re: Arkansas Football 2023 Recruiting Thread **WR Dazmin James Commits**

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Moody (Ala.) wide receiver Davion Dozier has committed to Arkansas. The 6-4, 195-pound prospect went public with his decision on Wednesday afternoon to become the Razorbacks 23rd verbal pledge for the Class of 2023.

Dozier is Arkansas' second wide receiver commitment of the class and the program's tenth in the last 19 days. He chose the Hogs over four other finalists in Maryland, Tennessee, South Carolina and Duke while holding other offers from Georgia Tech, South Florida, Arkansas State and others.

The big receiver was offered by position coach Kenny Guiton in early May and got his first look at Fayetteville during an unofficial visit on June 17.

"My main two were really Maryland and Arkansas, just because of how I was treated up there and how they both talked to me, and the relationships I have with both receiver coaches," Dozier told HawgSports. "How Arkansas beat out Maryland was how me and Coach Guiton are so alike. He's a young coach, he just got the job this past year, so I see him being the coach the whole time, I really liked that about it. Then, I had a talk with Coach (Sam) Pittman on my visit and that was really what made me lock in with them.

"My mom liked Maryland and Arkansas, but she wanted me to go with whatever I picked."

Dozier, a three-star prospect by the Composite and 247Sports, appreciated Guiton going the extra mile during his visit.

"When I was up there on an unofficial, me and Coach Guiton were in the receivers room talking ball," Dozier said. "We talked about how they would use me, and it's basically what I do at my high school anyway. So it's a quick transition, I already know what to do."

Growing up in SEC country and getting to play in the nation's top conference was a big deal for Dozier, as well.

"Oh yeah. I grew up in the SEC. I had to take advantage of the opportunity," he said. "I've been dreaming about it since I was a little kid."

While Arkansas' class has already reached a staggering 23 commitments by mid-July, Dozier plans to have a positive impact on other recruits going forward.

"I mean, we're already one of the top ten schools," Dozier said. "I'm going to try and get some guys in. They may be 2024 or they may be '23, but I'm definitely going to try."

In addition to Dozier, the Razorbacks also have a commitment from four-star wide receiver Micah Tease of Tulsa (Okla.) Booker T. Washington. Dozier's commitment keeps Arkansas' 2023 class ranked tenth nationally and fourth in the SEC per the Composite rankings.

247Sports has the Hogs at seventh nationally and second in the SEC.

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The Arkansas Razorbacks have the most underrated 2023 class. The Hogs have the nation’s 15th-ranked class, highlighted by eight four-star recruits, but that group has more star power among the 5.7s committed. At one time, North Little Rock defensive end Quincy Rhodes was slated as a four-star. Tight end Jaden Hamm is one of the higher-ranked three-stars in the Midwest. In the Southeast, TJ Metcalf, Isaiah Augustave and Davion Dozier are having big seasons working toward that fourth star.

The final numbers may not see Arkansas move up in the rankings, but this group has a lot of overall talent heading to Fayetteville.

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Taking on 6A teams with Pinson Valley, TJ Metcalf has been a playmaker on both sides of the ball this season. As far as head-hunting safeties go, Metcalf is fierce. Coming down the alley or going sideline to sideline for a receiver, Metcalf has the closing speed to limit the action. The bonus? He can cover. At receiver, he gets to showcase his overall athleticism, speed and hands. He is a difference maker.

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Recruiting rankings changes.

- 2 4-stars dropped to 3-star on ESPN
- 2 4-stars dropped to 3-star on On3 Consensus

Jaylon Braxton bumped to 94 from 92 grade 4-star on 247.
Micah Tease bumped to 94 from 93 grade 4-star on 247.

Luke Hasz drops from 85 to 84 grade 4-star on ESPN.
Jaylon Braxton bumped to 82 from 80 grade 4-star on ESPN.
Jaden Hamm drops from 81 to 80 grade 4-star on ESPN.
Dallas Young drops from 80 to 79 grade 3-star on ESPN.
Kaleb James drops from 80 to 78 grade 3-star on ESPN.

Luke Hasz drops from 91 to 90 grade 4-star on On3.
Malachi Singleton drops from 88 to 87 grade 3-star on On3.
Davion Dozier bumps to 89 from 88 grade 3-star on On3.

Texas A&M Commerce transfer WR Andrew Armstrong reports an Arkansas offer on twitter. Played HS at Bishop Dunne in Dallas.

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Andrew Armstrong finished his sophomore season with 62 catches for 1,020 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns over 11 games. After redshirting as a freshman in 2019 and not playing in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 6-foot-6 Texas native saw the field for the first time in 2021.

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Former Florida offensive lineman Joshua Braun has committed to the Arkansas Razorbacks. Braun, 6-6, 345, made his decision during an official visit with the Hogs, becoming their first transfer commitment for the current cycle.

Braun chose the Razorbacks over Penn State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Duke, Western Michigan, UCF and UNLV. Florida State was also heavily in the mix and expected Braun on an official visit this weekend.

"This is a great place,” Braun said on Sunday. “These are some of the most avid fans I've seen. It's a great situation. They were telling us the University of Arkansas football team is the biggest football team, sports venue in the state. There's no pro teams and no other Power 5 school. We can tell they are the pride of Arkansas.

“Just to be able to put on for a state like Arkansas and the fan base would be amazing and quite the experience. I'm looking forward to being involved in Fayetteville and the University and sports."

As four-star recruit out of Live Oak (Fla.) Suwannee in 2020, Braun initially committed to play for Sam Pittman at Georgia. When Pittman took the head coaching job at Arkansas, Braun flipped to Florida and stayed for three seasons. The lineman became a starter in his first two years but was demoted to second-team after Billy Napier took over the program.

Braun announced his decision to enter the transfer portal on October 18. The graduate-transfer plans to enroll in January and is expected to be listed as a redshirt-junior.

"It's fantastic,” Braun said. “When he was recruiting me at Georgia he was very upfront with me that the only job was the head coaching job at Arkansas. It was kind of his dream. So to see him achieve his dream and to be able to a part of him having success in a place he loves so much will be tremendous. I'm looking forward to being on his team and helping him win championships."

Braun, who expects to play guard at Arkansas, is excited to get his decision out of the way.

"There was some others out there, but I didn't want to go too crazy with it,” he said. “I only wanted to go to places I was comfortable with. At the end of the day, Arkansas is the place I'm most familiar with, comfortable with and where I want to be for the next 2-3 years."

As a prospect, Braun was the No. 271 overall player in the nation per the 247Sports Composite rankings. 247Sports considered him a four-star talent, the No. 20 offensive lineman in the nation and No. 38 overall in the state of Florida.

The Razorbacks are expected to host at least two official visitors this weekend in Andrew Armstrong and Jacolby Criswell.

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Live updates from Alabama-Mississippi All-Star practices

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Tough break as Arkansas cornerback commit Dallas Young goes down with an apparent lower body injury.

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Arkansas WR commit Davion Dozier is a physically impressive pass catcher who had a big senior season. He just elevated to come down with a pass from top 100 Clemson quarterback commit Christopher Vizzina. Strong hands and catch radius from Dozier.

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Not the best night for Arkansas athletes with the Brazile injury and Dallas Young too.

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Former Texas A&M-Commerce wide receiver Andrew Armstrong has committed to transfer to the Arkansas Razorbacks, he announced Sunday evening following an official visit in Fayetteville (Ark.).

"I came to Arkansas to win," Armstrong said. "I came to Arkansas just because the coaches make me feel like it's home. I'm all the way in Dallas, so that's like 5 hours or something like that. It feels like home being here.

"Just the teammates and players. They were very honest about everything. I was asking all of them questions. Like I said, the facilities, the food, everything."

Armstrong, 6-6, 189, chose the Hogs over Missouri, Miami, Wisconsin, Colorado, Louisville, NC State, Utah, Virginia Tech, Washington State, Syracuse, Indiana, Purdue, Kansas, Western Kentucky, Sam Houston State, Louisiana Tech and North Texas. He was recruited to Arkansas by second-year wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton.

The big receiver was scheduled to visit Missouri next weekend but will instead shut down his recruitment and prepare to enroll at Arkansas in January. He will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Armstrong signed with Commerce in 2019 as an unranked prospect out of Dallas (Texas) Bishop Dunne. He redshirted in his first season and had to sit out another year in 2020 when the school canceled its football season altogether due to Covid-19.

Armstrong played in 9 games in 2021, recording 15 receptions for 297 yards and 3 touchdowns for a team that finished 7-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play. He then emerged as one of the nation’s top transfer targets in 2022, posting 1,020 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns on 62 receptions (16.4 YPC).

The current redshirt-sophomore is viewed as a key addition to an Arkansas wide receiver room that loses three of its top four wide receivers from the 2022 season, including Matt Landers (exhausted eligibility), Jadon Haselwood (preparing for NFL Draft), and Ketron Jackson (transfer portal).

Arkansas is also in the mix for another transfer wide receiver target in Iowa’s Arland Bruce, who was in town for an official visit over the weekend.

The Razorbacks added their first transfer commitment of the cycle last Monday when former Florida offensive lineman Joshua Braun went public with his decision to call the Hogs. Former North Carolina quarterback Jacolby Criswell became the Hogs’ second pledge on Sunday. Arkansas expects to host multiple transfer targets again next week, including a pair of defensive backs in Eric Rogers of Northern Illinois and Gavin Holmes of Wake Forest.

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TE Luke Hasz

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Time: Noon

Finalists: Arkansas (verbally committed), Alabama

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WR Omarion Miller

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Colorado, Penn State and Oklahoma State have made the latest run at the four-star receiver who had been committed to Nebraska and LSU before that, but with so much change recently Miller is going to wait until February to make his commitment. Arkansas, Auburn and Oklahoma have also been in touch so there are a lot of moving parts here.

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WR Micah Tease

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After a commitment to Arkansas that happened on July 4 and lasted until Monday, it now looks like Texas A&M is in the best position to land the Tulsa (Okla.) Booker T. Washington four-star athlete. The Aggies were included in Tease’s top 10 this summer, but after a snap visit to Fayetteville Tease pledged to the Razorbacks. Oklahoma and Colorado also made a run at him, but it looks like A&M is sitting pretty.

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Hogs need to get back in the mix of landing top 100 players.

Ari Wasserman talked about how 5 teams signed 65 of the top 100 players two years ago on the latest Andy Staples Show.

Those same 5 teams signed 52 of the top 100 last year.

Texas A&M's best recruiting class in rankings ever landed 18 top 100 players last year.

This year:
Bama signed 14 of the top 100.
Georgia 10.
Texas 7.
Ohio State 7.
Oklahoma 7.
LSU 5.
Miami 3 (could be 5).
Texas A&M 4 (could be 5).
Notre Dame 4.
Tennessee 4.
USC 4.
Clemson 4.
Florida 3 (could be 4).
Penn State 3.
Oregon 1 (could be 3).

Last year 10 or more top 100 players went to 4 or 5 teams. This year 2 - Bama and Georgia.

Opportunity is there to get a few of these guys with NIL.

Our baseball program has signed 13 top 100 players in the 2023 class. It is far and away the best baseball class on paper before the draft.

Our basketball program is only signing top 100 players and transfers. Last year it was top 25 players for the top 3.

Our other sports like softball, women's basketball, soccer, track - all land top 100 recruits but they take less players to play/make a team.

As for Arkansas football:

Last top 100 composite ranked recruit - DE McTelvin Agim #20 in 2016.

2014 - DT Bijhon Jackson was #81. OT Brian Wallace was #90 (RIP).

2013 - RB Alex Collins was #40. TE Hunter Henry was #80.

2011 - OT Brey Cook was #69.

2009 - CB Darius Winston was #24.

2008 - CB De'Anthony Curtis was #91.

2006 - QB Mitch Mustain was #9. WR Damian Williams was #77.

Nearly top 100: Treylon Burks was #103 in 2019. Devwah Whaley was #101 in 2016.

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UA Game survey: Is the transfer portal affecting recruiting?

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Isaiah Augustave:

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“Yes and no. I didn’t really pay much attention to the transfer portal. My main focus was getting on the field and playing as a freshman, that was all that really mattered to me.”

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UA Game survey: Did NIL rules impact recruiting process?

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Isaiah Augustave:

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“No. Not at all. For me, it was just about my recruitment, having a good bond with the coaches.”

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Bixby (Okla.) four-star tight end Luke Hasz is the highest-ranked player in Arkansas‘ 2023 recruiting class. He’d be the first to admit things got tight late.

Committed to the Razorbacks since January after decommitting from Oklahoma, Alabama made a late push to flip Hasz. The Crimson Tide visited Hasz multiple times near the end, but he ultimately stuck with his long-term decision.

“It was definitely close because Alabama is Alabama at the end of the day,” Hasz, the No. 208 overall player and No. 11 tight end in the 2023 On3 Consensus, said at hotel check-in for the Under Armour All-America Game. “I decided to look at it in the way of what’s best for me and my future. Both were going to be very good for my future, but there were some little things that separated and that’s why I stuck with Arkansas in the end.”

Hasz said that his relationship with the Razorbacks’ coaching staff seems to get better every week but admitted that losing former tight ends coach Dowell Loggains to South Carolina stung. Despite that, Hasz stated that he and new tight ends coach Morgan Turner have built a strong relationship in the short time that he’s been there.

“With his resume, I’m super excited to get up there,” Hasz said. “Arkansas is just perfect if you want coaches who care about you and want you to be your best. The way they developed their tight ends over the last few years was definitely pitched to me for sure.

“They do a great job developing their tight ends and I’m excited to get there so I can get to work and reach my potential.”

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Bixby (Okla.) four-star tight end and Arkansas signee Luke Hasz is excited about the direction of the Arkansas football program.

Alabama heavily coveted Hasz down the stretch leading into the early signing period. Hasz had been committed to Arkansas since January of 2022. Still, the Tide never gave up on recruiting him as both Arkansas and Alabama hosted him for official visits in June and the 'Tide came in twice for in-home visits in December.

However, Hasz decided to stick with the Razorbacks.

“It was getting down to the wire, but I knew I had to go with my heart, and that was Arkansas," Hasz told 247Sports at the Under Armour All-American Game check-in on Thursday.

Why Arkansas?

“The commitment I’ve got from them and the coaching staff. I have really fallen in love with them. I have faith in Coach [Sam] Pittman no matter losing a tight end coach or gaining one. I know Coach [Morgan] Turner is going to do a great job. He has a great resume and I’m super excited to get to work with them.”

Morgan Turner is the new tight ends coach for Arkansas. He repalces Dowell Loggains, who left for South Carolina.

Turner comes from Stanford, and Hasz added that he's ready to work with him and has confidence that he'll do a great job with the room moving forward and help Hasz's development after sending multiple tight ends during his time at Stanford to the NFL.

Hasz, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 245-pounds, loves the fit and how he can be used in Arkansas' offense.

“They’ve been talking to me about using me in space a little more," Hasz said. "With some perimeter blocking and running routes downfield, and even inline because I’ve been doing that in high school.”

“They said I like how I’m physical and play with my hands. I always go and get the ball, and catch away from my body. I’d say I’m more athletic than some of the bulkier tight ends.”

Hasz said the heaviest he got was 245-pounds, and he played this past season at 230-pounds. He said he's shooting to get around 235-pounds once he gets to college and let the Arkansas strength staff do the rest.

Hasz will enroll early at Arkansas next month and is looking forward to getting started. He watched Arkansas' win over Kansas in the Liberty Bowl and belives that victory can spark more momentum in the program heading into the offseason and future years.

“I think it’s great," Hasz said of the bowl victory. "There are sparks there once in a while. We have a chance to be great. I’m excited to get down there and work and help them achieve their goals.”

Per 247Sports, Hasz is listed as the No. 9 tight end in the class of 2023 nationally.

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-There are a handful of “big” running backs in the game, but the ball carrier with the most impressive frame might have been Arkansas signee Isaiah Augustave. He claims that he's under 200 pounds right now, but looks like someone that's eventually going to be able to carry 225 pounds or more.

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Arkansas — RJ Johnson, CB (87): Arkansas brought in a nice cornerback class, and Johnson is likely to get overshadowed. He has a good combo from size and speed and the type of production — 56 tackles and four interceptions in 2022 — you’d like to see from an SEC starting corner.

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Going through camp-like-workouts is tough for running backs and linebackers as there isn’t a lot asked of players at either position. With the UA Next getting deeper into live action, both positions will get more opportunities to show what they can do. For Augustave, the practice reps at the Wide World of Sports complex will give analysts an opportunity to see what he can do outside of a Wing-T offensive set. Going through passing drills, Augustave is showing more of his game with his hands. Through drills, he has looked fast with quick cuts and a great burst.

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