Arkansas

From ‘farm kid’ to football star: How a 4-star 2026 Arkansas tackle caught Ohio State’s eye: Buckeyes recruiting

Published

1 year ago

March 4, 2025

From ‘farm kid’ to football star: How a 4-star 2026 Arkansas tackle caught Ohio State’s eye: Buckeyes recruiting

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A little over a year ago, Class of 2026 offensive tackle Evan Goodwin held no scholarship offers and wasn’t sure Division I football was in the cards for him.

Now, the 6-foot-7, 325-pound junior from Arkansas boasts offers from the likes of Notre Dame, LSU, Oklahoma and more, and is now in possession of an offer from the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Goodwin possesses a four-star composite ranking from 247Sports.com, is rated the No. 4 overall player in Arkansas and is a top-30 offensive tackle nationally.

Goodwin announced via social media that he had picked up his offer from the Buckeyes, and talked with cleveland.com

about how it went down.

He had just left a gathering with friends and was about to go lift at the gym when he got a call from an unknown number. It turned out to be OSU offensive line coach Tyler Bowen.

“I realize it’s Coach Bowen and I’m like, ‘Wow,’ ” Goodwin said.

“We just start having a conversation and it’s flowing really easily– I really like Coach Bowen. We both come from similar backgrounds: he was a farm kid, I’m a farm kid. About 15-20 minutes into the conversation he just said ‘Hey, I want you to know you’re offered by Ohio State and I really want you here.’ That meant a lot to me.”

Goodwin said his initial reaction was to freak out at the realization that the reigning national champions had extended him an offer.

“And as soon as I got off the phone I went upstairs and started celebrating with my mom, I’ve got to be honest,” Goodwin said. “[My family’s] my No. 1 supporters, so I just went and celebrated with my mom.”

His offer pool has ballooned this winter with power programs around the country taking interest, and his visit schedule has followed suit.

There’s already a visit scheduled with Ohio State for late March, but it’s not just football that Goodwin’s looking forward to learning about while in Columbus.

“Ohio State has really good academics, which is a really big thing for me,” he said. “Football ends and you need to have a degree or something to fall back on. Whether it’s five years or 15 years in the NFL, it ends. It’s not forever.”

He has plenty of visits and offers to consider.

“What excites me the most about all this recruiting is being able to make my choice of where I want to go and the place where I’m going to be developed for the next level. That’s my main goal – I want to learn,” Goodwin said.

“I strive to get better every day, and that’s just what I want to do. I want to go someplace where I can be developed to my full potential so I can make it to the league someday.”

In terms of high school development, Goodwin spent the past three years in the pro-style offense of Pulaski Academy in Arkansas but has transferred to Bauxite High School, which features a run-heavy offense.

He’s shined in pass protection, but is excited to flash his ground skills on the front foot of a run-first, gap-creating offense. Having such a diverse experience in high school is something his prospective schools will keep an eye on.

Goodwin’s highlights thus are full of plays featuring his strong hands, powerful first step and execution. He’s “pretty athletic” for a guy his size, he says, and the film backs that up.

“This year, I’m excited to take it to somebody,” Goodwin said.

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Arkansas

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

Published

8 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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