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The timeline: Rivals100 WR Trey Knox goes in-depth on Arkansas commitment


Woody Wommack • Rivals.com
@rivalswoody

CLASS OF 2019 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position | Team
CLASS OF 2020 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | State | Position

Arkansas landed a commitment from Rivals100 Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Blackman wide receiver Trey Knox on Monday, completing a months-long recruiting effort from the entire Razorbacks coaching staff. The playmaking wide receiver now becomes the biggest commitment in the young Chad Morris era and will be expected to step in and become a factor from his first day on campus in Fayetteville. But how exactly did Arkansas pull off the coup and land Knox over so many other options? We caught up with Knox and let him tell the story in his own words

"Right after they all got hired there at Arkansas they wanted me to call them so I reached out and talked to Coach (Justin) Stepp, the wide receivers coach, and he let me know they wanted to offer me. At the time, I had never seen Arkansas play and I never really knew much about the school or the football team. I never even thought about going out there.
"To start with it was just another offer and it wasn't something I really thought about. But then we went up there in February and it was a whole bunch of us Tennessee guys there together, me, Adonis Otey, Lance Wilhoit and a whole lot of us and we liked it a lot. Getting to meet the staff and see what they're about was eye-opening. They came from Clemson and they have a track record of developing guys there so that's something I thought about."
After that visit, it was pretty nice but I still didn't know if that's where I was going to go. Coach Stepp kept in touch and we just build that relationship until we were super tight and talking like every day. But I still wanted to see how my situation played out. I took my official down there and my parents came with me, that was in June. That was the first time my parents had seen campus and they fell in love quick. From the first night we were there they said they liked this place.
I still didn't think that's where I was going to go but I just kept talking to Coach Stepp about how I would play and what I would do. He told me that if they get me there that the expectation would be for me to come in and play as a freshman and that made me perk up super quick. To think that I could play in the SEC West as a true freshman and in a high-powered offense where they throw the ball a lot. It's just a mini-version of Clemson and that's big because I'm a receiver and No. 2 I would get to play. But I still wasn't completely sold yet."
After I called them on the phone, relatively recently, like last week is when I really started to think it was the place for me. I always had this thought in the back of my head, maybe I should go play at Arkansas but it never came to fruition until I talked to Coach Stepp last week. They are all so enthusiastic about talking to me every time I call and their plan for me is set. So I decided I wanted to do this thing.
"I called them last Tuesday and told them and they were ecstatic. You could hear Coach Stepp running through the hallway and stuff. He called my mom later that night and they have a good relationship and talk all the time and he was still just as excited. I think he was nervous when I first called because Coach (Kit) Hartsfield, my high school coach, told him we had something to tell him. I told him his search for a nine-man was over and he jumped outof his seat. Hearing the coaches go wild was nice. That only made me realize that I made the right decision."