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Top tight end recruit Shamar Easter officially an Arkansas Razorback

The Ashdown High School standout has been committed since August of 2021 but wavered a bit late last year

By Kyle Sutherland  

Ashdown tight end Shamar Easter (6-5, 225) was the first commit for Arkansas’ 2023 class in August of 2021, but was the 20th and final piece for the Hogs’ latest class as the lone signee on Wednesday. His signing ceremony will be held at 5 p.m. on February 2 at the Ashdown administration building. 

“I am proud to be part of this process and help the Hogs get to where they need to be in the next couple of years,” Easter said.

Easter is the No. 1 prospect in Arkansas for the 2023 class per the 247Sports composite rankings, the 10th-ranked tight end, and 184th overall. With Easter’s signing, the class sits at No. 22 in the country and ninth in the Southeastern Conference. His offers included Arizona State, Auburn, Florida State, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas A&M among others.

After former tight ends coach Dowell Loggains - Easter’s initial primary recruiter - left in December to become the offensive coordinator at South Carolina, Easter took an official visit there on December 16-17, the weekend before the early signing period, and then decided to weigh his options.

The Razorbacks hired Stanford tight ends coach Morgan Turner for the same position a few days after Loggains’ departure and Turner has built a resume of producing NFL tight ends, most recently working with 2022 second team All-Pac-12 selection Benjamin Yurosek.

Turner hosted Easter during an unofficial visit to Fayetteville in mid-January and Easter reaffirmed his pledge to the Hogs on Twitter via graphic that read “100% LOCKED IN” and captioned “#justarkansas.”

Now that pen has been put to paper, Easter is relieved he can officially turn the full focus on his future.

“It feels good because I don’t have to do anything anymore,” Easter said. “I don’t have to worry about coaches and all that because I already got mine.”

Though they are still getting to know each other, Easter is excited to be under the tutelage of Turner.

“We have a good relationship, and it is going to be good to play under him knowing what he has done for other people,” Easter said. “(He had) Dalton Schultz, Zach Ertz, and knowing that he coached them is just different.”

Easter helped Ashdown reach the second round of the Class 4A playoffs last fall. Over the past two seasons, Easter has caught 45 passes for 679 yards (15.1 YPC) and 5 touchdowns. As a senior, he also rushed for 120 yards and a score.