With the entire program in flux at Arkansas, recruiting has seemingly been pushed to the back page in the state as the athletic department tries to deal the fall out from the Bobby Petrino mess. Without a head coach, the Razorbacks are now without any commits for the class of 2013. As the lifeblood of any football team, that's an issue.

Still, all that has gone on in Fayetteville hasn't completely discouraged recruits from considering the school. Prosper (Texas) wide receiver Torii Hunter, Jr. holds an offer from Arkansas and told ARPreps.com that he is still looking at the Razorbacks as one of his top schools.

“I’m going to [be] interested regardless of what they do,” Hunter said. “I guess what they choose to do. I guess that will be alright because I’ll still be interested in Arkansas.”

The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder also holds offers from Oklahoma, Notre Dame and others. Torii Jr. is one of three Hunters on Prosper's football team and the son of Los Angeles Angels All-Star outfielder Torii Hunter, an Arkansas native from Pine Bluff. As one of the top wide receiver recruits in the North Texas area, Hunter Jr. was saddened to see one of the coaches he was being recruited by be let go.

“(Petrino) is a still a great coach,” he said. “I believe anyone deserves a second chance.”

Fellow Texan and class of 2012 Arkansas running back pledge Jonathan Williams came out Wednesday to reaffirm his commitment to the school and was hopeful there wouldn't be any defections from the upcoming class.

“I just really wanted to talk to all the other commits and try to calm them down because the reason we all committed to Arkansas is because how great their school is," Williams told ESPNDallas.com. Their football program is great, but the academics are great and the campus is great, too. I just tried to talk to those guys and make sure they stayed a part of the Arkansas football team.”

While the turmoil that Petrino's firing has created will no doubt have an effect on Arkansas recruiting going forward, it's clear that things aren't anything interim head coach Taver Johnson or staff can't overcome.

Photo by Kyle Dantzler