Is OT Recruit Jordan Diamond Sold on Arkansas After His Visit to Fayetteville?

Star receiver Dorial Green-Beckham wasn’t the only player who paid an important visit to Arkansas this past weekend. Jordan Diamond, one of the top offensive tackle prospects in the country, also made a trip down to Fayetteville to check out the campus and meet with the coaches. 

Diamond, who played for Simeon High School in Chicago, has been chased by basically every top school in the Midwest. He’s reportedly still considering prominent Big Ten schools such as Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin, along with his offers from SEC schools like Arkansas and Auburn.

The 6’6’’, 290-pound blue-chip tackle prospect already has the size and strength to compete at the college level, and if he can improve his footwork and overall technique, he should be able to break into the starting lineup early on in his career, possibly even as a true freshman.

The question is, though: Will it be the Arkansas lineup he enters, or another school’s?

With senior starting tackle Grant Freeman departing and junior Jason Peacock preparing for his last season, it definitely wouldn’t hurt for Arkansas to start stocking up on offensive tackles for the future, and you can’t do much better than adding a lineman the caliber of Diamond.

Dorial Green-Beckham may be the top recruiting target left on the market for Arkansas to scoop up, but Jordan Diamond would definitely be a critical pickup as well.

Pulling Diamond away from coaches like Urban Meyer and Brady Hoke certainly won’t be easy, but the Razorbacks have a few edges that could help them ultimately land the four-star tackle prospect.

Simeon coach Dante Culbreath is an Arkansas alum. Plus there’s the fact that the Razorbacks will likely enter the 2012 season as a borderline Top 10 team with a great chance to make a run at not just an SEC championship, but a national championship as well.

It also can’t hurt that the Arkansas basketball team beat Michigan, another school he's considering, while Diamond was on his visit.

So while we’ll still have to wait another week to find out where Jordan Diamond will ultimately end up signing, the Razorbacks seem to be right in the thick of the race to land his services. If they end up failing in their quest to reel in Dorial Green-Beckham, landing an elite offensive tackle prospect like Diamond instead would definitely help soften the blow.