Hogs' Newest 5-Star Commit More Legit Than Rating Might Lead One to Believe
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – When word came down that Arkansas landed a 5-star punter as rated by KOHL's, it was hard not to immediately go into a comedy set tying McDonald's rating All-Americans and the department store ranking kickers.
There was so much material correlating basketball coaches to college students at 1 a.m. in comparison to suburban housewives looking to upgrade their husbands' look at 1 p.m. However, it only took a few seconds of digging into the newest Razorbacks commit, Gavin Rush, to realize the KOHL's 5-star kicker disappointingly has no relation to the Mecca of khakis and sun dresses.
Rush's declaration as one of the nation's best punters has a bit more legitimacy than initially thought. It turns out that to be a highly rated KOHL's kicker, one has to go through a grueling series of tests year after year with the KOHL's Professional Football Camps.
It's a serious group founded by Jamie Kohl, a former four-year starter at Iowa State as a kicker. He is fourth all-time in points there and went on to a brief stint with the Seattle Seahawks.
He then went on to found the camp and became one of the NFL's most trusted consultants on kicking. Kohl is known for churning out future Super Bowl and Pro Bowl kickers, so if Rush came out of the camps rated as a 5-star, that carries weight.
This, coupled with the recent news of the nation's No. 37 player in linebacker Tavion Wallace committing to Arkansas, gives Pittman much needed momentum on the recruiting trail. Fans may scoff at the idea of an elite punter until they start having flashbacks of balls sailing out of bounds just a few yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
It's a position that's not fully appreciated until there's not a good one. It's rare to say a punter's highlight tape impressed anyone, but Rush's certain does that.
His time from when he catches the ball to when the kick is delivered is minimal, so he will be difficult to block. Not only that, but the way it sails off his foot with a tight spiral that weaves its way through the air with superior height is impressive.
Back in 2023, without the benefit of a college strength and nutrition regiment or even another year of physical growth in high school, he was already capable of hitting 53-yard punts in the air with a 4.37 hang time. An average college punter hits it around 42 yards and is considered an A-level kicker if the hang time reaches 4.3 seconds.
"His hands and overall coordination is at the D1 level," the Kohl's camp evaluation reads. "His drill work and charts show he is ready to compete at the D1 level ... He is one of the top 2025 punters in the country and should be highly sought after this summer!"
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• OSU's Gordon probably won't miss Hogs' game with Tuesday's DUI arrest
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KENT SMITH
Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments.