The University of Arkansas football program had a successful Saturday recruiting with two commitments from the 2025 class and two for the 2026 class.
Junior college defensive back Shannon Blair kicked off the day as the first prospect to pledge.
Blair, 6-1 and 190 pounds, of East Mississippi Community College also had scholarship offers from Memphis, Liberty, Western Kentucky, Charlotte, Texas-San Antonio and others. He visited Arkansas for the Hogwild Hangout on July 27.
“I chose Arkansas because how genuine and real the coaching staff is. Also another reason was because it’s in the SEC, the closest conference to the NFL, and I wanted to come back to the SEC and show my talent,” he said.
He was recruited by co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson.
He was a 3-star prospect out of Knoxville [Tenn.] West High School and committed to Tennessee as a preferred walk-on after missing his senior season after suffering a torn ACL in the first game of the season.
He committed to Michigan State and had offers from Duke, Virginia, Purdue and others, but his lead recruiter left the Spartans for another job and he eventually committed to Tennessee.
Blair had 23 tackles and 4 interceptions as a freshman at East Mississippi after spending a year at Tennessee. He plans to enroll at Arkansas in January as a member of the 2025 class.
One week after visiting Arkansas, 4-star junior defensive end Colton Yarbrough verbally committed.
Yarbrough, 6-5 and 240 pounds, of Durant, Okla., named Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma State, LSU and Colorado as his top five on Wednesday before choosing the Razorbacks.
He visited Arkansas for the Hogwild Hangout. He previously visited Fayetteville for the Liberty game in 2022, last year’s Hogwild Hangout and a Junior Day in January.
Yarbrough, who has an 82-inch wingspan, was recruited by Arkansas defensive line coach Deke Adams, quality control analyst Kelvin Green and graduate assistant Tyrone Hopper.
He credited Adams and Coach Sam Pittman for his decision.
“They’ve been really consistent with me. … Coach Adams, he’s a really legendary coach, honestly,” he said. “Coach Sam Pittman is an electric guy. He’s from Oklahoma.”
Adams thinks Yarbrough can develop and be similar to Arkansas defensive end Landon Jackson.
“When I get there, they want be to be the next Landon Jackson,” Yarbrough said.
He also had offers from Oregon, Michigan State, Penn State, Miami, Washington State, Tennessee and others.
Rivals and 247Sports rate him a 4-star prospect, with Rivals rating him as the No. 9 edge rusher in his class.
Class of 2026 safety Adam Auston announced his decision about 30 minutes after Yarbrough.
Auston, 6-2 and 212 pounds, of Lawton (Okla.) MacArthur chose the Razorbacks over Missouri, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Kansas State. He visited Arkansas for the first time during the Hogwild Hangout.
He also had offers from TCU, Colorado, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Washington State, UNLV and Houston. He broke down his reasons for choosing the Razorbacks.
“They’ve been consistent the whole time since they offered me, even before they offered me,” Auston said during a live interview with Rivals. “They were always texting me seeing how I was doing and everything like that and then when I went up there for the visit it just sealed the deal. They were great to my mom, my sister. It was just a great thing.”
Arkansas co-defensive coordinator Marcus Woodson, who was his lead recruiter, stayed in contact with Auston.
“Calling me, texting me how I was doing, everything like that,” Auston said. “Little things like that led to the decision.”
Auston recorded 92 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 4 pass breakups, 2 recovered fumbles, 1 forced fumble and returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns as a sophomore.
On3.com rates him a 3-star recruit and the No. 36 safety in the 2026 class. Yarbrough and Auston are the fourth and fifth commitments for the 2026 class.
Little Rock Parkview running back Cameron Settles also verbally committed to Arkansas’ 2025 class Saturday.
Settles, 6-0 and 198 pounds, had scholarship offers from Oregon State, SMU, Memphis, Tulsa, Arkansas State and others.
He had 96 carries for 979 yards and 20 touchdowns last year for the Class 5A state champions and recorded 33 tackles, 10 pass breakups and 2 interceptions.
Settles, who was recruited by Arkansas running backs coach Kolby Smith, made an official visit to Fayetteville on June 14-16. He also officially visited Yale.
He has recorded a 315-pound bench press, 505-pound squat and 315-pound power clean. He has been clocked at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash and has a 36-inch vertical jump.
Parkview Coach Brad Bolding, who coached the late North Little Rock and Alabama running back Altee Tenpenny, said Settles is an outstanding prospect.
“He’s another one of those players that can do it all,” Bolding said. “He’s one of the best corners we’ve had. I’ve coached running backs for 20 years and Cameron is in that upper echelon of great backs I’ve been blessed to coach.”
Settles and Blair are the 20th and 21st commitments for the 2025 class.
