Arkansas

Arkansas RB Hill blames ‘bad agent’ for FSU exit

Published

2 years ago

August 9, 2024

Arkansas RB Hill blames ‘bad agent’ for FSU exit

David Hale, ESPN Staff WriterAug 9, 2024, 04:18 PM ET
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- College football reporter.
- Joined ESPN in 2012.
- Graduate of the University of Delaware.

Former Florida State running back Rodney Hill blames a “bad agent” for his circuitous path through the transfer portal to Arkansas.

Hill, who served as the Seminoles’ No. 3 tailback and worked on kick returns last season, told Arkansas media Friday that he was forced to leave Florida State after coaches there learned an agent had been contacting other teams to gauge interest in Hill before he’d entered the transfer portal.

Hill said his parents had hired the agent, who then texted coaches from other programs purporting to be Hill.

“When it got back to the head coach, I had to leave Florida State,” Hill told the Fort Smith Southwest Times Record.

A Florida State source confirmed the basic details of Hill’s account but could not say whether there were additional mitigating circumstances surrounding his departure.

Hill had 50 carries for 334 yards, two rushing touchdowns and five catches for 83 yards in two seasons at Florida State after arriving in 2022 as a four-star recruit (No. 235 in the ESPN300) out of Statesboro, Georgia.

After leaving Florida State in December, Hill committed to Florida A&M, then decommitted after Rattlers head coach Willie Simmons left to become the running backs coach at Duke. Hill then committed to Miami, decommitted once more, and returned to Florida A&M, where he said he took classes and worked out with the team before entering the transfer portal again.

“During that time when I had to leave, I wasn’t trying to leave, I didn’t want to leave, so I just had to, and the portal was closing up,” Hill said. “Florida A&M was next door [in Tallahassee, Florida], so I just had to go there for a month, find a new place.”

Hill ultimately landed at Arkansas, where he figures to be part of a running back rotation in a role similar to his usage at Florida State.

Hill said he has a new agent now, but he thinks his story should be a cautionary tale for younger players considering hiring their own representation to take a more active role in the process and be more careful in their hiring practices.

“From my perspective, I know it’s your parents and stuff like that, but sometimes you’ve got to handle it on your own,” Hill said. “Sometimes, like with my parents, I know they were trying to do the best thing for me, but sometimes you’ve got to take that on your own and got to do it yourself. But to other kids, I’d just say you don’t have to get an agent right now. Just wait.”

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Arkansas

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

Published

2 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has joined a new national artificial intelligence initiative that launched Thursday, June 25.

RAISE US, started by former Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Gina Raimondo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce is a nonpartisan national organization that will partner with governors, employers, workers and training organizations to help the workforce transition to an AI economy.

“As artificial intelligence transforms America’s economy, we have one clear message: technology should empower people, not replace them. By leveraging our Arkansas LAUNCH initiative, and with the resources and expertise provided by RAISE US, Arkansas will turn that mission into reality. We want the Natural State to be a leader on education, workforce training, and up-skilling, and this new partnership gives us the tools we need to build a model for the entire nation.”

The organization will design and pilot incentives to retrain workers, new approaches to support job transitions, and training models tied to employer demand.

RAISE US launches with more than two dozen American companies and philanthropies and initial state partnerships in Connecticut, Maryland and Utah.

“America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy — and we cannot lead without one,” Raimondo, who will serve as CEO of RAISE US, said.

“If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline. I believe AI will create new jobs and industries over time, but the transition could be disruptive, and it’s already underway. We shouldn’t fearmonger, but we can’t pretend our training and worker support systems are ready either. It’s time for innovative and practical solutions. This moment demands ambition, urgency, and creativity. We’ve assembled the country’s top companies, best economists, and bipartisan governors at a scale rarely seen — all to advance new ideas and incentives, pilot them with governors and business, and scale what works.”

Governor Sanders is partnering with RAISE US to support Arkansas LAUNCH, an AI-powered career navigation platform that connects students and jobseekers to personalized learning and employer-linked career pathways.

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