Arkansas landed its 14th commitment for 2013 on Thursday evening as Forrest City defensive end Tevin Beanum gave his pledge to the Razorbacks.
Tevin Beanum will become the second Forrest City player in two years to become a Razorback.
Beanum (6-4, 233, 4.65-second 40-yard dash) committed less than 24 hours after being offered a scholarship by Arkansas recruiting coordinator Tim Horton.
“I feel like I’m not at the peak, but I’m climbing towards it,” Beanum said just a few minutes after calling Horton and committing. “I feel like I’m at the peak of high school anyway, and I’m about to jump and go somewhere else, fly off or something. It feels like I’m up there right now. I feel like I’ve achieved a lot, but then also it kind of reminds me like, you know you achieved that, but you’ve got some more things you can accomplish in life. Keep striving.”
Beanum chose Arkansas over offers from Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Harding and Ouachita Baptist.
After his performance at the Razorbacks’ Junior-Senior Prospect Camp on July 21, he left little doubt that he was one of the best athletes in the state – and he’s only played one season of organized football since the seventh grade.
Beanum was clearly one of the best prospects at the Hogs’ camp, and he’s also an excellent student who’s already scored a 27 on the ACT – meaning numerous scholarship offers were most likely just a matter of time.
Beanum told Hawgs247 less than two hours before his commitment that he was close to calling the Hogs. He just needed to talk to some family members first.
Horton told him Wednesday to do just that – to get input from his family members before making the decision – and to call him when he was ready to be a Razorback.
“And so I thought about it, I talked to my mom, and the last thing I heard from my mom before she went to work was why don’t you go ahead and do it, get it over with. You know that’s where you want to be. That’s where I want you to play. So you can just focus on high school football.
“So I called around 7:30, or early 7 o’clock or whatever, and talked to him and the first thing I said was, ‘Coach, I’m ready to be a Hog.’ He was happy and congratulated me and everything.
"One thing that I did notice was that a lot of recruiters even though, once you commit, everything kind of slows down and all that. The next thing he said was make sure you call me in a couple of days and stay in contact. And again, it just shows that he’s taking it a step further, rather than just being a recruiter, but also being someone I can rely on and talk to.”
Beanum becomes the second Forrest City player to commit to the Razorbacks in the past two years. Cornerback Davyon McKinny committed to Arkansas in June 2010 and signed in February 2011.
McKinny was someone Beanum looked up to when McKinny was playing for Forrest City.
“Of course, I didn’t play his senior year. I played the year afterward. I just kind of got to see him playing the game,” Beanum said. “But I did look up to him, and when we were down there at the camp, after the camp was over with, I got to talk to him for a second. He gave me some words of encouragement. He was like, ‘All you’ve got to do is keep working, keep working. You’ve got yourself this far. You’ve got to get yourself the rest of the way.’”
Beanum’s work has now earned him a spot in the Razorbacks’ 2013 recruiting class.
He said his high school coach, Rich Trail, also gave him some advice Thursday.
“He congratulated me (on the offer) and everything,” Beanum said. “He was like, now you’ve just got to work toward keeping the scholarship, making sure you don’t make any mistakes cause a lot of people do and focusing on football and just play. You have the ability and everything. I was down for it, and we got right back to practice.”
And a couple of hours later, Beanum called Horton and gave his pledge.
- Robert Turbeville
- Arkansas Insider - Hawgs247