FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — One of the crown jewels of Arkansas football’s 2024 recruiting class won’t play a down for the Razorbacks.
According to an Arkansas spokesperson, wide receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman has been released from his national letter of intent and will sign with another school. The decision coincides with Arkansas losing wide receivers coach Kenny Guiton to Wisconsin earlier this offseason.
Bethel-Roman was the third-highest ranked recruit in the Arkansas class, according to 247sports. Bethel-Roman is the No. 35 wide receiver in the country, and the No. 210 player overall.
Bethel-Roman chose Arkansas over schools like Texas A&M, Oregon and Texas Tech. The Missouri City, Texas native committed to Arkansas in July, but nearly flipped to the Aggies on December’s Signing Day.
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Arkansas’ only high school wide receiver in the 2024 class is now Krosse Johnson, a three-star prospect from New Orleans who Arkansas did not recruit until the week of National Signing Day.
“Obviously, nobody knew about Krosse Johnson. I didn’t either until about 3-4 days ago when we felt like we may lose a receiver,” Pittman said on Dec. 20. “We needed another high school receiver, we needed speed.”
Arkansas has no shortage of receivers on the roster with Andrew Armstrong, Isaac TeSlaa and Tyrone Broden all returning in 2024, but there is a lack of high-ceiling underclassmen on the roster. Two receivers who were freshmen in 2023 — Davion Dozier and Dazmin James — will try to earn consistent playing time this fall.
This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Arkansas football loses four-star wide receiver in 2024 class
