FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas running back T.J. Hammonds has been placed on scholarship, Razorbacks football coach Sam Pittman said Wednesday.
On a Zoom call with reporters, Pittman said Hammonds signed scholarship paperwork Tuesday. Hammonds will be a senior in 2020.
“We're happy to be able to do that,” Pittman said. “The bottom line is he did what we asked him to do in school and he did what we asked him to do in the offseason in the eight-week program when we were here.
“He's athletic, and he did what we asked him to do, so, in my opinion, he earned the right to get his scholarship back.”
A Little Rock native and former standout at Joe T. Robinson, Hammonds played in nine games over the past two seasons. That followed heightened expectations because of a good close to his sophomore campaign in 2017 when he rushed for 84 yards at Ole Miss and had 179 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns the following week against Coastal Carolina.
In 2018, he participated in four games and did not play after the fifth game. He later underwent in-season knee surgery.
Hammonds was not with the team during spring practice in 2019 due to an academic issue, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. Hammonds rejoined the team in May following the end of the spring semester, but did not play in the first four games in the fall.
He appeared in five games last year and was on the field for 47 plays, including 36 on offense, according to Pro Football Focus. He totaled 65 rushing yards on 8 carries; caught 4 passes for 10 yards; and returned 3 kickoffs for 61 yards.
“He's fast,” Pittman said. “He's got a lot of speed. You can beat (people) two ways as far as physically. You can beat them with speed or you can beat them bigness. You can beat them with large humans.
“Right now, it's a little faster for us to get fast guys than it is to get a whole team of big guys. He's fast.”
Hammonds has rushed for 443 yards - 6.8 yards per carry - and 2 touchdowns, and caught 10 passes for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns during his Arkansas career.