Could Arkansas be Close to Flipping Stanford DT Commit Michael Williams
Written by Ryan Wright
Twitter: @HogManInLA
The Stanford Cardinal 2016 recruiting class is stocked full of talent with the coaching staff landing 20 recruits thus far from 10 different states. Stanford has two commitments from the Lone Star state but one commit, defensive tackle Michael Williams, is still exploring other potential options. On Wednesday Williams tweeted out his acceptance into the University of Arkansas raising eyebrows across the recruiting trail.
Williams committed to Stanford on July 3, and then helped All Saints Episcopal to a 10-1 season in 2015. The 6’2”, 300 pound, tackle was a disruptive force for the Saints coming up with 64 tackles, seven tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and two pass deflections in nine games.
The Fort Worth area talent is not short on admires in the college ranks. Williams is pushing 30 scholarship offers with schools like Baylor, Cal, Houston, UCLA, Texas, TCU, Penn State, Oklahoma, Missouri, Ole Miss, Ohio State, Michigan, and Miami all extending offers. One school recruiting Williams hard as National Signing Day quickly approaches is the Razorbacks. Arkansas coaches Jemal Singleton and Rory Segrest have made an impression, at least enough to get Williams to apply for admission to the University of Arkansas with Williams posting his acceptance for the world to see.
Williams posted his acceptance with the hashtag “WPS.”
Arkansas fans quickly responded favorably to the post. Williams later tweeted, “If it’s meant to happen then it will happen – just let go and Let [sic) God.” A couple of hours later, seemingly responding to the response about applying to Arkansas, Williams posted another tweet, “Why not apply to multiple schools?”
The Hogs currently have 15 verbal commitments to their 2016 recruiting class pushing hard for junior college offensive linemen Garett Bolles and Dwayne Wallace, Ole Miss running back commit D’Vaughn Pennamon, Louisiana running back Devin White, recent University of Georgia running back de-commitment Devwah Whaley, Rummel Louisiana defensive back Kristian Fulton, Texas defensive back Eric Cuffee, and Texas defensive end Levi Onwuzurike among a handful of others. Arkansas has three highly rated defensive line commitments in 4-star DT Briston Guidry, 5-star DE McTelvin Agim and 3-star DT Austin Capps.
Time will tell if Arkansas is a backup plan for Williams or if the Razorbacks have flipped the Stanford commit.
Arkansas Razorbacks 2016 Verbal Commitment List
SS Deon Edwards, 6’0”, 195 lbs, Lake Minneola HS, Minneola, FL
SS Alexy Jean-Baptiste, 6’3”, 205 lbs, Coconut Creek HS, Coconut Creek, FL
DE McTelvin Agim, 6’3”, 269 lbs, Hope HS, Hope, AR
DT Austin Capps, 6’4”, 306 lbs, Star City HS, Star City, AR
DT Briston Guidry, 6’3”, 275 lbs, Rummel HS, Metairie, LA
LB Jordan Carmouche, 6’1”, 230 lbs, Manvel HS, Manvel, TX
LB Dejon Harris, 5’11”, 235 lbs, John Ehret HS, Marrero, LA
OT Jake Heinrich, 6’5, 290 lbs, Urbandale HS, Urbandale, IA
QB Cole Kelley, 6’7”, 235 lbs, Teurlings Catholic HS, Lafayette, LA
RB T.J. Hammonds, 5’11”, 196 lbs, Robinson HS, Little Rock, AR
FB Hayden Johnson, 6’3”, 252 lbs, Rock Bridge HS, Columbia, MO
TE Grayson Gunter, 6’6”, 230 lbs, Madison Central HS, Madison, MS
WR Kofi Boateng, 6’1”, 175 lbs, Arlington Lamar HS, Arlington, TX
WR Jordan Jones, 6’2”, 175 lbs, Smackover HS, Smackover, AR
WR Kiel Pollard, 6’1”, 228 lbs, Colquitt County, Moultrie, AR
Photo credit: twitter.com; Michael Williams accepted to U of A.
Photo credit: scout.com; Michael Williams.