2018 Illinois 4-Star TE Luke Ford Decommits from the Arkansas Razorbacks
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @RyanWrightRNG
An early win on the recruiting trail for the Arkansas Razorbacks turned into a disappointing setback for the Hogs on Saturday when four-star Illinois tight end Luke Ford decommitted.
The Hogs were one of the early Power Five Conference teams to go all-in on Ford working an unofficial visit with the Carterville High School rising star on March 13 receiving a public verbal commitment the following day. Offers continued to roll in for Ford as he showcased his skills in various exposure camps ultimately earning an invite to Nike’s The Opening Finals as one of the top players in the nation.
Ford has over 20 reported scholarship offers with teams like Florida, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma State, Syracuse, Louisville, Rutgers, Pitt, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and N.C. State all seeking his talents. In the past, Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema has discouraged commits from taking unofficial or official visits to other schools. Ford decommitted a week before a scheduled trip to Tuscaloosa to visit Alabama (June 17) and ahead of a trip to Baton Rouge to see LSU (June 24).
There is still hope for Razorback Nation with the big 6-7, 250 pound, talent. When Ford posted his decommitment statement on Twitter, he did not rule out recommitting to Arkansas in the future.
Arkansas has a limited number of scholarships to hand out for the 2018 class with just 15 letters of intent that are expected to be taken. The Hogs class now has six verbal commitments which is ranked No. 37 in the nation and No. 8 in the SEC by 247Sports, No. 42 in the country by Rivals. Rivals has just linebacker Bumper Pool as a four-star recruit while 247Sports sees Pool, Connor Noland, and B.J. Hanspard as four-star talents.
2018 Arkansas Razorbacks Verbal Commits (6)
CB BJ Hanspard, 6-0, 170, DeSoto HS, DeSoto, TX
CB Tanner McCalister, 5-11, 182, Rockwall-Heath, Rockwall, TX
LB Bumper Pool, 6-2.5, 213, Lovejoy HS, Lucas, TX
RB Jeremy Gibson, 5-9.5, 189, Riverside Academy, Reserve, LA
QB Connor Noland, 6-2, 195, Greenwood HS, Greenwood, AR
ATH Sean Michael Flanagan, 6-2, 185, Charleston HS, Charleston, AR
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Photo credit: Twitter; No. 45 Luke Ford at Arkansas (March 2017).