Eleven of the 12 regional signees of a national letter of intent inked to play football at the collegiate level Wednesday on National Signing Day.
Dagen Ward of Atlanta was the lone non-football signee. Ward inked his scholarship offer with the University of Central Arkansas in track and field.
Also from Atlanta, Cade Fant signed with East Texas Baptist University in football, and Connor Samples will continue his academic and football careers at Hendrix College.
Ashdown had four football signees, including Anthony Hopkins with Southern Arkansas University and Brett Bond, Delrae Smith and Joseph Paredes with Northeastern State University. De Queen's Marquez Ester also signed with NSU in Tahlequah, Okla.
The other four student-athletes who signed: Christopher McDaniel of DeKalb is headed to Ouachita Baptist University; Dierks' Bryce Box inked with Arkansas Tech University; Nashville's Ty Basiliere signed with Henderson State University; and Prescott's Derriun Thompson is headed to Tyler Junior College.
Dagen Ward, UCA, Track
CONWAY, Ark. - Ward is a long-distance runner and placed second in the mile at the 2019 UIL state track meet. He also placed 14th at the state cross country meet.
"Dagen is a well-accomplished distance runner and trains year round," Atlanta Athletic Director Matt McClure said. "He put in a ton of miles over the summer. Dagen loves and enjoys running and was a guy we could always count on to get points in his events. He has a great work ethic, handles adversity and always pushes through."
Cade Fant, ETBU
MARSHALL, Texas - Fant will be playing tight end for the Tigers.
"Cade is the ultimate team player," McClure said. "He has played a couple of positions on offense, was our long snapper and played three different positions on defense. We could always depend on Cade. He is a hard worker, is a strong kid and gives great effort. He is very coachable."
Connor Samples, Hendrix College
CONWAY, Ark. - Samples will play linebacker for the Warriors and was a 3-year starter for Atlanta.
"Connor is very durable and played a couple of games with a broken hand," McClure said. "He has great worth ethic and determination. Hendrix College is highly academic. Connor has been a solid rock that we could always depend on. He can really run and his lower body is extremely strong."
Anthony Hopkins, SAU
MAGNOLIA, Ark. - Hopkins has been an anchor on the defensive line for the Panthers and kept on top of his academics, also.
"Anthony is a true leader and great human being," Ashdown head coach Matt Richardson said. "He's done a great job, worked hard and put in the extra effort to get to the next level. He's got a 24 on the ACT, and that helped the recruiting process, as well."
Brett Bond, NSU
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - Bond is a 3-year starter at linebacker and was a hard-hitter on the Panther defense.
"Brett is one o the most athletic guys we've ever had," Richardson said. "NSU is getting a steal with him because, since he plays baseball, he hasn't had a true offseason, and I expect him to really bulk up once they get him up there. Once he gets in the weight room, he's going to blow up. They're going to end up pleasantly wondering how they landed him on that team."
Delrae Smith, NSU
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - Smith was versatile, being able to play the secondary and running back for Ashdown.
"Delrae is a great human and is athletic as they get," Richardson said. "He's a good-looking athlete with a great upside. He'll make a difference for them in the secondary. More than anything is his work ethic and him being a great teammate."
Joseph Paredes, NSU
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - Paredes is another player, at offensive tackle, who hasn't reached his full potential as a football player.
"Big Joe has gotten more athletic every year," Richardson said. "He's got a chance to be really athletic; he's big and quick now but still hasn't grown into his frame. He's a guy when he's had two more years, at the college level, will be a man up front."
Marquez Ester, NSU
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. - Ester played both sides of the ball for three years for De Queen, but he focused more on offense this past fall.
"There's looking at Marquez on the offensive side, at running back and possibly at inside receiver," former Leopard head coach Stephen Sloan said. "He's a better fit on the offensive side; he played tailback and got a good bit of the carries (his senior year) until he got hurt."
Ester has developed into a solid student-athlete over his high school career and has the tools to succeed on the next level.
"He's done great job on the field and in the classroom," Sloan said. "He's above a 3-point GPA, shows up every day and has grown each year, as far as his academics and athletics. He's blessed with amazing speed, has developed better vision and finds the holes. He's done a great job with what we asked him to do in our program.
"Northeastern State is getting a really good football player, a really good young man, and we're excited to have young men move on to the next level to prove what they can do."
Christopher McDaniel, OBU
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - McDaniel will be an offensive lineman for the Tigers.
"We are glad that Christopher has the opportunity to get to play," DeKalb head football coach Buddy Griffin said. "He has always been a very hard worker for us. Christopher has good speed and can move. He is a leader on the team and at school. He is a really good student and participates in many sports: baseball, track and power lifting. Christopher is a likeable young man. He is going to a quality program, and I am excited for him."
Bryce Fox, Arkansas Tech
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. - Fox is a three-sport athlete for Dierks, who signed with Arkansas Tech to help the Wonder Boys football team.
"I'm very excited for Bryce and his family," Dierks head coach Jarrod Fannin said. "Arkansas Tech got a extremely good football player. I told someone earlier that Bryce is a even better person than he is a football player. He's worked really hard for this opportunity and I'm also excited for all that he's going to be able to accomplish there."
Ty Basiliere, Henderson State
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - Basiliere is a 2-year starter for Nashville and averaged 23-yards per reception this fall.
"Obviously, Ty's a really good player," Scrapper head coach Mike Volarvich said. "He led our team in receptions. He can run and brings good speed to the position.
"He's a guy who worked his way up to being the star. He has a lot of natural athletic ability, but's he's really developed his skills and has been able to put it all together as he grew and matured."
Basiliere has been named to the all-state football team two years in a row, as well as being named the MVP receiver for Nashville both years.
"As a junior, he ran an 11-second 100 meters and cleared 6-7 in the high jump," Volarvich said. "There's kids who run faster than that, and there's kids who can jump higher than that in the state. But I'm not sure there's any kids who can do both at that level; he's unique in his abilities."
Derriun Thompson, Tyler JC
TYLER, Texas - Thompson is a 3-year starter for Prescott who finished with 35 touchdowns and 1,779 yards rushing on offense during his career, while capturing 10 interceptions in 40 games played.
"Derriun is a full-qualifier," Prescott head coach Brian Glass said. "He has Division 1 talent but he just didn't receive the offers that are equivalent to his talent. It's great that he's able to continue to chase his dream."
Thompson is also a 2-year starter on the Curley Wolves basketball team.
"It's always good when the underclassmen get a chance to see one of their teammates sign," Glass said. "We start telling them in the seventh grade that if they do everything right that they will have a chance at a free education through athletics. We try to preach that to our guys as much as possible."