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By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

Andy Boykin, a Troup High graduate preparing for his freshman season on the Arkansas football team, knows what his uniform number will be this fall.

Boykin, a defensive lineman, will wear the number 44 at Arkansas, the same number he had at Troup.

The uniform numbers for the Arkansas incoming freshmen were revealed on Tuesday morning.

Boykin was a three-year member of the Troup football program after transferring from LaGrange High, and he was an impact player on the defensive side of the ball.

Boykin had plenty of options when it came time to choose a college home, and he opted to go with Arkansas in part because of his relationship with first-year head coach Sam Pittman.

Boykin got to know Pittman when he was an assistant coach at the University of Georgia.

“Me and him always had a relationship from when he was at Georgia,” Boykin said when he signed in February. “We just picked up that relationship at Arkansas. He’s just a very genuine person.”

Following his signing-day ceremony, Boykin was all smiles knowing the recruiting process was over.

“It’s like a big weight lifted off my shoulders,” Boykin said. “It’s like I had this whole building on my shoulders. Now I can take it off, because recruiting is stressful.”

Like every college-football team, Arkansas is dealing with the new reality created by the coronavirus pandemic.

Spring practice was canceled and the players have been away from campus for more than two months.

Things are starting to open up again, and the players are returning to Arkansas this week to begin summer workouts.