Fresh off of securing bowl eligibility with a win over Louisiana Tech this weekend, Arkansas football coach Sam Pittman kept the positive momentum rolling by landing a commitment from wide receiver Dequane Prevo, a four-star prospect in the Class of 2026.
The Texarkana, Tex., native is ranked in the top 300 nationally by Rivals, ESPN and On3. Rivals is the highest on Prevo, rating him 219th nationally and the 15th-best wideout. 247 Sports is the only service that rates him as a three-star.
The 5-foot-9 junior has put up 62 receptions for 1,355 yards and 20 touchdowns in 10 games so far this season. His school, Liberty-Eylau, is currently 10-2 and still in the playoffs, its best season since 2015. That’s mostly thanks to the outstanding Prevo, who has broken the school record for catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Prevo boasts an impressive list of more than two dozen offers, including the likes of Oregon, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, SMU and many others. His finalists consisted of Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Penn State.
Arkansas got its foot in the door early back in July 2022 as just the 5th team to extend a scholarship offer to Prevo – the first SEC school and the first of his eventual finalists to pull the trigger. That early interest played a key role in his decision to come to Fayetteville.
“I have known coach Sam Pittman for a long time and that relationship was key,” Prevo told On3. “Arkansas offered me early and I have been talking with Coach Pittman for a few years now…It was really an easy decision. It felt right. Arkansas has been recruiting me for a few years and they recruited me hard. They made me feel wanted.”
Prevo also said first-year wide receiver coach Ronnie Fouch played a key role as his lead recruiter.
“I see a great chance to play for a good coaching staff at Arkansas. Coach Fouch wants guys like me and he has a plan for me to get on the field,” he said. “The atmosphere is great, I like the coaching staff and how they recruited me was different.
The talented wideout had taken multiple visits to Fayetteville, including back in July and the highly-anticipated home game against Texas on November 16. That summer visit turned out to be pivotal.
Prevo was initially supposed to announce his commitment on July 30, with Texas A&M considered the heavy favorite. But he took a visit to Arkansas the weekend before and then decided to postpone his decision. When he narrowed his list again for his November announcement, the Aggies were noticeably absent from the group of finalists.
Texas A&M got the better of Arkansas on the field this season, but it certainly looks like Pittman pulled the rug out from under Aggie coach Mike Elko with Prevo’s recruitment.
What Arkansas is Getting in Dequane Prevo
Prevo is described by 247 Sports scouting analyst Gabe Brooks as a “playmaking receiver who could live in the slot” with “excellent run-after-catch ability.”
“Natural playmaker with body control, ball skills and functional athleticism. Displays advanced aerial acrobatics to compete for the ball,” Brooks said. “Capable of stringing moves together in the open field. Sudden explosion as run-after-catch threat, but also in route-running development. Shows promising short-to-intermediate acumen, but also a vertical shot threat.”
Brooks said Prevo projects as a Power Four-caliber playmaker with an NFL ceiling.
His teammates and coaches back that assessment up, too. The Liberty-Eylau offense has averaged a whopping 46 points per game led by Prevo’s playmaking ability.
“He makes my job a lot easier,” said senior quarterback Trip Baysinger.
After Prevo put up 10 catches for 258 yards and three touchdowns in a game back in September, Liberty-Eylau head coach Kevin Willard was left in shock.
“Wide open all over the place. He was making contested catches, and the most impressive part was running after the catch and turning 12, 15-yard gains into 65-yard touchdowns.”
Willard was also complimentary of Prevo’s character, saying he has a “big personality” and is “hilarious” in addition to being a hard worker.
“On top of his pure speed, athleticism and ball skills, he’s been a leader for us. To be a junior and to be a vocal leader is pretty telling of who he is and where he’s gonna be,” Willard said. “His future when he gets to college is gonna be great, too, because he’s already developing those leadership qualities and things that are going to carry over.”
Prevo’s Pledge a Much-Needed Win for Sam Pittman
While Arkansas’ win over Louisiana Tech wasn’t a pretty performance by any means, clinching bowl eligibility essentially put away any doubts about Pittman being back for next season. Despite the groans of many fans, the Head Hog took a confident tone about his job status in a candid postgame press conference.
While the general energy around the program seems to be quite negative, Pittman has taken a much more optimistic point of view. The Hogs went 4-8 last year, which was bad. The Hogs are going to a bowl game this year, which is better. The program is thus on the right track, according to Pittman and athletic director Hunter Yurachek.
Fans might perceive that as accepting mediocrity, but Pittman’s stance here is not that far off the mark. Obviously the team’s performance last year hurt the program’s recruiting, but this season’s improvements seem to be righting that ship.
Prevo’s commitment was a big recruiting win for Pittman and Co., and it makes one thing very clear – the Head Hog is very quietly building a solid 2026 class.
The latest addition brought Arkansas up to seven commitments, three of which are considered four-stars by at least one major recruiting service. Alongside Prevo, California defensive back Tay Lockett is a four-star on Rivals, though he’s just outside their national top 250.
Defensive end Colton Yarbrough is a four-star ranked in the national top 200 by both Rivals and 247 Sports, though he has lost the title of Oklahoma’s best prospect that he once had. Defensive tackle Tajh Overton and wide receiver Mason James have since moved ahead of him in the rankings.
Don’t look now, but the addition of Prevo has vaulted Arkansas into the top ten of both Rivals and 247 Sports’ team rankings for the Class of 2026. Rivals have the Hogs at No. 9 nationally, good for 5th in the SEC behind Texas A&M, Tennessee, Auburn and LSU.
Arkansas is a little lower in 247 Sports’ leaderboard due to the fact they list Lockett and Prevo as three-stars, but they still slot in at No. 10 nationally – 6th in the SEC behind the aforementioned teams plus South Carolina.
The conference’s blue-blood programs like Alabama, Texas and Georgia will obviously shoot up these rankings as they continue to build their classes, but Arkansas being in the top ten at this point in the cycle is certainly a promising sign.
That’s not to try and pump sunshine on a cloudy day, as the Hogs are still set to finish in the bottom half of the SEC for the 4th time in five years under Pittman. But 2024 was definitely a marked improvement over the previous campaign, and there’s something to be said for that.
Arkansas’ recruiting class of 2025 class is currently ranked on the wrong side of No. 30, which is about 10 sports below what had been the standard in the Pittman era. Even the class’ crown jewel, blue-chip linebacker Tavion Wallace, has taken a mighty tumble in the rankings this fall. There can be little doubt one of the reasons for Arkansas’ underwhelming pull this cycle has been the negative recruiting surrounding the hot seat rumors swirling around Pittman for so many months.
Pittman also might be hindered by lingering health problems that have bothered him throughout the season. The 62-year-old is set to undergo hip replacement surgery after the Missouri game, and has been noticeably limping on the sidelines this season. He hasn’t been able to participate in the tradition of running through the “Big A” this season, either, instead hobbling onto the field off to the side with his usual patrol of state troopers.
Recovering from that major surgery during early signing period and prime transfer portal season is far from ideal. That’s something the Head Hog said he’s not too worried about, but it obviously won’t help things.
But with a new hip in place and a team that’s now back to somewhat winning ways, Pittman should be able to continue to build a more impressive 2026 class on the back of Prevo’s promising pledge.
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Trey Biddy’s Walk & Talk segment after Arkansas’ ugly win over Louisiana Tech:
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More coverage of Arkansas football from BoAS:
