Arkansas quarterback commitment Cole Kelley is attending the Razorbacks' three-day camp that started Sunday and concludes today.
Kelley, 6-7, 250 pounds, 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Lafayette (La.) Teurlings Catholic, picked the Hogs over scholarship offers from Oklahoma State, Kentucky, Colorado State, Tulane, Southern Miss and others after visiting Arkansas on April 18.
He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to work with Arkansas offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Dan Enos.
"When I came on my visit, I was talking to Coach Enos about it," said Kelley, who was one of about 360 athletes at the camp. "This summer I'm not doing much college-wise, just really working on my high school football team, so I thought I would come out here and give it a shot."
Many schools have backed off recruiting him since his pledge to the Razorbacks.
"Definitely, big-time," Kelley said. "I'm not getting messaged as much on Twitter. I still get some mail, but not near as much. I'm not really being talked to by schools any more."
As a junior, Kelley completed 187 of 310 passes for 2,984 yards, 31 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions. He showed good accuracy at the camp Monday and displayed a strong arm into a fairly strong headwind during the morning session.
He's taking advantage of the camp to work with Enos.
"Just to kind of start working with Coach Enos and start to develop a good football relationship, " Kelley said.
Another offer
Athlete Hayden Johnson arrived in Fayetteville on Sunday for the three-day camp with 23 scholarship offers.
He left Monday with his 24th after receiving one from Arkansas.
Johnson, 6-3, 245, 4.8, of Columbia (Mo.) Rock Bridge, also has scholarship offers from Purdue, Tulsa, Wyoming, Louisiana Tech and Bowling Green. The visit was his first to Fayetteville.
"I love Arkansas. Me and the family came down and obviously love it," Johnson said. "It's going to hard to beat Arkansas. It's definitely my top offer right now."
Seeing Arkansas' facilities were an eye-opening experience, Johnson said.
"The stadium is amazing, I absolutely loved all of the coaches and loved the facilities," he said. "I really didn't find anything wrong with it. I loved everything."
Johnson, who recorded 70 tackles, 12 1/2 sacks and 10 rushing touchdowns as a junior, said he enjoyed working with Arkansas running backs coach Jemal Singleton.
"We worked together really well. We did some individual drills and got to do a lot of good stuff," said Johnson, who also said he hopes to make his college decision before the start of the season. "We really meshed well."
Just like Christmas
Receiver C.J. Hayes, 6-2, 190, 4.50, of Bowling Green (Ky.) South Warren, has strong ties to the state of Arkansas and is hoping to leave the Hogs' three-day camp today with a scholarship offer.
His father Carl played receiver for Pine Bluff Dollarway and helped lead the Cardinals to state titles in 1989 and 1990.
"That'd be almost the best thing in the world," Hayes said of getting a possible offer from the Hogs. "I mean, grandparents coming to see you play every game, family is right around the corner, it's a great place to be."
His grandfather, LeRoy Hayes Jr. of Pine Bluff, was able to see grandson compete for the first time Sunday.
"It means a lot," Hayes said. "He didn't see my dad a lot because he always worked a lot. So for him to see me, it's like a Christmas present."
Besides Arkansas, Hayes is drawing interest from Cincinnati, Louisville, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Thinking it over
Little Rock Christian defensive lineman Dylan Hays, 6-3, 280, was offered a preferred walkon spot as an offensive lineman with Arkansas after impressing offensive line coach Sam Pittman during the Monday morning session.
He has a scholarship offer from Harding and is drawing interest from Ole Miss, Arkansas State, Memphis and Vanderbilt. He's uncertain if he'll accept the Hogs' offer.
"I don't know right now, but I have a lot of thinking to do about it," Hays said.
Cook looks
Arkansas men's basketball Coach Mike Anderson hosted one of the main 2016 targets for an unofficial visit Saturday and Sunday.
Power forward Tyler Cook, 6-9, 240, of St. Louis Chaminade College Prep, has more than 25 scholarship offers. But he has narrowed his list of potential schools to Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Iowa State, Iowa and Virginia. He said the visit helped the Hogs in their pursuit of him.
"Yeah it did. I've been looking forward to getting down there," Cook said. "It's a solid program and they do a good job with the basketball program and they've been doing a good job recruiting me. It was a home feeling environment."
ESPN rates Cook the No. 13 power forward and the No. 58 overall prospect in the nation. He was able to tour Arkansas' nearly completed basketball practice facility and believes it is one of the best in the nation.
"They were one of the last in the conference to get a practice facility and that kind of gave them a leg up in terms of seeing what some of the other schools have done and try and one up them," Cook said.
He was accompanied on the trip by his parents, Trent and Stephanie. His mother said she would have no problems with her son attending Arkansas. She also said she was impressed that Anderson likes to recruit solid citizens.
"I like the fact that integrity and character are important to him," she said. "He wants good kids in his program and he wants to bring in other good kids so they have a similar backgrounds. I think that's important, especially as a parent."
E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 06/16/2015