FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas did manage to get one of the players from Pine Bluff, Ark., out of three that went to the SEC. Defensive end Charlie Collins didn’t follow his cousins to Pine Bluff, but then he finished his last two years of high school at Little Rock, Ark., MIlls. For those that don’t know, Mills University Studies is technically in Little Rock, although it’s just a short drive south to Pine Bluff. Collins’ cousins, Courtney Crutchfield and Austyn Dendy signed with Missouri.
Collins and Crutchfield had committed to the Razorbacks in April. Collins signed early with the Hogs on Wednesday, but at a ceremony that Nate Olson of Scorebook Live attended was that evening and it was more of a community service thing in south Little Rock on Thursday evening.
“I know for a fact I can help [the Razorbacks] out,” Collins told SB Live during the event. “You’ve got to have a lot of pride to represent this state. There’s not much bad you can say about the University of Arkansas.” He said he never considered going to Missouri, never wavering in his original commitment to the Hogs. Coach Sam Pittman was glad to see that kind of sticking through what ended up being a very rough 4-8 season.
“With our kids in the state that stayed with us with all the noise going on around the program, that’s big time for loyalty,” Pittman said Wednesday. “Because we didn’t sign anybody that didn’t have several offers from the state of Arkansas everywhere else. With Charlie, he probably was as top of that. For him to stay here just proves they’re going to be damn good Hogs because they wanted to be here. With Charlie staying with us, that was special — him and the other four, as well.”
