In the end, a handful of things helped sway safety Willie Sykes of Spring, Texas, to flip his commitment to Arkansas from Nebraska.
Sykes, 6-0, 189 pounds, 4.46 seconds in the 40-yard dash, said his relationship with Arkansas defensive backs coach Clay Jennings was vital, as was the opportunity to play in the SEC.
There was also influence from a friend, Houston Cypress Falls cornerback Nate Dalton, who committed to Arkansas on Jan. 22 after visiting Fayetteville on Jan. 16-18.
Sykes and Dalton have known each other since their sophomore seasons. He said Dalton told him about his experience at Arkansas.
"He just told me everything was great," Sykes said. "He told me we would be together. That was kind of comforting, too, knowing that that he and I would be rooming together."
Dalton introduced Sykes to Arkansas fans on Feb. 1 by tweeting "Hog Fans give my brother from another mother @williesykes11 a follow, trying to bring him to Fayetteville as a Safety #Wps"
"He asked me one question: 'Were the fans for real?' " Dalton said. "So that's why I posted my little tweet about him ... to give a him a little bit of experience on social media. It's better when you get to see it for yourself -- to see the excitement and see how the alumni comes together to just support you in coming to the school."
Sykes orginally committed to Nebraska on Jan. 27 after officially visiting Lincoln a couple of days earlier. He said the Razorbacks extended a scholarship offer Jan. 26.
Skyes also had scholarship offers Washington State, Utah, Minnesota, Oregon State and others.
"I already had a relationship with Coach Jennings, so when they offered me I already had a relationship with my position coach," Sykes said. "They were one of my top schools when they offered me due to the relationship I had with him while he was at TCU."
Sykes recorded 86 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions and 13 pass breakups as a senior. He had 83 tackles, 3 interceptions, 5 forced fumbles, 9 pass breakups as a junior.
Sykes said he wanted to play in the SEC.
"I mean, Nebraska was a great opportunity," he said, "but I felt like it was kind of hard as a defensive player to pass up a chance to play against Alabama and LSU and those schools."
Still looking
Arkansas signed 24 football prospects for the 2015 class and could add a 25th sometime down the road.
E.K. Franks, Arkansas' director of recruiting, said the phones inside the Fred W. Smith football complex have been ringing and all options are on the table.
"The beautiful thing is everybody is calling from high school kids to junior-college kids to transfers," Franks said. "So you sit back and figure out what's the right fit and you don't have to rush it. That's the beautiful thing about it. You don't have to rush it."
Arkansas' assistant coaches are off this week while Coach Bret Bielema takes part in the NCAA rules committee meetings this wee. Bielema will later take some time off at a Nike retreat. The coaches will take video of numerous 2016 prospects with them.
"We say everybody is off, but every coach has 25 to 50 evaluations that's on their iPad that they'll take with them," Franks said. "The head coach has about 50 evaluations on his iPad that he'll take with him. The beautiful thing is they can sit back when they have some downtime and keep recruiting."
E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 02/10/2015