The emergence of the transfer portal has all but killed the JUCO pipeline in football and men’s basketball, but it is very much alive when it comes to Arkansas baseball.
Head coach Dave Van Horn once again dipped into the junior college ranks in an effort to restock his roster, landing six such players for the upcoming 2025 season.
They may not have Division I experience, but JUCO transfers also aren’t freshmen and have been known to make an immediate impact for the Razorbacks.
This year, two of their most consistent hitters were second-year players out of the JUCO ranks: Peyton Holt and Ben McLaughlin. That continued a trend, as guys like Caleb Cali, Brady Slavens, Hunter Hollan, Jalen Battles, Braydon Webb, Matt Goodheart, Charlie Welch and Ryan Costeiu have all played large roles on Arkansas’ teams since 2021 — and that’s just the post-pandemic era.
Odds are at least one of the six JUCO prospects signed or committed to the Razorbacks will have a similar impact in 2025, but the first step is getting all of them to campus.
All JUCO players — regardless of age or classification — are eligible for the MLB Draft, but they don’t get picked at nearly the same rate as players from four-year colleges or the high school level. Last year, only 44 junior college players were among the 614 selections, which is just 7.2%. The rate was slightly lower in 2022, at 6.8% (42 of 616 draftees).
Perhaps the most notable instance of this happening to Arkansas was back in 2006, when it signed a prospect from Navarro J.C. named Chris Davis. He was drafted in the fifth round and never played for the Razorbacks. Instead, he became “Crush” Davis and hit 295 career home runs during a 13-year MLB career.
There are also two more recent examples of Arkansas losing JUCO signees in the MLB Draft and they happened under different circumstances.
In 2021, Brenden Dixon was picked by the Pirates in the 20th and final round. That was likely because Arkansas had made it through the MLB Draft relatively well and there wasn’t really a spot for him in Fayetteville, so he was willing to go ahead and begin his professional career.
Two years before that, before the draft was cut in half, Chet Allison was taken in the 24th round. He was expected to compete for a starting spot in Arkansas’ outfield in 2020 and Van Horn indicated he believed he’d make it to campus, but the Dodgers gave him an unusually high signing bonus for that round.
Both of those scenarios could be in play for this year’s crop of JUCO signees/commits.
(READ NEXT: What about the high school signees? Click here for our breakdown.)
Biggest 2024 MLB Draft Risks
When the Razorbacks announced their 2024 signing class in November, the list included only two junior college players. Interestingly, those two seem to be the biggest threats to be picked in the upcoming MLB Draft.
INF Brent Iredale — New Mexico J.C.
A native of Sydney, Australia, Brent Iredale has put up monster numbers at New Mexico J.C. the last two years. He slashed .411/.508/.807 with 17 home runs and 67 RBIs in 55 games as a freshman and then followed it up with an even better sophomore year, posting a .441/.576/1.000 slash with 25 homers and 78 RBIs in 58 games and earning second-team NJCAA All-America honors.
Despite the increased power, Iredale didn’t sacrifice his plate discipline. In fact, he actually improved it. After drawing 30 walks and striking out 41 times in 2023, he flipped that around this year with 47 walks and 32 strikeouts. Iredale was also 40 of 45 on stolen base attempts over the last two years.
JUCO statistics can be massively misleading, but it seems as though Iredale has caught the attention of pro scouts, in addition to Arkansas’ coaches. Prep Baseball Report (PBR) has actually tabbed him as the second-best JUCO prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft, while he checks in at No. 444 and No. 464 on overall prospect lists by Future Star Series and Baseball America, respectively.
If he does make it to campus, Iredale seems like a leading candidate to with the starting job at third base, possibly competing with the likes of Nolan Souza and Reese Robinett — although those two could also end up elsewhere in the infield (second and first base, respectively).
OF Justin Thomas — Florida SouthWestern State C.C.
Coming out of high school in the Class of 2022, Justin Thomas was ranked as the No. 301 overall recruit in the country and signed with Georgia. The former two-sport standout struggled in limited playing time as a freshman, though, hitting just .103 with one home run and five RBIs in 29 at bats.
When the Bulldogs made a coaching change, bringing in former Arkansas pitching coach Wes Johnson, Thomas opted to leave the team and go the JUCO route. Landing at Florida SouthWestern State, where former Arkansas third baseman Cullen Smith is on staff, he enjoyed a breakout 2024 season. Thomas slashed .393/.514/.699 with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs, earning third-team All-America honors. He also swiped 35 bags in 58 games.
That stolen base total makes Thomas the perfect fit for what Dave Van Horn described after the season — more athletic players who can beat you with more than the long ball — but there’s a chance he never makes it to Fayetteville. Thomas is the sixth-best MLB Draft prospect in the JUCO ranks, according to PBR, and checks in at No. 289 on Future Star Series’ prospects list. In an interview with the Savannah Morning News, he said if he gets selected in the draft, he’ll turn professional because he’s “ready to play pro ball.”
One concern with Thomas’ game might be his high strikeout total, as he went down on strikes 52 times in 219 at bats. It won’t get any easier in the SEC, which he knows from his time at Georgia (when he struck out 15 times in 29 ABs). If he doesn’t get drafted and the strikeouts aren’t too big of an issue, Thomas could easily find himself as one of Arkansas’ outfielders in 2025 — possibly in center field.
Other JUCO Signees/Commits for Arkansas Baseball
There’s a chance any of the following four players get drafted, but they are not among PBR’s top-50 JUCO prospects or featured on any of the other major prospect lists.
If they get picked on Day 3 (Rounds 11-20), they could turn down the pros to come to Arkansas or they might be told they don’t have a clear path to playing time with the Razorbacks and choose to sign professionally like Brenden Dixon did in 2021.
C Elliott Peterson — Southeast C.C.
The most recent addition to the 2025 Arkansas baseball roster, Elliott Peterson didn’t commit to the Razorbacks until Sunday, following a visit to Fayetteville. He is a native of Elkhorn, Neb., just outside of Omaha, and Arkansas has apparently been on his radar for a while.
“Growing up, I’ve always been an Arkansas fan,” Peterson said in an interview posted to the Southeast C.C. website. “I’ve had the opportunity to see them play at the CWS many times, so it’s always been a dream school of mine.”
Peterson earned the opportunity after an incredible sophomore season in which he led all of NJCAA with a .517 batting average and finished third with 91 RBIs, earning first-team All-America honors. He also hit 15 home runs and went 25 of 25 on stolen base attempts in 59 games. His final slash line was .517/.585/.894, resulting in a whopping 1.479 OPS.
The Razorbacks are set to return Ryder Helfrick, a heralded catcher prospect who struggled as a freshman, but started to turn things around late in the season and is in the midst of a really solid summer in the prestigious Cape Cod League. He’s the projected starter in 2025, but Peterson told the SCC website that he’ll have a shot to earn the starting job.
Even if he doesn’t win the starting job Peterson’s addition is huge for the Razorbacks because they’d still need a backup catcher to take some of the load off Helfrick.
The only other returning catcher on the roster is Ty Waid, but he isn’t expected to play the position in college and he redshirted last season. Arkansas did sign a pair of catchers in Zane Becker and Carson Willis, but they are unproven, so likely the only scenario in which Peterson is asked to move on is if Hudson White returns. That is highly improbable, as he’s expected to get drafted.
OF Kolton Reynolds — Crowder C.C.
Another member of the NJCAA All-America second team, Kolton Reynolds played at the same junior college that produced recent Razorbacks Peyton Holt and Dylan Carter. Like those two, he is also a native Arkansan, hailing from Huntsville.
As a freshman, Reynolds was actually a first-team All-American after slashing .399/.533/.814 with 19 home runs and 79 RBIs in 188 at bats. His numbers took a step back this past season, but he was still solid with a .369/.475/.644 slash with 10 home runs and 68 RBIs in 233 at bats. It’s worth noting that he struck out 125 times over the two seasons, as well.
The Razorbacks are losing virtually all of their outfielders from last season, with Kendall Diggs being a big question mark, but have planned for it by securing quite a few from the transfer portal. If Diggs ultimately returns, that could make it even more difficult for Reynolds to earn significant playing time next season — but the same thing was thought about Holt when he first arrived from Crowder.
Being an Arkansas native likely means he’ll give it a shot and stick around, just in case he gets the opportunity that Holt did.
INF Trenton Rowan — Seward County C.C.
A former travel ball teammate of Arkansas right-hander Christian Foutch, Trenton Rowan signed with the Razorbacks in April after two seasons at Seward County C.C. in Liberal, Kansas.
He is a corner infielder who hit .390/.465/.690 with 20 home runs and 96 RBIs in 89 career games with the Saints. That includes only 35 games this year in which he matched his freshman year total of 10 home runs.
INF Carson Schrack — Coffeyville C.C.
He doesn’t have a ton of power, as evidenced by him hitting only seven home runs in 114 career games at Coffeyville C.C., but Carson Schrack did drove in 97 runs and scored another 103.
The Edgerton, Kan., native appears to be more of a leadoff hitter, slashing .377/.468/.550 across his two JUCO seasons with nearly twice as many walks (65) as strikeouts (37). He was also 28 of 31 on stolen base attempts.
Both Rowan and Schrack are infielders, with the former being a corner infielder and the latter playing both second and third base. If the aforementioned Brent Iredale makes it to campus, it likely makes their path to playing time with Arkansas baseball in 2025 much more difficult — especially with the likes of Nolan Souza and Reese Robinett returning and the additions of Kuhio Aloy, Maximus Martin and Michael Anderson via the transfer portal.
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More coverage of Arkansas baseball and the 2024 MLB Draft from BoAS…