Being a two-sport athlete is common, but an athlete with scholarship offers in both sports is not.
Sophomore receiver Anthony Black, 6-5, 180 pounds, of Coppell, Texas, was offered a football scholarship by Arkansas on Wednesday and now has five others, including Kansas, Hawaii, North Texas and Illinois State.
He earned second-team all-district honors in basketball and was offered a scholarship by North Texas. The offer from the Razorbacks carries weight with Black.
“It's such a blessing to get any offer, but especially an offer from Arkansas being an SEC school,” he said.
College coaches cannot communicate with prospects on social media until Sept. 1 of their junior year. Black’s coach told him to call Arkansas receivers coach Justin Stepp.
“He told me to call Coach Stepp and we had a good talk about Arkansas and how he believed in me, and then he told me he wanted to offer me a scholarship,” Black said. “Coach Stepp is cool. I like him a lot.”
Black finished with 43 catches for 822 yards and 9 touchdowns last season.
He is doing what he can to stay sharp without the ability to work out at school.
“I'm just trying to stay in shape by running routes and doing bodyweight stuff,” Black said.
He has heard good things about Arkansas from Texas natives and former Razorbacks baseball players Darien Simms and Jaxon Williams
“They told me that they liked the environment there and the campus, too,” Black said.