Hogs hoping to land A.J. Brathwaite to help secondary

FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas is hosting Western Kentucky safety A.J. Brathwaite for an official visit this weekend.

Brathwaite, 6-0, 195, battled injuries in 2022 following an outstanding 2021 season. Injuries limited him to eight games in 2022 with 17 tackles, 12 solo, one for loss and an interception.

In a 2021, Brathwaite started all 12 games. He had 64 tackles, two for loss, a sack, two pass breakups, one interception and a forced fumble. His best output of the season came against Indiana when he totaled 15 tackles, including a sack and a forced fumble, all of which earned him C-USA Defensive Player of the week.

He played in four games in 2018 as a true freshman thus retaining his redshirt season. He then played in 13 games in 2019 and 11 in 2020. He started against UCA in 2019 and came off the bench against the Razorbacks to record one tackle in a 45-19 win.

He played high school football at Miami (Fla.) Central. He committed to Florida International on May 8.

Arkansas will host Delaware safety Amonte’ Strothers, 6-1, 195, for an official visit next week, possibly beginning Monday. Strothers had 31 tackles, 22 solo, three for loss, one sack, an interception, three pass breakups and a quarterback hurry in 2022.

In addition to Louisiana Tech defensive tackle, Keivie Rose, 6-3, 303, the Hogs hosted Louisville tight end Francis Sherman, 6-3, 234, for an official visit that ends today. Sherman caught one pass for 13 yards in 2022.

The Hogs have also jumped into the mix for Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College center Amaury Wiggins, 6-3, 290. He played high school football at Pensacola (Fla.) Pine Forrest. He will graduate from Coffeyville this month and then is eligible to transfer immediately with three years remaining.

Wiggins has gained offers from Arkansas, Texas A&M, LSU, Mississippi State, Tulsa, Memphis, Maryland, Illinois, Troy, Miami, Temple, Wyoming, Toledo, Utah State, FIU, Buffalo, Eastern Kentucky, Temple, Texas Southern, Alabama State, Jacksonville State, Liberty, Texas State, Middle Tennessee, Alcorn State, Old Dominion and Tennessee Tech.

At this time, Arkansas has six scholarships remaining for the Class of 2023. If they land Rose then the needs will be one offensive lineman, 2-3 secondary and then best available.