Arkansas QB recruit Hornsby set for All-American Game

Malik Hornsby

— A potential Arkansas quarterback and one of the nation’s top 2020 dual threat prospects will be on display Saturday during the U.S. Army All-American game that will be televised live from San Antonio at noon on NBC.

Missouri City (Texas) Fort Bend Marshall four-star signal caller Malik Hornsby (6-2, 175), regarded as ESPN’s No. 9 dual-threat prospect in the class, is one of just 14 of the 100 players in the game who are unsigned or uncommitted.

Hornsby is slated to take an official visit to Arkansas Jan. 24-26 after a senior year in which he led Fort Bend Marshall to a second straight state title game while passing for 2,163 yards and 26 touchdowns and rushing for 1,427 yards and 15 more scores.

“It feels really great,” Hornsby said upon his All-American selection. “I’m thankful to my family and my team to be the first one coming out of Marshall to play in this game. I couldn’t do it without my coaches and my team, especially my offensive line. Without them, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Hornsby committed to North Carolina back in May 2019, but chose to reopen his recruitment just a month later after the Tar Heels also took a pledge from Morrilton quarterback Jacolby Criswell, an early enrollee who signed in December.

He has taken official visits to North Carolina (April 12-14), Purdue (Oct. 25-27) and Texas A&M (Nov. 15-17) and is also thought to be heavily considering Baylor, who like Arkansas has not signed a quarterback in its 2020 recruiting class.

Hornsby told the Houston Chronicle that he was interested in seeing what things looked like after the Dec. 18-20 early signing period ended.

“We’re going to see what happens,” Hornsby said. “Because everyone is going to get who they want to get on the first signing day and then we’ll see what comes new.”

Marshall head coach James Williams knew he had a star in the making when Hornsby took over as the starter in late September 2018.

Hornsby, who is on the West All-American squad, went 25-3 as starter over the last two seasons while amassing over 5,000 yards of total offense and only four interceptions.

“He came in very mature, seasoned and extremely focused at wanting to play and wanting to get better,” Williams said. “He learned our system very quickly, meshed with the team quickly, and the guys gravitate to him now.”

Hornsby accumulated 2,700 yards of total offense as a junior and over 3,500 as a senior.

“(Malik) doesn’t want to be known as a running quarterback,” Williams said. “He wants to be a quarterback; he’s just blessed with that natural running ability.”