re: 2014 Arkansas Recruiting Thread - Football & Basketball Commits

Jared Cornelius ?@officialjred 1m
How me and @BolivarQB7 welcomed @ChrisHoya32 back to Fayettville. #WPS pic.twitter.com/h2CMhJ9ssX

I have ESPN Insider

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“Crazy,” Thomas said. “Oh my.”

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One of the biggest highlights for athletes who take official visits to Arkansas is Catfish Hole, a nationally known restaurant with the reputation of showing the utmost levels of hospitality to recruits.

For ESPN 300 defensive end Solomon Thomas (Coppell, Texas/Coppell), the experience could be described with one word.

“Crazy,” Thomas said. “Oh my.”

Few recruits leave Fayetteville, Ark., with a negative experience, and Thomas said his weekend official visit was memorable. Thomas, a 6-foot-3, 256-pound defensive end and the No. 25 player in the ESPN 300, has Arkansas among his top three schools, which also includes Stanford and UCLA. He will announce where he will verbally commit on national signing day on Feb. 5.

Arkansas is Thomas’ final official visit, and he said he was able to gather information not only about the football program but also about the academic history. Thomas is expected to major in business, and Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business is a respected program nationally.

The love from Catfish Hole seemed to add icing on the cake for Thomas, who is being recruited by Arkansas defensive line coach Rory Segrest.

“It was a good trip. I really learned from Coach Segrest,” Thomas said. “I like the kind of coach and person that Coach Segrest is. I like the rules and regulations for academics and for higher standards and the fan support.”

Thomas visited UCLA the weekend of Dec. 13 and Stanford the weekend of Jan. 10. He said he will go over the three official visits with his parents and then make a decision.

If Arkansas is the winner on Feb. 5, look for three factors to play a role in the decision -- playing against the best the SEC has to offer, getting a good education and being with family. Thomas’ older sister, Ella, is in her third year at Arkansas, and he said the time spent with his sister trumped even life at Catfish Hole.

“It’s always great to see your best friend,” he said.

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He's ours.

Thank you.

K.Edwards6? ?@Seis_GoDeep 1m
Coach B house was Awesome!!!! And he Come down tomorrow on a home visit!??

Dudley

• he's off with Coach Michael Smith to see Henre' Toliver and Dwayne Eugene tonight.

He's scheduled to go see Cornelius Floyd on Monday and that is the time Floyd is expected tio officially commit to Arkansas.

• Bielema is scheduled to see Solomon Thomas for an in-home on Tuesday and will also visit Kenny Young, who is finished up at Oklahoma State now and headed to LSU.

• Arkansas OL Sam Pittman will see both Frank Ragnow and Andrew Mike this week. Mike is on his way back from his Florida visit.

• Another thing that Coach B did on Friday was go to see a pair of tight ends play in a basketball game. Those were Springdale's Joisiah Wymer - a 2014 guy that Arkansas wants to walk on - and Fayetteville junior C.J. O'Grady.

He then went to Bentonville on Saturday to see 2014 tight end Jack Kraus, who has already committed to Arkansas.

• Coach B will go see LB Khalia Hackett on Thursday.

• Don't see Breeland Speaks coming in for a visit next weekend. At this point, I don't expect any scholarship possibilities, but we'll see how the week goes.

this head coach gets recruiting and is on it non-stop

Anthony Brown on visit to Starkville


"I had a good visit at Mississippi State," said Brown. "Ryan Brown was my host and he had a lot of good things to say.

"He has a lot of experience and he talked about how much you have to work up there.

"That's the one thing they really stressed all weekend, hard work.

"Ryan is a good guy and he showed me a good time."

The visit to Starkville was the first for the South Florida product.

"It was a lot different than I am used to, but it was good at the same time," said Brown. "I like the atmosphere up there.

"I liked seeing the campus and all of the facilities were really nice.

"Everything checked out at Mississippi State on the athletic side and academically."

Brown reports that the theme of hard work mentioned by his official visit host carried through to his exit interview with Coach Dan Mullen.

"Coach Mullen told me that it's all up to me," said Brown. "He said if I came there, I could redshirt or I could play as a freshman if I was willing to work for it.

"He told me that nothing is going to come easy and that if was to be a part of their program, I would work for everything I got.

"He didn't try to pressure me into a commitment or anything like that and I think it's too early to make a decision since I just came off of that visit."

The well spoken Brown reports that he is unsure of his time table for a decision, but he knows that signing day is coming soon.

"I just feel like I need to take a few days and talk with my family about everything," said Brown. "I am just not ready to make a decision and I need some time to think about everything.

"I am not sure when I am going to know for sure, but I want the chance to play early and I want to know I am going to get a good education."

Brown reports Arkansas and Mississippi State remain at the top of his list.