Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Texas DE wants to visit Fayetteville this summer
University of Arkansas defensive end and linebacker target Herbert Gums has seven scholarship offers, including his first Power 5 offer from the Hogs.
Gums, 6-2, 260, 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash, of Diboll, Texas, has other scholarship offers from Iowa State, Missouri, Texas Tech and Houston. The Razorbacks extended an offer in July of last year.
Diboll, a town of approximately 5,000, is about 100 miles north of Houston. Associate head coach and running backs coach Jeff Traylor heads up Arkansas’ recruiting efforts in east Texas and is the lead recruiter for Gums.
“I’ve been texting coach Traylor,” Gums said. “They want me to come visit.”
Gums is hoping to visit Fayetteville this summer.
“I really like them, I like coach Traylor as a coach,” Gums said. “I have a good vibe with him.”
He likely would have more scholarship offers had he not suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the first game of the season, causing him to miss the remainder of his junior season.
“When it first happened, I thought it was just a little tweak in my knee. I was thinking in my mind ‘I hope it isn’t an ACL tear,’ and the next day they told me it was,” Gums said.
Gums, who rushed 71 times for 564 yards and 6 touchdowns as a sophomore, plans to major in kinesiology in hopes of going into coaching because of his love of kids.
He said he gets that from his brother Julien, a freshman running back at Nicholls State.
“As a kid I’ve always wanted to be a football coach,” Gums said. “I like to teach kids.”
RETURN VISIT
Linebacker Drew Francis plans to make a trip to Fayetteville to check out the University of Arkansas for the second time in about a year.
Francis, 6-2,
193 pounds of Knoxville (Tenn.) West visited the Hogs on Feb. 24 last year with teammate and defensive end Tyrece Edwards. Both received their first scholarship offers from the Razorbacks during the visit.
During last year’s trip to Arkansas, Francis was impressed by the coaching staff and something Coach Chad Morris brought up.
“What I’ve noticed is how [the Razorbacks are] kind of different,” said Francis, who has a 3.5 grade point average. “Like their attitude towards … I remember [Morris] saying he liked to produce men and if he hasn’t, he hasn’t done his job.”
Francis recorded 4.68 seconds in the 40-yard dash at Virginia Tech and Florida camps last summer. He had 91 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and 2 interceptions as a sophomore. As a junior, Francis recorded 89 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, a blocked field goal and a blocked punt.
Since his Arkansas offers, he’s added offers from Purdue, Vanderbilt, Tulane and Western Kentucky. He’s being recruited by defensive coordinator John Chavis while occasionally talking to Morris.
He’s looking forward to seeing Fayetteville again when he and Edwards visit on March 2.
“Just seeing the facilities and everything again and getting to meet and talk to coach Chavis and coach Morris and seeing where their program is going,” Francis said.
Email Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com