BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON
FAYETTEVILLE – Arkansas’ 2025 defensive line will likely be better because one guy decided to stay and one chose to leave.
Veteran Razorback defensive tackle Cameron Ball, Florida transfer defensive end Justus Boone and Arkansas defensive line coach Deke Adams met with the media on Thursday after the 12th practice overall and penultimate one of preseason camp.
It was confirmed earlier in preseason camp by Arkansas coaches that Ball (6-5, 321) was contacted by several schools and turned down some lucrative offers to stay in Fayetteville.
Ball, whose father passed in June, confirmed that himself on Thursday while saying he wasn’t really tempted to leave.
“I’m a big loyalty guy,” Ball said. My father and my mother has always instilled in me ’stay down for the come up.’ And it all started with me and my high school.
“You know about (Atlanta, Ga.) East Point, Tri-Cities, I want to say I won like six games my whole high school career. I had the opportunity to go to IMG Academy, I had the opportunity to transfer, but I didn’t.
“I wanted to be a legend coming out of my high school and God blessed me with 42 Division I scholarships out of high school.
“The word, like I said, stay down for the come up, and good things come to those who wait. I feel like God has led me where my journey here, and nothing but good things have came since being here.”
Ball , named a third-team preseason All-SEC selection just didn’t see the benefits of a one-year money grab some place outweighing finishing his college career as a Razorback.
“Yeah, I had opportunities to leave, but it was no point to just pack up and go for a matter of a year or so, and lose all the connections and relationships I built in this state and just, the people,” Ball said.
“I love the people here in Arkansas. Not only in Fayetteville, but I’ve been all around Arkansas and I just love this state in general.”
Ball pulled back the curtain on the process of being “recruited’ despite not actually being in the transfer portal.
“It was people coming from all different ends and different angles,” Ball said. “People trying to do it the legal way by trying to communicate with me through family friends and stuff of that nature, but at the time I was going through it with my pops.
“So I wasn’t really in tune with none of that, I was focusing moreso on my dad. I heard the offers and all that, but I wasn’t paying no mind to it.
“ I just knew I wanted to be here for my last year if I had to come back. And that’s what my father wanted as well. Because I talked to him about it, being in the hospital with him and all the offers and stuff was coming in.
“…My dad told me to stay, and I stayed. Not only because of me, but because of my father as well. When I committed to this university, my family did and my whole family fell in love with it. So we’re going to finish what I started and that’s why I’m still here, and I will remain here.”
Ball’s decision obviously pleased Adams, who watched Ball have a career-high 47 of his 111 collegiate tackle while starting all 13 games last season.
“More money is to say the least,” Adams said. “I mean, he had some, some major stuff going on (with his father), and he chose us to stay here and he believes in what we’re doing. He believes in what we’re doing in the D-line room he’s in.
“And a lot of times people in this business now, it’s become such money-driven that it’s all about how much this and how much that and they really don’t get a chance to know the kids. It’s that it’s more about, than that kid, the money.
“And he’s invested in the program and we’re invested in him. And so we’re excited about the relationship we have.”
Adams knows its rare for a kid to choose a school over money in the current football college landscape.
“It’s great,” Adams said. “It’s awesome, man. It’s awesome. Like I said, nowadays, college football is so money-driven. It’s really refreshing to have a kid that’s really in it for the right reasons.
“I’m not saying the money’s not… because I don’t get in those conversations, but it’s great to have a kid to say, hey, coach, I believe in you, I believe in what we’re doing here, and I’m gonna stay, and I’m gonna grind, and we’re gonna work.”
Ball also played a part in landing Boone, who missed his entire redshirt sophomore season in 2023 due to a injury and had 10 tackles in 2024 as he worked to get fully healthy.
“I came up here and it was like right after the (Liberty) bowl game, so everybody was home handling their a business or whatever, like that,” Boone said. “And I came down…I guess I came back down by myself. It was just like me and the coaches and Cam just happened to be one of the only players in the building at the time.
“He came down and chopped it up with me for a few hours. I think he came out to eat with us, too. Yeah, he was just the only one down here. And it was just good vibes, good connection.
“We talked about ball, you know, just figuring out exactly what we need. And he was telling me…I was just getting the nitty gritty of what it was to be down here, and I really liked everything.”
Boone (6-4, 278), who has 37 career tackles, noted the opportunity to play alongside Ball was also enticing.
“I actually tuned into Arkansas Tennessee game last year, and I seen him out there hitting his little what’s its name move or whatever, like that,” Boone said. “Yeah, I’ve been in tune with him, 5, or whatever, like that. So, like I said, when I actually got a chance to get the opportunity to play with him, I was like, ‘Yeah.’ Cause you’re only as good as the next person beside you, and you need a good D-tackle to be a good end.”
Adams and Boone missed connections for a while due to the player having two phone numbers, but mutual friend Khali Jones helped get them on the phone together.
“He (James) was my quality control coach at Florida, and he’s actually a coach now at Western Kentucky,” Boone said. “But I was just in the middle of the transfer portal in the. I happened to be at Oklahoma State at the time, so that’s right up the road. I came down and visited and it was everything that he said to me.
“I think one of the main things that stand out was his devotion to like God and like saying that we was all a family, and just how much that he was, like, looking for a perfect fit, rather than, just finding a player. Like he wanted a person that was gonna fit in with his group that he already had rather than just get somebody that was gonna come in and do that.”
Adams is glad to have a player who has 26 games of experience in SEC games.
“Well he’s played in this league before at his previous school,” Adams said. “And so he does a really good job. He’s a physical kid. He works really hard, and he understands– whatever his limitations are, he understands those, and he works through them. But he plays hard, he works hard, and he’s a great kid as well.
“One of the things I’ve always wanted to do is just have great kids in the room because in this business, we’re away from families and all this stuff so much, you want to be around good kids as well as good players, and he’s both. And he’s working hard, man. He’s playing physical and all that, so I’m happy with him.”
Ball and Boone joined a group that also includes David Oke (6-2, 314), Danny Sali (6-3, 319), Ian Geffard (6-5, 387), Quincy Rhodes (6-6, 275) Charlie Collins (6-5, 265), Trent Sellers (6-4, 260), Kavion Henderson (6-2, 257), Donovan Whitten (6-3, 256), Ken Talley (6-3, 255), Frank Muliopola (6-4, 274), Kaleb James (6-4, 275) and Phillip Lee (6-4, 240).
There’s also freshmen Caleb Bell (6-3, 287), Kevin Oatis (6-3, 289), Keiundre Johnson (6-3, 281)a nd Reginald Vaughn(6-3, 303) on a Razorback roster that has 18 defensive linemen.
Adams talked about how individuals can separate themselves
“Well, you gotta win one-on-ones,” Adams said. “I don’t care who you are, if I put you on the field and you’re in a one-on-one situation, I expect you to win and that’s how you separate yourself.
“Because rarely do you set things up where guys just totally come free and all that, so when you’re in a situation where you’re in a one-on-one situation, you gotta be able to win that rep.
“We talk about that all the time. I need guys that are gonna be physical, that are twitchy, that can run, that’s explosive, that’s got great hips and all that, and we got that in our group.
“It’s just a matter of those guys continuing to develop because some of them have never played in this league, and once again, it’s different. I don’t care what anybody says, I’ve been in a lot of leagues, it’s different. We have it in a room, it’s just, hey, they’re continuing to grow.”
Photo by John D. James
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