re: Arkansas Football 2024 Recruiting Thread **WR Zachary Taylor Commits**

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So we’re bringing a bunch of Missouri commits on campus who can negatively recruit the guys who are wavering already while we have them on campus. Nice

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Make sense right

I’m glad fall those recruits showed up today

Can’t wait to see how many we flip

Bama has offered Jaden Baugh

Roman visiting Zou this weekend

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The Grove Collective was ranked the 9th-most ambitious NIL collective by On3, as it has partnered with at least 165 Ole Miss athletes and even recently added support from Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy and his Brick Watch Company. It's no coincidence that Ole Miss brought in the nation's No. 2 transfer portal class and they've had plenty of on-field success this year.

Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe just surpassed an NIL valuation of over $1 million. He has deals with brands such as HEYDUDE's, Beats by Dre and Rhoback. The Crimson Tide will once again have a top-10 recruiting class in 2024.

Missouri is benefiting from a state law that allows high school athletes to begin profiting from their publicity rights the minute they sign a written agreement to enroll at a Missouri university. So, through their Every True Tiger Foundation collective and other resources, the Tigers have been dominating in football and men's basketball recruiting.

Other SEC programs checked in on the list, including Tennessee at No.1, Texas A&M at No. 2 and Texas at No. 4. It's worth noting that A&M's 12th Man+ Fund has since been discontinued.

Where does Arkansas rank among these other schools? Well, On3 has the Razorbacks at No. 8 nationally in ambitious collectives with the OneArkansas NIL collective. Arkansas' current 2024 recruiting class ranks 23rd nationally with a few commits on flip watch.

(Note: OneArkansas is separate from another primarily Razorback men's basketball focused collective called the Athlete Advocate Consortium.)

While some NIL deals feature athletes promoting specific brands, the OneArkansas collective is a third-party limited liability company aimed at assisting Arkansas student-athletes in following their passion for supporting various nonprofits throughout the Natural State.

"Assist Arkansas athletes in connecting, educating, and facilitating their charitable efforts while serving fellow Arkansans and others," the OneArkansas collective mission statement reads.

Former Razorback Marvin Caston leads the nonprofit foundation that is raising millions to support Arkansas athletics. Assistant director Sydney McGlone told On3 that the collective signed every incoming football transfer and early enrollee in January.

Most recently, OneArkansas put on an event at George's with musicians Justin Moore and Joe Nichols performing and head coaches such as Sam Pittman, Eric Musselman and Dave Van Horn in attendance.

Arkansas must be doing something right to have one of their football-heavy collectives viewed as one of the most ambitious in the nation. Although he said on Aug. 28 that his team doesn't have too big of a problem with NIL, Pittman did say that they aren't offering top dollar a few days prior.

"To be perfectly honest with you, we try to find out if they're looking for an NIL deal, if they're looking for a team," Pittman said Aug. 24. "If they're looking for just an NIL deal, a lot of times we don't have great success with those guys. But if they're looking for some NIL and things of that nature, not necessarily the highest bidder, we do real well with those guys."

On Wednesday, Pittman did make it clear that the budget his team has for NIL is not enough.

"I think everybody wants more money," Pittman said. "They want a pool of money that collectives can bring that can help your program. That can make you competitive around the country. We’re not talking specifically about that much. That’s really with the NIL department. But the money and the funds that are there, we need to grow that budget. Once we do that, we can obviously become more competitive in recruiting."

The other schools mentioned — and plenty more around the country — do a great job of advertising their NIL collectives on social media and during games. Arkansas could probably use some improvement here, as you rarely hear about OneArkansas at games, the Twitter/X page hasn't posted since Oct. 26 and the Instagram hasn't posted since Aug. 28.

Even visiting the OneArkansas webpage doesn't provide much. They have the basic mission statement-type stuff and some tabs for donating, team members and partners. But there is no mention of a single athlete name on the webpage. You would think that would be a key part of advertising this whole thing.

"I think, no doubt, that we have the resources and all that," Pittman said. "It’s hard to know everybody (in the SEC's) budget. It’s hard to know all budgets. I don’t feel, probably, that our budget is as big as a lot of the schools in the SEC.

"But it’s hard to know that because you really don’t know. You just know what other kids, where they come in recruiting of what NIL can do for them at other schools. And it’s a lot more than what you could imagine to be perfectly honest with you."

Not every NIL-related opportunity for athletes will come through a collective such as OneArkansas. But it seems like these are the groups that are helping the Ole Miss, Missouri and Alabama's of the world to recruit at a high level.

There are plenty more collectives and NIL opportunities for Arkansas football players, so it's not fair to say that all of this is OneArkansas. But Pittman made it clear that the funding isn't where it should be, and that's something that probably needs solving.

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Sam has to know people aren't wasting money paying NIL because of him. They don't want to back him as they don't believe or trust in his decision-making abilities.

Charlie Collins Fonged to Ole Miss. He gone...

Gotta be sure to keep Sam so we don't lose all them too recruits!

LINK

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Arkansas has landed a commitment from former Michigan State offensive lineman Keyshawn Blackstock. The 6-5, 315-pound tackle went public with his decision just after noon on Monday, just eight days after wrapping up an official visit with the Razorbacks in Fayetteville. He is the first of several new commitments for the Hogs in the coming weeks as they continue to hit the JUCO scene and early transfer market. Blackstock is expected to enroll at midterm and will have two years remaining.

Blackstock, 6-5, 315, was the No. 1 interior offensive lineman in the junior college ranks for 2023 after a successful two-year run at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. He committed to the Spartans last December and enrolled in June only to enter the portal on October 24. The Covington (Ga.) Newton native quickly collected new scholarship offers from several programs, including NC State, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Penn State and others.

Arkansas offensive line coach Cody Kennedy came calling with an offer on October 28, and Blackstock has since added Colorado, Louisville, Maryland and Baylor to the mix. Blackstock has already made official visits at NC State and Ole Miss since entering the portal and was expected to visit Penn State and Louisville in December.

"I got here Friday and had a meeting with coach Pittman and coach Kennedy," Blackstock said following his Arkansas visit last weekend. "Everything was great. They treat me like I’m a priority here. They need me. Coach Pittman keeps reminding me of that so I feel like that’s big."

Blackstock entered the transfer portal in October following Michigan State's dismissal of then-head coach Mel Tucker. The Covington (Ga.) native and former No. 1 JUCO offensive lineman quickly added new offers from NC State, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisville, Maryland and Baylor.

Blackstock has ties to a couple of Razorbacks and felt like a priority for the Hogs, especially after defensive coaches even joined in to help recruit him to The Hill.

"Just having a relationship with coach Pittman and the guys, and how they bond and gel with each other," Blackstock said. "I got guys here like Owen Lawson, a punter that’s here. Amaury Wiggins, that I played junior college with, so I really trust those guys and the insight they’ve given me into the program. I feel like that that’s tremendous to me. I talked to T-Will and guys like that in the staff and (they're) like, ‘We need guys up front, it starts with the trenches.' I feel like that’s big and I’m a priority here."

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LINK

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Arkansas has landed a big-time commitment out of the transfer portal. Former Michigan State offensive lineman Keyshawn Blackstock announced his commitment to the Razorbacks on Monday.

Blackstock entered the transfer portal last month and considered multiple Power 5 schools, before choosing to play for Sam Pittman and Arkansas.

The 6-foot-3, 315-pounder originally chose Michigan State last December, after being ranked as the top JUCO offensive lineman in the country, according to On3.

In addition to Arkansas, Blackstock also received offers from NC State, Texas Tech, Houston, Pittsburgh, California, Memphis, Nebraska, UTSA, Virginia Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Arizona State, Ole Miss, Penn State, South Florida, Temple, West Virginia, Kansas, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisville, and Maryland.

Blackstock’s time with the Spartans was short-lived, as he joined the team from the JUCO ranks this offseason. He began the season as a backup left tackle and appeared in the first four games but missed the next three.

Blackstock played high school football at Newton (KS), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 6 overall JUCO recruit in the 2021 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Keyshawn Blackstock’s decision to transfer came after Michigan State fired coach Mel Tucker on Sept. 27. That gave Spartans players a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal, and Blackstock did so just a few days before that timeframe was set to expire.

Because he only played in four games this season, Blackstock can use a redshirt for the remainder of this year and keep two years of eligibility.

He will have two seasons to use at Arkansas, if he chooses to stay both years.

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Fire Pittman

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Boosters must have commited to the demands for NIL money and to get a top rate OC.

Last year everybody in the country wanted him coming out of JUCO.