Top high school football recruit Dion Stutts — a defensive lineman who was committed to playing for the Univ. of Arkansas in 2024 — tragically died on Tuesday following a utility vehicle accident … TMZ Sports has confirmed.
A spokesperson for the Panola County Sheriff’s Office tells us … the incident occurred on Stutts’ family farm in Batesville, Miss.
The rep said Stutts had been driving in a side-by-side with another person … when it somehow crashed. Stutts’ passenger was uninjured and was able to try to get help for the football player — but he was sadly later pronounced deceased.
He was just 18 years old.
An investigation into the wreck remains ongoing, the police spokesperson said.
The Razorbacks — who accepted a commitment from Stutts back in March — said in a statement Wednesday they’re devastated over the news.
“We are heartbroken over the passing of Dion Stutts,” the team wrote on its Twitter page. “He was a tremendous young man with a bright future ahead of him. We were as excited to add him to our program as he was to be a Razorback.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his mother Shante and father Dino along with his entire family as they deal with this loss.”
Stutts attended Memphis University School in Tennessee … and in addition to being a force on the football field, he also starred for the school’s wrestling team.
Our hearts go out to the family and friends of rising senior Dion Stutts. pic.twitter.com/948Ikxe2jP
— MUS Athletics (@OwlBuzz) June 14, 2023
@OwlBuzz
The 6-foot-3, 250-pound athlete had racked up multiple scholarship offers, including ones from Texas A&M, South Carolina and Mississippi State — before he committed to Arkansas.
“Our hearts go out to the family and friends of rising senior Dion Stutts,” MUS athletics said in a statement.
Added Univ. of Memphis head football coach Ryan Silverfield, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Dion Stutts and the entire MUS community.”
RIP