Arkansas Razorbacks Coach Chad Morris and his staff recently made the cut for several top prospects, and junior center Branson Bragg is the latest.
Bragg, 6-4, 295 pounds, of Crandall, Texas, announced Sunday he was narrowing his list of schools to Arkansas, Texas, Texas A&M, Stanford, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, LSU and Michigan State.
He plans to make an unofficial visit to Fayetteville this spring. Bragg revealed why the Hogs made his list.
"Coach Morris and the whole staff are great people," Bragg said. "I think there's promise there for an elite program."
ESPN rates Bragg a four-star prospect, the No. 2 center and No. 213 overall prospect in the 2019 class.
Morris and his staff turned around an SMU program that had gone 1-11 the year before he took over. In three seasons, he took the Mustangs to their first bowl game since 2012.
"What that staff did in completely turning around SMU is no fluke," Bragg said. "I think there's definitely potential, and I'm excited to see how this season goes."
Bragg said he's constantly communicating with Morris, associate head coach and running backs coach Jeff Traylor, and offensive line coach Dustin Fry.
"They're just genuine people," Bragg said.
His desire to be the best on the field mirrors his work in the classroom. He has a 4.2 grade-point average and a good idea about what he wants to study in college.
"Probably engineering, chemical or mechanical. Just something I've always felt drawn to. I'm also a big math and science guy," he said.
Sports on 03/27/2018