Arkansas won out over in-state schools Florida and Florida State and host of others for highly recruited offensive lineman Jalen Merrick, who orally committed to the Hogs on Sunday.
Merrick announced his pledge on Twitter: "I have officially committed to the University of Arkansas."
Merrick, 6-5, 310, 5.21 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., picked the Hogs over more than 20 other scholarship offers, including schools like Alabama, Wisconsin, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Michigan State.
Merrick made an official visit to Fayetteville for the Ole Miss game on Nov. 22. He also officially visited Wisconsin, Florida State and LSU. New Gators head coach Jim McElwain made a hard push since his hiring on Dec. 4 but it wasn't enough to sway Merrick.
"It was great, a lot different than what people say," Merrick said after his official visit to Arkansas. "Arkansas is a very good place and I could see myself playing here. Everybody was like, 'It's a lot of country and woods,' but once you get here in Fayetteville it completely opens up your eyes a lot."
Merrick played basketball until giving football a try his junior year and received a scholarship before his first game.
CBS Sports National recruiting analyst Tom Lemming rates Merrick a 4-star prospect and said the Hogs got a good one.
"He has quick feet and long arms," Lemming said. "He's real versatile and could play tackle or guard. He's one of the better players out there. There's not many four-star offensive linemen in Florida and that's a great state for talent."
Offensive line coach Sam Pittman, who has helped the Hogs ink several other highly recruited offensive linemen, was Merrick's lead recruiter.
"Coach Pittman has been recruiting me for a really long time," Merrick said after his November visit. "I was just going off by what he's been saying about the place and it was nice to finally get up here and be around it. It's just great."
Merrick also hit it off with head Coach Bret Bielema during the recruiting process and said that relationship also had a major impact.
The Hogs have 19 commitments for the 2015 class. Oral commitments are nonbonding.
Sports on 01/12/2015