Friday.
“He is a good player,” Starkel said. “He played with them at SMU, knows the offense and is a competitor so I am looking forward to that.”
If Starkel decides to come to Arkansas, it will be in late June.
“I would be moving up here in June and then in July I would be enrolled,” Starkel said.
Starkel passed for 3,091 yards and 29 touchdowns his senior season at Argyle, Texas Liberty Christian before deciding on Texas A&M.
He started five games as a redshirt freshman for the Aggies while completing 123 of 205 passes for 1,793 yards and 14 touchdowns and missing several games due to injury.
That included completing 42 of 63 passes for 499 yards and 4 touchdowns in the 2017 Belk Bowl against Wake Forest, a game the Aggies lost 55-52.
“That was a disappointing game because we lost, obviously,” Starkel said. “There is no moral victory in a loss like that. It hurt, especially to go out there with the ball in your hands and the two-minute drill, something you have prepared for all your life and not be able to convert and not win the game. It hurts. People are always going to bring that up, but we lost.”
Starkel appeared in four games last year and completed 15 of 22 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown while backing up starter Kellen Mond before making the decision to transfer.
It looked like he might land at SMU, but former Texas quarterback Shane Buchele recently committed there and the Mustangs are only taking one transfer quarterback.
He is considering Arkansas and Florida State, where he is scheduled to visit at the end of March.
He has it down now to the Razorbacks and Seminoles. He will decide soon if he is visiting FSU or not.
“I was really just looking for the right fit, the coaching style, playing style and roster spots, how it looked and actually would I play, the other kids on the team and stuff like that,” Starkel said.
He does admit the opportunity to stay in the SEC and play Texas A&M the next two years is appealing.
“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Starkel said. “It would be weird playing my former roommates, but that is something that could possibly happen.”