Highly recruited running back and Arkansas target Rashod Dubinion plans to announce his college decision on Feb. 13 and the Razorbacks appear to have a solid shot after his virtual visit on Saturday.
“It went great. We talked about a lot of stuff,” Dubinion said. “Housing and stuff like that (for) when I get there.”
Dubinion, 5-10, 190 pounds, of Ellwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove, has more than 25 scholarship offers from schools such as Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Auburn, Ole Miss, Michigan, Florida State, Michigan State and others.
He saw something during the tour at Arkansas he hasn’t seen anywhere else.
“The DJ booth,” Dubinion said laughing. “It’s in the locker room. You can have a lot of fun with it.”
Dubinion has known Arkansas running backs coach Jimmy Smith since middle school. Smith led Cedar Grove to state championships in 2016 and 2018 before joining the coaching staff at Georgia State in 2019.
He played for Smith as a freshman when he rushed 61 times for 501 yards, 7 touchdowns and returned 2 punts for touchdowns in 2018.
Current Cedar Grove coach Miguel Patrick was Smith’s defensive coordinator during the two state titles.
As a junior, Dubinion had 72 carries for 536 yards, 9 touchdowns and 8 catches for 129 yards and 3 touchdowns in a five-game season shortened by covid-19.
National recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network rates Dubinion a four-star prospect. His relationship with Smith is the longest of any coach recruiting him.
“He’s a standup guy,” Dubinion said. “He doesn't lie to me about anything. Anything he tells me he’s going to do for me, he did it.”
Dubinion had to attend a workout Saturday, so his time with the Razorbacks coaches was cut short, but his mother stayed on longer and came away impressed with the people at Arkansas.
“I was on there for about an hour and my mom was on for about two hours or two hours and 30 minutes,” he said. “She thought it was a great place.”
He said he knows where he plans to attend college.
“Two months ago I had no idea where I would be going to school,” Dubinion said. “I was just trying to see who would reach out to me to come play for their football program. Florida is recruiting me real heavy. Georgia is recruiting me kind of heavy. Ole Miss hit me up the other day.
"Arkansas has been recruiting me since my coach got up there.”