The Recruiting Guy

Razorbacks in Texas RB's top 10

Arkansas assistant coach Jeff Traylor speaks Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, with members of the media in the Fred W. Smith Football Center on the university campus in Fayetteville.
Arkansas assistant coach Jeff Traylor speaks Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018, with members of the media in the Fred W. Smith Football Center on the university campus in Fayetteville.

High school prospects reluctant or undecided whether to visit the Arkansas Razorbacks might want to heed the advice of highly recruited running back Darwin Barlow.

Barlow was too reluctant to visit the Hogs, but at the urging of Arkansas associate head coach and running backs coach Jeff Traylor, he made an official visit to Fayetteville on June 7-9 and he's glad he did.

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"Just go and visit, you may not feel like you would want to at first, but when you see it, you would love it," Barlow said.

Barlow, 5-11, 195 pounds, of Newton, Texas, has more than 20 scholarship offers from schools like the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, LSU, Nebraska, Louisville, Baylor, Ole Miss, Utah, TCU, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Missouri.

He couldn't decide on one thing that surprised him about his trip to check out the Hogs.

"I would say the whole place ... never knew it would be like that," Barlow said. "I thank Coach Traylor all the time for just telling me to come up because I wasn't even going to."

Barlow narrowed his list of schools to 10 on July 4 with the Razorbacks being one of them.

"I just love how the coaches are and I've grown a relationship with Coach Traylor," Barlow said. "When I came down it felt great and I loved the atmosphere. It was just an all-around good experience."

He helped Newton to a 15-0 record and the Class 3A Division II state championship as a junior while rushing 205 times for 2,246 yards and 38 touchdowns. National recruiting analyst Tom Lemming of CBS Sports Network rates Barlow a 3-star plus prospect.

"Darwin runs with good power and balance," said Lemming, who's entering his 42nd year covering national recruiting. "Very strong runner between the tackles but has enough burst and agility to cause damage on the perimeter."

Barlow appreciates how Traylor talks about things outside of football.

"He's always there for me, and he always tells me he will be there for me whether I come or not, which that means a lot by itself to me," Barlow said.

His cousin and teammate Josh Foster, who's being recruited as a defensive back, also is a target of the Hogs. Foster officially visited the Razorbacks the same weekend as a Barlow and recently narrowed his list to five schools, including Arkansas.

Barlow, who plans to attend a Razorbacks game in the fall, is looking to narrow down his schools after visits to LSU and TCU.

"I'm visiting a couple more places that my parents haven't go to see and hopefully I can get them up there to then we'll see from there," Barlow said.

On the road

Arkansas Razorbacks basketball Coach Mike Anderson and his staff are attending several events the next few days to evaluate prospects.

The first of three evaluation periods in July started at 5 p.m. Wednesday and will go until 5 p.m. Sunday. College coaches also will be able to watch prospects sanctioned by the NCAA on July 18-- 22 and July 25-- 29.

Razorbacks coaches will be attending Peach Jam, a season-ending tournament for Nike's Elite Youth Basketball League circuit in North Augusta, S.C., the Adidas Gauntlet in New York City, Under Armour Challenge in Atlanta along with the Peach Invitational and the Peach State Summer Showcase in Augusta, Ga.

The coaches also are attending the JA32 Showcase that features the top junior college players at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne, Fla.

E-mail Richard Davenport at rdavenport@arkansasonline.com

Sports on 07/13/2018

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