FAYETTEVILLE -- Highly recruited consensus 4-star cornerback Selman Bridges, who committed to the University of Arkansas on July 14, made his way back to Fayetteville over the weekend.
Bridges, 6-3, 170 pounds, of Temple (Texas) Lake Belton, visited the Hogs on Friday and Saturday for the Hogwild Hangout recruiting event that featured about 30 prospects with about half committed to the Razorbacks.
"It was great to get back up here with some more commits and talk to the coaches and staff some more," said Bridges, who made an official visit to Arkansas in June and an unofficial visit in April.
He had scholarship offers from Arkansas, LSU, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas A&M, Penn State, Southern California, Miami, Nebraska and others. Bridges also officially visited Texas and TCU before choosing Arkansas.
With his goal of playing in the NFL being one of his highest priorities in choosing a school, Bridges said the environment at Arkansas along with the coaches led to him pledging to the Hogs.
"Just the culture out here the coaches, they're great guys, and the players," Bridges said. "Who wouldn't want to be around this? There's not too many distractions like other schools. Not saying that it would be a distraction at other schools but I'm just saying there's less things to do outside of football and I like to be focused on football."
He had 42 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 6 pass breakups and 2 interceptions as a junior and returned 1 interception for a touchdown. He recorded 25 tackles, 2 pass breaks, an interception and a forced fumble as a sophomore.
A three-sport athlete, Bridges also plays basketball and runs track for his school.
He's rated the No. 9 cornerback and No. 75 overall prospect in the nation in the 2024 class by On3.com. His rating of 93.89 is the highest among the Razorback commitments in the 2024 class.
If Bridges' ranking stays the same and he signed with Arkansas, he would be the highest out-of-state signee for the Hogs since late offensive lineman Brian Wallace inked with the Razorbacks in 2014 with a rating of 94.85.
Razorback co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson and secondary coach Deron Wilson headed up Bridges' recruitment. He said Woodson made it known he was coming hard after him after offering him a scholarship in January.
"Coach Woodson had a great impact on me," Bridges said. "He told me this is where I'm going to be and look where I'm at. He never stopped recruiting me. Everyday I got a message from him, everyday I got on the phone with him. We found a way because that's how bad he wanted me and it showed."
Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com