Arkansas landed a preferred walk-on pledge Sunday from one of the state’s best playmakers who was on two state championship squads.
Joe T. Robinson 3-star tailback Daryl Searcy Jr. (6-0, 210, 4.45 40-yard dash), the MVP of the Class 4A state title game, committed to take that route with the Razorbacks over scholarship offers from Arkansas State, Memphis, North Texas and Missouri State.
"It means a lot to be a Razorback," said Searcy, who was on Arkansas campus' on Saturday. "I always wanted to be a Razorback growing up. I used to come here when I was a little kid and go to all the camps. I used to always want to be a Razorback. Now, I came here and I committed."
Searcy goes in with the mindset he will earn a scholarship.
"I've just got to believe and work hard," Searcy said. "No matter if it's an offer or a preferred walk-on, you just come here and work hard and do your thing."
He met Razorbacks running backs coach Jimmy Smith on Saturday when he was on campus.
"Coach Smith is a good coach," Searcy said. "I just met him today and I felt like he's family. He's cool. He made me feel comfortable here."
Searcy finished his high school career with 120 yards, 1 touchdown and MVP honors as Robinson downed Shiloh Christian 42-14.
He had more than 1,600 all-purpose yards this season and over 1,300 yards rushing (8.2 yards per carry) with 20 rushing scores. Searcy added 13 catches for 269 yards.
He also added 73 tackles, 32 solo stops, with 2 sacks among his 11 tackles for lost yardage.
"The kid has always wanted to be a Razorback and the opportunity presented itself and he wants to take advantage of it," Robinson assistant coach Brian Maupin said. "He has worked so hard during his high school career, had to battle a couple of injuries, but is a great young man."
He is former teammates with Arkansas offensive lineman and early enrollee E’Marion Harris (6-7, 370) and comes from the same school as current Razorbacks defensive end Zach Williams.
Searcy, who transferred from Forrest City to Robinson before the 2019 season, carried the ball 82 times for 634 yards and 7 touchdowns as a sophomore on a team that went 14-1 and won the Class 4A state title.
He followed that with a junior season in which he rushed 190 times for 1,922 yards and 19 touchdowns, and caught 8 passes for 84 yards and 1 touchdown.
"He has all the tools and is a true three-down back," Maupin said. "He can run inside zone, outside zone, gap scheme, man scheme, it doesn't matter. He can catch out of the backfield. He does a really good job in pass pro."