Arkansas is right in the thick of the race for one of the biggest names in the 2027 class.
Five-star small forward Demarcus Henry, the No. 1 player at his position, cut his list from 29 offers to eight finalists Monday on his YouTube channel, and the Razorbacks made the cut. The other schools still in the hunt are BYU, UConn, Louisville, Ohio State, Kentucky, North Carolina and Kansas.
The 6-foot-8, 200-pound wing has already built a profile that matches the attention. He’s the younger brother of Chris Henry, who signed with Ohio State as part of the 2026 class, and the son of the late Chris Henry, Sr., who played for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Arkansas got involved in May after Henry turned heads with a 25-point breakout in Nike EYBL Session II play in Memphis. Since then, his stock has only climbed. At Compass Prep in Chandler, Ariz., he averaged more than 16 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks, two assists and one steal per game as a junior.
“My recruiting journey is going great,” Henry said. “I've prayed for it, so I'm just grateful to have that problem, but yeah, right now I have 29 offers, and be able to be in the position, like I'm just so grateful, so grateful. I never thought I would able to just pick out of the schools like I dreamed of going to.
“I just want to say thank you to all the schools that recruited me. Having just one offer was a dream of mine, and just to be able to go to college for basketball, it's just a great opportunity.
I just want to say thank you [coaches] for just believing in my talents, and just like believing that I can play at your schools. But I've just got to do what I've got to do which is just narrow it down.
But I'm just very grateful for you [coaches] for always reaching out to me and letting me know how you think I'll fit at your schools.”
Henry’s rise kept rolling through the spring and summer. He earned first team honors at the NBPA Top-100 Camp after leading the event with 20 points and nearly 10 rebounds per game, and he also suited up for Team USA’s 18U squad, which finished with a silver medal.
According to Rivals Industry Comparison, Henry is a consensus top-five prospect, ranking No. 5 nationally, No. 1 among small forwards and No. 2 among Arizona recruits.
Arkansas has offered 11 prospects in the 2027 class overall, including Henry and overall No. 1 Marcus Spears, Jr., No.
2 Beckham Black, No. 3 CJ Rosser, No.
7 Lewis Uvwo, No. 8 King Gibson, No.
21 Davion Thompson, who is committed to Arkansas, No. 27 Anderson Diaz, who is committed to Alabama, No.
32 Devin Cleveland, No. 42 Tyrone Jamison and No.
55 Caleb Ourigou.
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A major early recruiting battle is taking shape for Arkansas on the wing, and DeMarcus Henry has already put the Razorbacks in the mix. The 5-star small forward from Compass Prep in Arizona has narrowed his list to eight schools, giving John Calipari and his staff a real chance to chase one of the elite names in the 2027 class as the program keeps building its future perimeter core.
Henrys profile makes the pursuit even more important for Arkansas. He is viewed as one of the classs premier small forwards and has picked up scholarship offers from a long list of national powers, so the Razorbacks will have to keep pressing against familiar blue-blood competition in the months ahead. For Calipari, this is the kind of recruitment that can help define how high Arkansas can climb on the trail. [Read more 🡒]