Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Gus Malzahn’s presence at Arkansas State and his history of successfully recruiting while in SEC has led to some discussion about whether he and his staff could ever flip a prospect that was committed to Arkansas. It started shortly after he was hired and will no doubt continue, especially after the signing of defensive back Chris Humes.

Humes, a three-star prospect from Hoover, Ala., was — depending on who you talk to — a one-time Arkansas commitment. He wound up signing with Arkansas State.

Local reports mention Humes as being committed to the Razorbacks. The Shelby County Reporter says Humes pulled “a signing day switch.” ESPN.com once listed him as a commit to Arkansas.

Folks that follow recruiting much closer than I do suggest that wasn’t entirely the case, at least as far as Arkansas was concerned. Something about conditional offers and such. I have zero interest in the semantics of recruiting, honestly.

Maybe he flipped. Maybe he didn’t.

Humes did take an official visit to Fayetteville on Jan. 13. He was on Arkansas’ recruiting radar. We do know that.

Regardless, Humes can be viewed as good get for Arkansas State and Malzahn. That shouldn’t get lost in the “did he or didn’t he” discussion.

National recruiting services report that Humes had offers from Auburn, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Louisville and Mississippi State among others. Nice offer sheet for a guy that signed with Arkansas State.

Will Malzahn and the staff flip kids from Arkansas? We’ll see. But you can bet they’ll be in on some quality prospects and Humes is a good reminder of that.