Arkansas nearly added its third commitment for the 2016 class Tuesday when highly regarded defensive end Caleb Roddy of Denham Springs, La., visited.
Roddy, 6-5, 241 pounds, 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard dash, has scholarship offers from 15 schools, including Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Arizona State, North Carolina and Illinois.
"It was fantastic. It was by far my favorite visit ," said Roddy, who previously visited TCU, LSU, Mississippi State and several others. "The coaches were awesome, the people were awesome. Everything was great."
Roddy said he was impressed as soon as he arrived.
"They're very welcoming," said Roddy, who has a 285-pound bench press, a 415-pound squat and a 305-pound power clean. "They had everything mapped out, the whole itinerary just for me. It felt homey. It just felt right. I loved it."
Roddy, who was accompanied by his grandmother, Elizabeth Roddy, and his girlfriend, Bailey Clary, said he almost orally committed to Coach Bret Bielema.
"It got close, I'm not going to lie," Roddy said. "The only thing is I have to convince my girlfriend because she's going to LSU. She's a senior, so she'll be in college for a year while I'm still in high school. I've been trying to convince her ever since we got there."
Roddy was determined after his sophomore season to get better, so he dropped his weight from 292 to his current weight of 241 by working out and avoiding fast food and sodas. He recorded 78 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and broke up 5 passes as a junior.
Roddy watched Tuesday's practice.
"I actually liked it a lot," Roddy said. "It's almost exactly like the practices we do at high school, the same structure, the same drills."
He and Bielema hit it off during a 35-minute talk in Bielema's office.
"We talked about everything," Roddy said. "I love him already. He's a really laid-back guy. He's really cool."
Later that night he ate dinner with defensive coordinator Robb Smith, defensive line coach Rory Segrest and director of recruiting E.K. Franks inside the stadium.
He spent the night in Fayetteville and went back to the campus Wednesday morning and focused on what Arkansas had to offer academically. He left about noon for a trip Thursday to Tennessee, where he received an offer during his visit.
Roddy doesn't have a firm date to announce his college decision, but he said he feels good about the Razorbacks.
" Arkansas might be the one," said Roddy, who has a 3.5 grade-point average. "The football is great, the academics and the school is great."
QUICK RETURN
Pulaski Robinson junior athlete T.J. Hammonds, who received a scholarship offer from Arkansas on Feb. 25, will visit the Hogs with his parents Saturday.
Hammonds, 5-11, 192, 4.42, has more than 10 scholarship offers from schools that include Arizona, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, TCU, Vanderbilt.
He previously visited the Hogs on March 7.
" I just want my family to meet the coaches and get them comfortable with them," Hammonds said. "They are excited about it."
Hammonds made tremendous strides his junior season, when he had 852 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns on 58 carries and 41 receptions for 1,172 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema, running backs coach Jemal Singleton, receivers coach Michael Smith and tight ends coach Barry Lunney Jr., his lead recruiter, have been communicating with Hammonds. He said appreciates the coaches wanting him to join the program but said he'll likely wait awhile before making a decision.
"I want to watch some games before I do anything," Hammonds said..
INTEREST FROM KING
ESPN reports that forward Nick King, who is transferring from Memphis, plans to visit Arkansas.
King, 6-7, 225 pounds, was recruited by the Razorbacks out of Memphis East High School before signing with the Tigers. He was rated the No. 37 prospect in the nation by ESPN as a senior in 2013.
He was named Tennessee's Class AAA Mr. Basketball and finished his high school career with more than 1,900 points and 1,000 rebounds.
King averaged 24.4 points, 15.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.3 blocks as a senior and was named to the Parade All-America team. ESPN said King also will visit Ole Miss.
E-mail Richard Davenport at
rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 04/10/2015