Apart from last week’s success in recruiting, the class of 2025 cycle hasn’t been great for Sam Pittman and the Razorbacks. But now, it’s become historically bad, specifically when it comes to in-state recruiting.
On Saturday, four-star running back Omarion Robinson out of Little Rock Parkview chose Oklahoma over Arkansas, Oregon, and LSU. He's ranked the No. 2 player in Arkansas and rated .9030 by 247Sports Composite.
But what's so historic about missing on a low four-star recruit? Well, it's the first time since 2007 that Arkansas missed on its top-3 in-state recruits. The No. 1 prospect in Arkansas, Carius Curne, chose LSU over the Hogs and Mizzou. Marcus Wimberley also defected to OU in February.
The last time it happened, Arkansas dropped the ball on Four-star Lee Ziemba, Kodi Burns, and Broderick Green. The first two went to Auburn and played for Gus Malzahn, who left Arkansas to be their new offensive coordinator. Green signed with USC but transferred to Arkansas after his first season.
To be fair, missing the top-3 recruits isn't the end of the world for the program. In the cycle before the 2007 class, Arkansas had arguably its best class in history, earning commits from the "Springdale Five" that included five-star prospect Mitch Mustain. It didn't matter much because the Hogs lost a significant portion of the class following Houston Nutt's firing.
All that happened right before the Razorbacks' meteoric rise with Bobby Petrino, where Arkansas had at least eight wins in three of the following four seasons. One bad recruiting class (and in reality, it's not that horrible; it’s the No. 28 recruiting class in the country.) does not cripple a team, so there's at least room to be hopeful for the program.
Video: The moment #Oklahoma added the commitment of DB Omarion “Man Man” Robinson (@liilmanman2_) pic.twitter.com/2tKrDVUvco
— Brandon Howard (@BHoward_11) July 6, 2024