FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Derrian Ford has found a surprising landing spot out of the transfer portal and he’s staying within the state of Arkansas. No, he’s not coming back to the Razorbacks (who knows if that was even an option), but will be going to Arkansas State.

Probably not a lot of folks had that picked on their bingo card for the freshman who played sparingly for the Hogs last season. An announcement that he was transferring wasn’t that surprising, but the destination is to a lot of people.

Ford had offers from Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and ASU among a host of other teams. LSU and Alabama were two that recruited him the hardest. New Red Wolves coach Bryan Hodgson was an assistant with the Crimson Tide during Ford’s recruitment.

Arkansas State finished last season 13-20 overall and 4-14 in league games. Hodgson brings a level of energy to Jonesboro that hasn’t been seen in awhile, if ever.

Ford was a two-time Gatorade Arkansas Player of the Year and led the program to three state championships. He averaged 23.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and three assists per game as a senior.

He played 80 minutes in 21 games and had 15 points and 10 rebounds. He saw the floor for a season-high 16 minutes in the Razorbacks’ loss at Vanderbilt on Jan. 14.

Ford scored a season-best four points in nine minutes in the team’s loss at Missouri on Jan. 18. The 6-3 guard had a three-assist game against San Jose State in December, and had a pair of assists in wins over North Carolina-Asheville and Georgia.

Ford finished with a single point, a single rebound and just one assist in five minutes in Arkansas’ Sweet 16 loss to Connecticut in Las Vegas.