FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman had already developed a relationship with South Carolina 2022 offensive lineman Eli Henderson (6-4, 290) when he was at Georgia.
That has carried over since Pittman took the helm of the Razorbacks, and it deepened when Henderson, a three-star center prospect, per ESPN, visited the Arkansas campus on Friday.
“It was better than I even expected,” Henderson said. “It’s a beautiful campus and you can see they have great facilities. I was very, very impressed and they have made me feel very wanted.”
Henderson, a standout out for Duncan Byrnes High School, has offers from Arkansas, Georgia and Arizona State, and interest from Notre Dame, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Clemson, Penn State, South Carolina and Virginia Tech.
The visit to Fayetteville was a positive for the Razorbacks, according to Henderson, who got his first offer from Pittman at Georgia.
“Honestly speaking, I love Arkansas,” Henderson said. “I love it here and I love the coaches. I think this was a really good visit and very productive for what is coming up in the future. Being from South Carolina, we don’t get out this way much, but I can’t say enough about what they have in Arkansas.”
Henderson, who sports a 4.3 grade point average, bench presses 315 pounds and squats 450 pounds, is a big fan of Pittman and Razorbacks offensive line coach Brad Davis.
“I talked to them a lot and they have had great success with players in college that have gone on to the NFL,” Henderson said. “That has my attention and they are both just really good men also.”
Henderson believes his quickness is his biggest asset.
“I think my strength is my mobility for a big guy,” Henderson said. “I try to use that in my game. The defensive tackles and defensive ends think they can get past me, but I am able to use that.”
Duncan Byrnes was 11-2 last season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the state playoffs.
“We have had a lot of defensive guys leave (since) last season, so we are kind of scrambling on the defensive side, but our backbone this year will be our offensive line, which includes me and is really good,” Henderson said. “We kind of put our nose down in the dirt and grind.”