One of the state's best junior football prospects lives close to Reynolds Razorback Stadium and is interested in playing his college career there, but Arkansas is going to have to fend off some challengers to land him.
Fayetteville linebacker Kaiden Turner (6-2, 218) has added offers from Louisiana Tech, Liberty and Coastal Carolina in the last couple of weeks. He already had offers from Arkansas, Nebraska, Kansas State, Indiana, Kansas, Houston, Tulsa and Arkansas State.
Turner, who is on track to be a December graduate and enroll at his school of choice in January of 2022, is also getting interest from Baylor, Oregon, Washington State and others.
"It's been awesome," Turner said. "I was kind of thinking that after everyone's season ended that the coaches would have more time to watch film, especially since the dead period had been extended and no one was getting to come on campus.
"I have been super blessed and I am just so excited to see what else may come."
As a junior, Turner had 70 tackles (35 solo stops) with six sacks among 12 tackles for lost yardage along with 7 quarterback hurries and 3 interceptions, one he took back for a touchdown.
He also had four touchdowns rushing and another via special teams.
Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman and Razorback defensive coordinator Barry Odom recently moved Micheal Scherer from a defensive quality coach to the program's linebackers coach to replace Rion Rhoades.
Scherer, who had 266 tackles as a Missouri linebacker for Odom from 2012-2016 before suffering a major knee injury his final season.
"(Scherer) was actually the first coach that talked to me before they offered me (on July 21)," Turner said. "I talked to him before I talked to Coach Rhoads and Coach Pittman. He seems like a really cool guy."
Turner, whose nickname is K9 because he wears No. 9, was impressed with Arkansas' improvement this past season and the play of veteran linebackers Grant Morgan and Bumper Pool, who will both be back next season.
"Obviously the linebacker corp looked really impressive as did the defense as a whole," Turner said. "Grant and Bumper Pool really just balled out. That was really cool to see, knowing that it is my position and it was a strength of really the whole football team."
Turner is hopeful on being able to see several campuses once the NCAA's dead period due to covid protocols is over and before making a college choice.
"It's a huge decision and my mom and I have talked about it," Turner said. "Other than making a decision to follow God and who you are going to marry, it is probably next up after that. So since it is a big decision, I want to visit as many places as I can to make sure I am making the right decision.
"I have never really seen any other colleges besides Arkansas. I want to see Indiana and Kansas State and if Baylor ends up offering me, I want to go visit there and possibly Oregon."
Fayetteville (4-7) saw its 2020 season come to a shocking conclusion with a first-round Class 7A playoff loss to Little Rock Central. The Bulldogs lost on a game-winning field goal as time ran out.
"I am in basketball now so I am not going through off-season with football and just doing second sport workouts," Turner said. "But I have heard a lot of great things about football so I can't wait to get back in the weight room and join the guys."
Turner, who is one of nine 2022 in-state prospects that Arkansas has offered along with his wide receiver teammate Isaiah Sategna (5-11, 170), has some specific facets of his game he is looking to improve.
"I want to get faster and really work on my pad level," Turner said. "I will catch myself playing too high at times and that allows the offensive linemen to get on me easier and makes it harder for me to make the tackle. If I get my pads lower, it will be easier to do other things as well."