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.