Minnesota junior basketball guard Gabe Kalscheur and his mother arrived in Fayetteville late Friday afternoon for an unofficial visit, and it looks like they'll be back.
Kalscheur, 6-4, 190 pounds, of Minneapolis De La Salle, has scholarship offers from Minnesota, North Dakota and Northern Iowa, while drawing strong interest from Arkansas.
He and his mother were able to watch the Hogs practice Saturday morning, and he said he came away impressed with the atmosphere.
"I like how everyone knows each other," Kalscheur said. "A lot of people just came up to me and greeted me, and I didn't even know them. That was really cool. It was special."
An outstanding shooter, Kalscheur scored 27 points to help De La Salle win its fifth consecutive 3A state championship game as a sophomore.
Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson stressed to him the offensive freedom the Razorbacks allow, Kalscheur said.
"They play freely," he said. "[Anderson] coaches them hard at practice, and in the game he just expects them to play and play freely. It's very attractive. I like that a lot. I like an uptempo game, and I can see they like the three-point line. I like the three-point line, too."
Like a lot of out-of-state prospects, Kalscheur said he wasn't sure what to expect before arriving in Arkansas.
"The interest level has raised up a little bit," he said. "I didn't think it was going to be as nice. It's lot more than I expected."
He also said Razorbacks assistant coach Scotty Thurman has been aggressive in trying to get him down for a visit.
"It's a good relationship," Kalscheur said. "He texts me about like once a week to see how I'm doing and everything and how my parents are doing, and I feel like that's really nice. He tells me he sees a lot of himself in me and how I play and how he played."
Kalscheur said his mother hit if off well with Anderson's wife, Marcheita.
"She likes how Coach Anderson's wife came up and just talked to her," he said. "That was really nice . They're getting along really well."
He said he'll be back.
Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 10/09/2016