I should’ve known something was up when I asked Fayetteville coach Casey Dick about Isaiah Sategna, who had just blistered Springdale for 9 catches and 176 yards receiving, including a pair of 43-yard touchdowns.
“Special player, great kid,” Dick said shortly after Fayetteville’s 49-21 win at Jarrell Williams Bulldog Stadium. “Somebody’s going to get a great player next fall, for sure.”
Somebody? Isn’t Sategna going to Oregon? That’s what Isiah and others have been saying even before the season started. But the former Arkansas quarterback knew something that I had temporarily overlooked in regard to high school players.
Verbal commitments are non-binding.
Verbal commitments are non-binding.
One more time. Verbal commitments are non-binding.
Coming off a bye week, Sategna’s decision to change his commitment from Oregon to Arkansas is the best news Razorbacks fans could have received.
“Please respect my decision,” Sategna wrote on his Twitter page Wednesday night followed by “All Hog.”
Oh, they will, Isaiah. Arkansas fans will definitely respect your decision.
I don’t do recruiting. There’s plenty of others out there who do, including our man Richard Davenport. I told one of my bosses years ago I didn’t struggle through college just to get a job where I’m on the phone all night trying to pin down teenagers on their college plans, especially when they’re liable to change their minds the next day.
Nope. Not for me.
But I am interested in watching young athletes just beginning their varsity careers blossom into stars who continue their careers beyond high school. Athletes like Sategna, who’ll sign during the traditional signing period in February.
I only knew Sategna as a track star who set records as a freshman for the Bulldogs after his family moved from Austin, Texas to Northwest Arkansas. That began to change in the fall of his sophomore year when Sategna lined up at outside receiver for a play against Bentonville at Harmon Field in Fayetteville.
I remember the play for two reason: I was impressed by how high and how far Hank Gibbs, the Fayetteville quarterback at the time, threw the ball downfield. I was even more impressed to see Sategna, a speedster who was well behind the Bentonville secondary, make the catch to complete an 80-yard touchdown play.
Bentonville coach Jody Grant remembers the play, as well.
“It was a big bomb and he got well behind people,” Grant said of Sategna, who scored his fist career touchdown for Fayetteville that night. “That was kind of his coming-out party and he really hurt us that night.”
Sategna continues to hurt opposing teams as the leading receiver in the state. He’ll enter the playoffs with over 1,300 yards in receiving as a senior.
I think of Sategna the same way I did after seeing Treylon Burks as a sophomore in high school during a playoff game at Prairie Grove. It didn’t take long to realize Burks was the best player on the field.
But there’s more than talent that makes these guys special. Razorbacks fans should know, assuming he sign with the Hogs, that Isaiah never misses an opportunity to credit his Fayetteville teammates during interviews with the media. He does it often with quarterback Bladen Fike and Jalen Blackburn, whom he called the best receiver in the state.
This is a characteristic we should all welcome, especially with the recent news that Odell Beckham Jr. was causing problems in Cleveland with the help of his daddy, who posted a video on social media where his son was open and didn’t get a pass from Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Aren’t you tired of Me-Me guys? Yes, I am, too.
I’m convinced Arkansas would’ve been more successful in recent years had the Razorbacks not lost a recruiting battle for K.J. Hill, a North Little Rock star who went on to lead the Big 10 in receiving as a senior at Ohio State and now plays in the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers. But the arrival of Sategna, should he follows through with his commitment, will be another sign of an Arkansas program finally on the way back up.
A hometown hero who intends to stay home and become a Hog is good news if you’re an Arkansas fan. But just remember.
Verbal commitments are non-binding.