Hogs commit continues official visits with trip to playoff contender

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Recruiting high school athletes remains fluid and commitments can still be pledged to their respective programs even with other visits lined up.

Arkansas native and Razorbacks safety commit Tay Lockett is in Oregon this weekend taking in a visit with the Ducks program and coach Dan Lanning.

Lockett has been committed to Arkansas since the summer before his sophomore season in August 2023.

The two-time MaxPreps All-American is known for being productive in the secondary throughout his stops at University City High School (freshman and junior seasons) and St. John's Bosco (sophomore).

Highly productive player who has a nose for the football. Totaled 12 interceptions the last two seasons and shows a lot of range, ball skills and ball awareness.
More quick than fast, can really break on the ball, shows a lot of range and has very good ball skills.

Super instinctive kid, right place/right time and knows how to position himself to make plays.

Want to see fill out some and continue to add more speed and explosiveness to his game but has all the tools to be a very good player at the next level.

The 5-foot-11, 175 pound defensive back's tour of the West Coast schools shouldn't come as a surprise given he moved to California at a young age before he became a highly sought prospect.

With over 41 scholarship offers in his pocket, Lockett expressed how easy it was to represent the Razorbacks on a national scale because of the defensive coaching staff.

“Being from California but choosing Arkansas was pretty easy over time,” Lockett told Hogs on SI last January. “Relationships I have built with Coach [Travis} Williams and Coach {Marcus] Woodson has made everything so much easier on me being more comfortable and having trust in those coaches into developing me into the player and man I want to become.”

Although Lockett is ranked as the No. 626 overall player for 2026, he has quite an extensive list of accomplishments since he began his varsity career in California as a freshman.

Over the course of his prep career, he has appeared in 38 games while recording 248 tackles, 14 interceptions, five forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries.

He was a member of University City's California Interscholastic Football Championship team in 2022, named to the all-state in each of his three seasons and led all of California with seven interceptions as a freshman.

Despite being committed nearly two years, teams such as UCLA remain in constant contact, including an official visit May 16.

HIs trip to the Bruins was immediately followed up with an in-home recruiting visit by Razorbacks defensive back coach Marcus Woodson.

Lockett, who is currently rated as a 3-star, is the No. 53 ranked safety and No. 52 prospect in California for the 2026 cycle, according to 247sports.

There shouldn't be too much to worry about for Arkansas fans as his social media feed is still full of Razorbacks content including offers to fellow 2026 commitments and beyond.

Arkansas' 15-man class currently ranks No. 14 nationally, per 247sports composite rankings and can continue to maintain its spot in the top 25 if coach Sam Pittman's staff can secure commitments from upcoming official visitors.

Arkansas Razorbacks 2026 Commits

DE Colton Yarbrough
QB Jayvon Gilmore
WR Dequane Prevo
OL Tucker YOung
TE Jaivion Martin
TE Kade Bush
DB Tay Lockett
DB Jalon Copeland
DL Ari Slocum
DB Kyndrick Williams
DB Adam Auston
DL Carnell Jackson
OL Ashley Walker
WR Robert Haynes
OL Hugh Smith

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