The Recruiting Guy

Arkansas improves standing with Tifase after visit

Defensive tackle Ayobami Tifase.
Defensive tackle Ayobami Tifase.

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas appears to be in good shape with defensive tackle Ayobami Tifase after his official visit to Fayetteville. 

"The visit was amazing,” Tifase said. “I met a lot of people. I got locked in with a lot of guys on the team and they were amazing. They showed me around. This place is a very good place to live."

Tifase, 6-4, 307 pounds, has scholarship offers from schools such as Arkansas, Florida State, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Miami, Missouri, Coastal Carolina and Liberty.  

He arrived in Fayetteville on Wednesday and left around noon Friday. He named a top four of Arkansas, Florida State, Virginia Tech and Connecticut on June 5.

Tifase made an official visit to Virginia Tech earlier in the week. He plans to visit Florida State this weekend.

Arkansas looked to have improved its standing with him after he spent time with Coach Sam Pittman and defensive line coach Deke Adams. 

"For sure, Arkansas is very good on my agenda,” Tifase said. “I love how they treat me here. I love Coach Pittman, he's an amazing guy. Coach Adams, they definitely have a bright future for me here.”

He said he is an admirer of Pittman. 

"The highlight of the trip was definitely the conversation with Coach Pittman,” Tifase said. “He's a genuine guy, authentic. I give him 100% authentic. He wants nothing but the best for his players, and he's a man who's going to stick to those rules. If practice is supposed to be two hours, guess what? Practice is two hours.

"That's just the vibe I get from him. He's an amazing guy, (and) the whole coaching staff."

Assistant defensive line coach Keith Jones also made a good impression on him. 

“Definitely a good guy. We connect a lot,” Tifase said. 

Tifase played at Concordia Prep in Towson, Md., last year and was set to be a 2022 prospect but had plans to reclassify for the 2023 class and attend Myrtle Beach Collegiate in South Carolina this fall.

His plans may have changed. He is able to enroll at the college of his choosing this summer if he wishes. 

"I'm leaning toward coming in this year (to) definitely start as soon as possible, because if I were to go another year where I'm at, it wouldn't really benefit me that much,” Tifase said of attending college.

He would sit out a season before being eligible to play should he decide to enroll in college this summer. 

"I'd redshirt then I'd be eligible as soon as spring starts,” Tifase said. 

Being able to enroll this summer and be a part of a college weight and conditioning program is “a blessing," he added.

“I had differences in the past, trying to transition from a public school to a private school and it wasn't really easy,” he said. “I got back up to where I needed to be academically and it made me eligible to enroll this year. I think that's a blessing in disguise, to be honest with you. 

“Also, I think I can be in a system where I'm ready to compete. I think I have the athletic size and I'm good enough. One year in a facility like this, one year in a weight program like this, I think I'll be on top of the world."

He plans to make a decision soon after his trip to Florida State.  

“After that, I'm done,” he said. “Just going to come back home, lock in and tell the coaches that I'm going to come. And if not, you'll find out as soon as I get back home."

Tifase has above-average strength with a 620-pound squat. 

"My bench is about 395,” he said. “I’m trying to get bigger. I'm only 17 years old, so I'm trying to get bigger. It's been a process. I owe it all to my coach back home. He trained me so much.

"He got me where I needed to be at today.”

The people of Arkansas and the city of Fayetteville, along with the love of football, stood out to him. 

"The people, the people were amazing,” he said. “Every time you have that Razorback on your shoulder or on your chest they scream at you like, 'Hey, are you a football player?' It's a town of people that love football. It's a town I want to be in, a community I want to thrive in.

"I'm all for the community from my hometown, so if I can come here and show that I'm all for the community in their town, plus football, the world is mine."

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