After officially visiting Arkansas over the weekend and seeing what the Hogs have to offer, defensive end commitment Justin Thomas -- who has committed to LSU -- said he believes the Razorbacks are on par with any program in the nation.
"Arkansas is definitely up there competing with any school in the country," Thomas said.
Thomas, 6-5, 265 pounds, along with his teammate from Spanish Fort (Ala.) High School, linebacker Thomas Johnston, 6-2, 220, 4.78 seconds in the 40-yard dash, visited Arkansas for Saturday's Ole Miss game.
"I really love it," Thomas said. "I like the great facilities. I like the coaches. There's a lot of money invested into the facilities."
Thomas also said his mother, Syreeta, and stepfather, Atlas, were also impressed with what they saw.
"I think they really like it," Thomas said. "They [Arkansas] had the 'wow factor' with everything they looked at."
Johnston visited Fayetteville in June with his father, Tyler, and his father's childhood friend, Dean Peevy, who played defensive back for the Hogs in 1990-1994.
"It feels the same way as the last time," Johnston said after Saturday's visit. " I love what I'm seeing. I'm glad Justin can experience it with me."
Johnston's mother, Trisha, was able to see Arkansas for the first time.
"When I first came up here, I was like, 'I want to take my official here,' " Johnston said. "I love everything about it. I wanted my mom to see it and I'm glad she got to see everything."
Johnston has approximately 20 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan State, Arizona State, Auburn, Oregon, LSU and North Carolina State. He and Thomas are very close friends and hope to attend the same college.
"We have been talking about it lately," Johnston said. "We have the opportunity at multiple schools. I think Arkansas is the top school that we both love."
Thomas has about 16 scholarship offers, including ones from Arkansas, Alabama, LSU, Nebraska, Tennessee, Iowa State and South Carolina.
Five of Arkansas' defensive linemen are seniors this season and that sets up well for early playing time for incoming players.
"The opportunity to play early is crazy," Thomas said. "That is what I want to do anyway -- come in and play early."
The crowd of 73,786 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on Saturday night was very vocal during the Hogs' 34-30 victory over Ole Miss.
"The whole stadium was shaking," said Johnston, who was hosted by freshman quarterback Cole Kelley. "It was awesome."
Thomas, who was hosted by redshirt freshman defensive lineman T.J. Smith, said he was also impressed with the crowd.
"It was a crazy environment," Thomas said. "Really loud."
Both players said they plan to take other official visits before making their college decisions.
"I want to take a visit to Michigan State for Michigan in two weeks," Johnston said. "My mom has family in Iowa, and I want to take the LSU visit with Justin."
Thomas has two other visits he plans to make.
"I will probably take an official to Alabama," Thomas said. "I will probably take one to LSU and that's all."
Another Hawk
Arkansas men's basketball Coach Mike Anderson and his staff hosted one of the better junior prospects in the nation, forward DeShang "D.J." Weaver, Saturday and he left with a scholarship offer.
Weaver, 6-7, 200 pounds, of Houston Cypress Falls, also has offers from Texas, Baylor, Texas A&M, Houston, TCU and others.
He's accumulated the offers despite missing his sophomore season along with this spring and summer sessions after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in October of last year.
Weaver, rated a 4-star prospect by ESPN, will play next spring and summer with the already talented 17-under Arkansas Hawks.
"I saw him at the Adidas Camp as a ninth grader, and I thought he was a top 10 player in the 2018 class before he got injured," Hawks founder Bill Ingram said. "He's a huge addition."
Weaver attended Arkansas' Elite Camp in August 2015. At the time, future150.com rated him as the No. 2 small forward and No. 11 overall prospect in the nation for the 2018 class.
The starting five of the Hawks are committed to the Hogs: junior forwards Reggie Perry, 6-10, 225 pounds, of Thomasville, Ga.; and Ethan Henderson, 6-9, 190, of Little Rock Parkview; and junior guards Isaiah Joe, 6-2, 160, of Fort Smith Northside; and Desi Sills, 6-1, 170, of Jonesboro. Sophomore point guard Justice Hill, 5-11, 160, of Little Rock Christian is committed as a part of the 2019 class.
The Hawks finished this spring and summer with a 35-5 record and ranked 10th nationally by Individual Hoops.
"He plays unselfish and he shoots it really well," Ingram said of Weaver. "He's going to make us so much better because he's so versatile and give us a little more depth. He can play two or three positions."
Weaver's mother, Angela Williams, ran the 100 meters, 200 and 400 relay for Trinidad in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics and is now the women's track and field coach at Prairie View A&M. She's good friends with former Arkansas jumping great and fellow Olympian Mike Conley, who founded the Hawks with Ingram.
"She said they wanted to play for an organization that's family-oriented," Ingram said. "That's what we try to do, so it's a perfect fit."
E-mail Richard Davenport@arkansasonline.com
Sports on 10/18/2016