The Recruiting Guy

Hog talk catches Williams' ear

Highly recruited defensive lineman Michael Williams plans to officially visit the Hogs.
Highly recruited defensive lineman Michael Williams plans to officially visit the Hogs.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Sometimes a program can lean on its oral commitments to spread the word to other prospects.

That might be the case with highly recruited Fort Worth All Saints Episcopal defensive lineman Michael Williams, who plans to take an official visit to Arkansas. He's heard good things about the Razorbacks from receiver commitment Kofi Boateng of Arlington Lamar.

"I still plan to make an official to see Arkansas," said Williams, who is committed to Stanford. "I want to see what Kofi has been talking about. He boosts it up. He tells me it's a great place and he told me to check it out."

Williams, 6-2 1/2, 285 pounds, 4.95 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is rated the nation's No. 20 defensive tackle and No. 195 overall prospect by ESPN. He has more than 40 scholarship offers from schools that include Arkansas, Texas, Ohio State, UCLA and Ole Miss.

He hoped to take an official visit to Arkansas for the Auburn game Oct. 24, but his school's homecoming dance is on the same day.

"I may have to change it up if I want to go to homecoming," Williams said.

Williams said he also plans to take official visits to Stanford, Ohio State and Texas. He has a 3.6 grade-point average and plans to major in business.

"I had a goal of being a stock broker for a while," Williams said. "I just want to work with numbers. Math is one of my favorite subjects."

He worked at a factory that makes rubber gaskets during the summer. The factory is owned by a father of one of his teammates.

"I realized manual labor isn't the thing for me," Williams said. "It was like a 100 outside and about 105 in the factory and they had us picking up stuff and moving stuff all the time. I came out with the attitude that I have to get my degree. I have to get a desk job or something close to it."

Williams said he and lead recruiter Jemal Singleton, Arkansas' running backs coach, talk once a week. Coach Bret Bielema's bravado and the fact that Arkansas plays in the SEC help with his interest in the Razorbacks.

"Coach Bielema is a fiery coach, a coach that will get some attitude," Williams said. "You like that. You follow people like that who wear their heart on their sleeve and are passionate about stuff."

LINEMAN LIKES UA

Everyone in the nation is hoping to sign junior offensive lineman Jack Anderson of Frisco, Texas, in 2017, and that includes Arkansas.

Anderson, 6-4, 291, recently narrowed his list of 44 scholarship offers to 12 schools, including Arkansas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Auburn, Florida, SMU and Oklahoma.

"I looked at all of my schools and saw where I could see myself and where I think I would be a good fit academically and football-wise, and Arkansas definitely fit the bill," Anderson said.

Anderson, whose father played at Texas Tech, was bombarded by direct messages on Twitter on Sept. 1, the first day college coaches could contact junior prospects. Red Raiders Coach Kliff Kingsbury and Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema were the coaches Anderson seemed to notice the most.

"Those two in particular hit me up that night around midnight," Anderson said. "It was good to talk to them for the first time."

Bielema made a big impression.

"It was huge that he would stay up that late and make me feel like I'm a top priority for the program," Anderson said.

Anderson was one of a few juniors invited to The Opening, the prestigious July event held at Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Ore. ESPN rates him the No. 1 center and the nation's No. 28 overall prospect.

Frisco Coach Vance Gibson said Anderson hasn't slacked off since being named one of the nation's top recruits.

"He's a great practice player," Gibson said. "I think that's unusual for a person that has received the recognition that he has. Sometimes those guys think they're God's gift to football and drop off as far as meeting their potential, whatever ceiling that is, but Jack hasn't done that. He's one of the hardest workers on our football team."

Anderson said pancake blocking a defender to the ground is his favorite thing to do.

"That's the best feeling, just getting on top and saying something to them and let them know it's going to be a long night," Anderson said. "That's what I like to do."

During a recent game an opposing player didn't care too much for Anderson's physical style of play.

"I pancaked him twice in one play and he got up said, 'I know you're good, man, but you don't need to do that,'" Anderson said. "I said, 'Yeah, I do.' "

E-mail Richard Davenport at

rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 09/27/2015

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