Junior linebacker Bumper Pool's future commitment to Arkansas was almost a certainty long before his birth on Sept. 28, 1999.
Pool, 6-2, 216 of Lucas (Texas) Lovejoy High School, chose the Hogs over more than 20 offers from schools such as Southern Cal, Alabama, LSU, Michigan and Texas A&M the day after visiting for the Florida game Nov. 5.
His family's ties to Arkansas runs deep. His father, Jeff, graduated from Allen High School in Texas in 1984, but he was exposed to the Hogs by his stepfather, Al Burke, an Arkansas graduate. He went on to become a 1990 Arkansas graduate.