Recruiting Guy
Fort Smith Northside athlete Dreyden Norwood, one of several junior prospects who visited the University of Arkansas for the Fall Kickoff Cookout on Friday, came away with a favorable impression of the school.
Fort Smith Northside athlete Dreyden Norwood was one of several junior prospects who visited the University of Arkansas for the Fall Kickoff Cookout on Friday.
Norwood, 6-1, 180 pounds, 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, received his first scholarship offer from the Hogs on Feb. 11. Mississippi State followed with an offer in April, and Oklahoma offered him during his visit to Norman on Saturday.
“I had a great time,” Norwood said of the Arkansas trip. “I got to talk to all the coaches and get to know them better. And my favorite part was the scavenger hunt we did.”
He was able to check out the campus for the first time and was pleasantly surprised.
“How nice it looked and the senior walk with all the alumnus names,” he said.
Norwood, a cousin of Oklahoma cornerback Tre Norwood, enjoyed his time with cornerbacks coach Mark Smith.
“I got to talk to him a lot,” Norwood said. “I like him a lot. He is real easy to talk to, and he seems like it would be cool to play for him.”
High schools often put their best athlete at quarterback, and that’s what the Grizzlies do with Norwood. He had 10 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown while completing 3 of 5 passes for 30 yards last year as a backup to senior Deuce Wise, who signed with the University of Central Arkansas.
Norwood is looking to attend Arkansas’ opening game against Portland State on Aug. 31
“I’m gonna try to go up there on their first home game,” he said.
PLEDGES RECRUIT
Arkansas offensive tackle target Brady Ward also made the trip to Fayetteville for the cookout.
Ward, 6-7, 310 pounds, of Mobile (Ala.) St. Paul’s Episcopal recently said Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma and Florida State were schools he was focusing on after having other scholarship offers from schools such as Auburn, LSU, Florida, Kentucky, Iowa, Tennessee, Oregon, North Carolina and others.
About 25 prospects visited the Hogs during the event that started at 4 p.m. and lasted late into the night. Several commitments also attended.
“It went great,” said Ward, who also visited the Hogs in February. “I had a great time getting to know the coaches and commits better. They’re all great people and fun to hang out with.”
Quarterback commitment Chandler Morris talked to Ward about the Razorbacks program.
“We just mainly talked about everything, talked about a lot of fishing,” Morris said. “I just told him we’re building something special and you can see that.”
Ward is rated a four-star prospect by CBS Sports Network national recruiting analyst Tom Lemming.
Tight end commitment Brandon Frazier also was in Ward’s ear about the Hogs during the evening.
“Brady told me that he really enjoys it out in Arkansas and could really see himself playing for us, but was gonna take a few more visits before any decisions,” Frazier said.