Like most of us, four-star Arkansas quarterback commit KJ Jackson found out on social media that the Razorbacks had gone on a recruiting tear last Friday, landing three four-star commitments on the same day.
Jaden Allen, a cornerback from Aledo (Texas) High School published his tweet first, around lunch time. The former Texas commit picked Arkansas, despite Tennessee and Alabama offering — and hosting him — in recent months.
— Jaden Allen (@MrChip06) April 24, 2023
Then came a couple of in-state prospects: Charleston Collins, a top-250 defensive lineman from Little Rock, and Courtney Crutchfield, a wide receiver from Pine Bluff, announced their commitments about three hours later. Collins is the No. 2 player in Arkansas. Crutchfield is No. 5.
“I had no clue (they were committing). They surprised me with that,” Jackson said of three blue-chippers joining the class in the span of one afternoon. “I (was) just retweeting all of their stuff, hyping them up, following them, trying to get their numbers, their Instagrams. We’ve got a little group chat going, so we added all the guys to the Instagram group chat already. It’s fun to get to know everybody.”
Indeed it is quite the time to be an Arkansas commit in the Class of 2024. At the beginning of April, the Hogs had just three commits: top-200 defensive lineman Kavion Henderson of Alabama, four-star athlete Noreel White of Mississippi and three-star defensive lineman Dion Stutts of Tennessee. But in the last three-plus weeks, head coach Sam Pittman and staff have been relentless in their pursuit to beef up Arkansas’ recruiting, adding six more commits, including five four-stars.
The Razorbacks, who haven’t signed a top-20 class since 2009 and a top-15 class since 2001, are currently ranked No. 13 nationally in the 247Sports Composite. What’s more, Arkansas’ average player rating of 89.66 is currently its highest in the modern recruiting era, according to data from 247Sports, and a full point higher than its Class of 2023.
Pittman is cooking.
“Me being from Arkansas — I’ve been (coaching) in Texas the last 20 years — but me being from Arkansas, I think this is a huge statement,” said Michael Williams, Crutchfield’s high school coach at Pine Bluff and a decades-long Arkansas fan.
“It kind of feels like back in the Houston Nutt days when we were something to reckon with. I think by them making this statement, (the current staff is) letting everybody know football is about to be back in Arkansas.”
Pittman was hired in December 2019 and had only about 10 days to put together his first class, one that ranked No. 23 nationally. The Razorbacks then signed the No. 29 group in 2020, followed by the No. 25, 28 and 22 classes in 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Jackson, the nation’s No. 407 prospect and No. 23 quarterback, picked Arkansas over North Carolina. He visited the Tar Heels in January and then again in March, but knew he didn’t want to make a final decision without first visiting the Razorbacks. So about two weeks ago, he made the 650-mile trip from his Montgomery, Ala., home to Fayetteville.
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“What sold it was when I went into the building and everybody was down to earth. Everybody in the building loved their job,” Jackson said. “They all seemed like they really enjoy building young men, and everybody in the building was nice to me. They treated my family well. The campus was amazing.”
Jackson said he believes Arkansas’ staff has been particular about recruiting the types of players it wants, which has also included zeroing in on prospects who fit the program’s culture.
Arkansas has found success in this cycle by making moves in Alabama and Mississippi while also focusing on its own backyard. As a state, Arkansas isn’t necessarily known for churning out dozens of blue-chippers each year. The state has just five in this cycle and no five-stars.
But of those five in-state four-stars, two are committed in Collins and Crutchfield. Four-star linebacker Brian Huff, the No. 3 player in the state, visited Arkansas month. Four-star running back Braylen Russell, the state’s No. 4 player, has Arkansas in his top five, along with Baylor, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas A&M ahead of a July commitment.
“Being in Texas the last 20 years, I’ve seen Arkansas come there a lot, but I’ve just never really seen them recruit Arkansas like that,” Williams said. “But I think they’re making a special commitment (to in-state prospects).”
Williams said that Crutchfield and Collins are close friends who are “always together” but added that they are not necessarily the “package duo,” they’ve been labeled as publicly, despite committing within minutes of one another.
While Collins projected to be a big-time SEC recruit with eventual offers from Alabama and Georgia, Williams said Crutchfield — fresh off state championship MVP honors in basketball — attended Arkansas’ camp last summer solely with the hopes of receiving an offer. He believes Crutchfield would have committed to Arkansas regardless, but the Razorbacks also resonating with Collins certainly didn’t hurt.
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“Coach Pittman was awesome when I met him at the coaches clinic this year, Arkansas’ coaching clinic,” Williams said. “He was a down-to-earth guy. He sat there and talked to you and that’s big. A personable guy, that’s huge. You need that. When you’re sending your kids off to be with somebody, you want to make sure they’re safe and I feel the same way as a head coach. I’m sending my kids to somebody’s house and I want to make sure they’re safe. He made me feel that way.”
Perhaps next on Arkansas’ to-do list is to snag another Pine Bluff prospect in three-star athlete Austyn Dendy. Wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton and secondary coach Deron Wilson stopped by the high school Tuesday, even though both Dendy and Crutchfield were out of school for a conference track meet. The coaches spent time with Williams in his office instead as they continue to make their rounds.
As for Jackson, he’s already pulled up Crutchfield’s tape to get a peek at what he and his newest wide receiver might be able to bring to the Razorbacks. He describes himself as an athletic pro-style quarterback who can run if needed but would much rather “sit back in the pocket and rip it” so his receivers can make plays.
“When I saw (Crutchfield), I got really excited. He’s a big-frame receiver and I watched his film and he can go. So I’m really excited to be able to work with him soon,” Jackson said. “All of us in the 2024 class are ecstatic to just get up there and work hard. We all want to — not change the culture, Arkansas’ culture is already great — but we just want to give the fans something that they haven’t seen. And we want to work hard for Coach Pitt.”
(Photo of Sam Pittman: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
Grace Raynor is a staff writer for The Athletic covering recruiting and southeastern college football. A native of western North Carolina, she graduated from the University of North Carolina. Follow Grace on Twitter @gmraynor
