Arkansas
Pipeline to Central Arkansas Possibly Returning With Deep Talent Pool for 2025 Class
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When Arkansas is at its best Little Rock is producing high quality players. At least for the 2025 recruiting cycle, central Arkansas is stocked with prospects poised to make an impact in college.
Former central Arkansas natives like Darren McFadden, Peyton Hillis, Jamaal Anderson, Joe Adams, Hunter Henry and DJ Williams are a few who left their mark as Razorbacks. Most of them played onn successful 10-win seasons from 2006-2011 which remains Arkansas’ winningest era in the SEC.
Conway quarterback Grayson Wilson hopped aboard during the spring of 2023 and has held steadfast in his commitment to the Razorbacks. Despite changes at offensive coordinator from Dan Enos to Bobby Petrino hope stays high with better days coming. WIlson, who has grown to 6-4 and 215 pounds, flourished in a passer friendly offense at Central Arkansas Christian under former Missouri assistant Ryan Howard.
The rising senior displayed dual-threat capabilities behind center last season completing 209-of-308 passes for 3,143 yards, 41 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He rushed for 837 yards and an additional 15 scores. Wilson led the Mustangs to a 9-3 record and an appearance in the 4A quarterfinals.
He is making a huge jump to the largest high school classification in Arkansas with the Wampus Cats. Conway has been one of the better programs at the 7A level over the past seven seasons with four 10-win seasons.
Little Rock Parkview is another program in central Arkansas currently on the rise under coach Brad Bolding. The Patriots have won back-to-back state championships at the 5A level and will look for a three peat this fall. New Arkansas commit Quentin Murphy will guide his team at quarterback along with three other 2025 prospects.
4-star safety Omarion Robinson has been regarded as one of the best athletes in the country since blasting onto the scene as a freshman. The 6-0, 171 pound defensive back was named to the second team All-Freshman team by MaxPreps. He was highly productive scoring four total touchdowns on defense and special teams. Robinson has set his commitment date for June 29 and will choose between Arkansas, Georgia, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon and many others.
Running back Monterrio Elston will also announce his college plans June 29. The 5-9 tailback holds an offer from Arkansas. Memphis, UNLV and Arkansas State are also in the running for his services. Elston is a track athlete with verified 10.99 speed in the 100 meter dash.
Elston’s running mate Cameron Settles is another 3-star with an Arkansas offer. Oregon State and SMU are his only other major offers so far. Settles adds plenty of speed to the backfield with multiple runs of 30 yards or more last season. He averaged over eight yards a carry and added five touchdowns as a junior in 2023.
Former Arkansas commit and current Oklahoma pledge Marcus Wimberly of Bauxite is another terrific athlete in the central Arkansas area. Rated as a safety, he can play multiple positions at the next level but is expected to play on defense in college. He scored 18 touchdowns on offense at quarterback, tailback and receiver as a junior. Wimberly posted 12 total tackles on defense in 2023.
Notre Dame commit and Bryant native Daniel Anderson is another tailback in a state that is rich in the position for this cycle. He pledged with the Fighting Irish before his junior campaign and rushed for 856 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground. He is capable of catching the ball from the backfield with over 200 yards and another three scores.
HOGS FEED:
• Hometown hurler called upon to save Razorbacks season
• Frustrated Van Horn Still Keeping Positive Outlook Headed to Big Sunday
• Razorbacks Give 2025 Quarterback Protection With Oklahoma Lineman’s Commitment
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Arkansas
Johnell Davis, Karter Knox find their grooves in Arkansas basketball’s rout over UMES
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas basketball has been waiting throughout the first few weeks of the regular season for breakout performances from Johnell Davis and Karter Knox
Both players came to life for the Razorbacks (5-1) on Monday night, unleashing an offensive onslaught in a 109-35 romp over Maryland Eastern Shore. The 74-point win tied for the third-largest margin of victory in school history.
The usual suspects — Boogie Fland, Adou Thiero and Zvonimir Ivišić — all shined, but it was the emergence of Davis and Knox that powered the best offensive performance of the season. Knox led all scorers with a career-high 21 points, while Davis chipped in 16 to post his highest scoring output since joining the Hogs this offseason.
“If everybody is good, no one has to be great,” Arkansas assistant coach Chin Coleman said after the win.
“So we have a team that we feel like if everybody is good, we don’t have to have someone go in the phone booth, put on the cape and be Superman. We’ve got a good collective of guys that if everybody is good, no one player has to be great, so we need (Davis and Knox) to be good.”
Knox was a five-star recruit in the 2024 class, viewed as an elite scorer who could get to the basket in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, his jumper has been cold to start his collegiate career, and he entered Monday night 1 of 15 on 3-pointers.
But against UMES, Knox went 3 of 8 from long range. He made a pair of corner 3s and found time to paint the basket for easy points. After one 3-pointer, he exchanged words with the Arkansas bench, a sign of relief after failing to score more than six points through the first five games.
“It felt good to get going. I’ve been putting the work in the gym,” Knox said. “Teammates kept believing in me. They knew it was going to fall, tonight was the night.”
Davis’ early-season struggles have been puzzling. He averaged 18.2 points on 48% shooting last year at Florida Atlantic, but he hadn’t scored more than eight points since the Hogs’ season-opener. Coleman admitted during a recent press conference that Davis is adjusting to being surrounded by other top options, instead of being a clear-cut leader of the offense.
With Arkansas, Davis has been more of a stretch-the-floor shooter through the first three weeks. It makes sense, given that Davis shot 41.4% from 3 last season with the Owls, and he finally got hot Monday night by going 4 of 7 against the Hawks.
“We saw him the other day make 40 in-a-row. It was just a matter of time,” Coleman said. “The only thing in between him and making shots is air and opportunity. So he had an opportunity tonight, and he made them.”
The next question is how repeatable were these performances. Maryland Eastern Shore represents arguably the worst opponent on Arkansas’ schedule. Things are about to get much tougher, beginning with a Thanksgiving showdown against Illinois.
In their last matchup against a Power Four school, Davis and Knox combined for eight points on 2 of 12 shooting against Baylor. They could hold the keys to a first signature victory in the John Calipari era this Thursday.
Arkansas
New statewide group promotes, aids prescribed burns | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
The newly formed Arkansas Prescribed Burn Association held its first meeting in mid-October.
The association works as an umbrella organization, recruiting and maintaining new groups of landowners to conduct prescribed burns throughout the state.
“Properly planned prescribed burns reduce the fuel load, which can lessen or even eliminate wildfires,” said Thomas Baldridge, one of the association’s three directors. “But that’s only part of the benefit of prescribed fire. It’s the best tool available to land managers to increase wildlife habitat for turkeys, quail, deer and all sorts of other species.”
North American bird populations have declined by more than 2.9 billion birds in the last 50 years and the loss of grassland habitat is one of the largest contributors to that loss, according to a recent study conducted by Kenneth Rosenberg and highlighted by the National Audubon Society. Fire helps open up dense underbrush to promote seed-producing grasses and plants that are beneficial to grassland species on a year-round basis.
Instead of manipulating land through dirt work or planting food plots, many landowners can turn the tide on the loss of wildlife habitat with the proper use of prescribed fire.
Baldridge said the formation of the prescribed burn association was a natural evolution to what the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and other partnering organizations had been studying the last few years.
“Game and Fish started building prescribed burn associations a few years ago. Most of our members have been fortunate to have worked with many of the staff from Game and Fish, Quail Forever and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on burns and other private land habitat projects. The prescribed burn association just sort of seemed to be a missing piece to the puzzle that was already being put together,” Baldridge said.
Hunter Johnson of Des Arc and Catrina Mendoza of Searcy share director duties with Baldridge, who also lives in Searcy.
Baldridge said the association used states like Oklahoma and Florida as templates to follow in their formation.
“Oklahoma really sets the standard for a statewide prescribed burn association. They’ve grown to a massive organization with a budget over $1 million and eight full-time staff members to support all of their chapters.”
Game and Fish, Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Quail Forever all pitched in financially to help the new association build a firm foundation. Game and Fish granted the organization $25,000. Fish and Wildlife gave it $50,000 and Quail Forever provided $17,000 derived from its specialty license plate sales.
Baldridge says trailers, safety gear and other prescribed burn necessities also were donated to the association, increasing its startup assistance to more than $200,000 in funding and equipment. Since the organization is entirely volunteer-based, all of this funding is put directly into putting prescribed fire on the landscape.
Visit www.arfire.org for more information and to learn how to set up a new prescribed burn association in any area of Arkansas.
Arkansas
Arkansas' official depth chart for Missouri game
FAYETTEVILLE — The Arkansas Razorbacks (6-4, 3-4 SEC) have released the depth chart for Saturday’s regular season finale against the No. 24 Missouri Tigers (8-3, 4-3 SEC) at Razorback Stadium.
Arkansas recovered from a slow start to take down Louisiana Tech, 35-14, over the weekend in Fayetteville. Missouri bounced back from a loss to South Carolina on Sept. 16 with a 39-20 win at Mississippi State on Saturday.
A few changes were made to this week’s depth chart, most notably the absence of junior defensive end Nico Davillier at the defensive end position. The pass-rusher did not play against Louisiana Tech on Saturday due to a knee injury, and senior Anton Juncaj is the lone listed starter in Davillier’s place. Backing up Juncaj is freshman Charlie Collins.
At safety, sophomore TJ Metcalf and junior Miguel Mitchell no longer have an “or” listed between them. Metcalf is the starter with Mitchell backing him up. Finally, redshirt sophomore Brooks Edmonson is listed as the backup center behind Addison Nichols instead of redshirt sophomore Amaury Wiggins, who is no longer listed on the depth chart.
Here is the full Arkansas depth chart ahead of Saturday’s game against Missouri, which is set to kick off at 2:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network at Memorial Stadium.
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