College baseball is unlike any other major college sport. As Arkansas fans are acutely aware, MLB teams can draft players from the prep ranks – unlike their counterparts in the NFL and NBA.
Soon, head coach Dave Van Horn will have another wrinkle to deal with as he constructs his future rosters. Not only must he navigate the waters of NIL and the transfer portal, but reduced roster sizes are also coming.
Just this month, a judge granted preliminary approval of the landmark settlement that not only ushers in revenue sharing, but also eliminates scholarship restrictions and replaces them with roster limits across all college sports.
For college baseball, that means the 11.7 scholarship limit is finally gone. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, that number is nearly tripling – teams will be allowed to offer full scholarships to all 34 players, which is the new roster cap.
Impact on Arkansas Baseball
On the surface, that seems great for a sport that has lagged behind its counterparts when it comes to scholarships. But Dave Van Horn wasn’t exactly jumping for joy when news of the change first came out.
Not only will the rosters shrink from the current 40-man limit to 34, which is even one less than the pre-pandemic limit of 35, but teams must shrink down that number by the fall of 2025. That’s significant considering the Razorbacks have 51 players on their current fall ball roster.
The change is aimed at creating more competitive balance across all programs. It will be tougher for well-funded programs to stockpile talent, forcing programs to be more strategic in the players they sign.
This will affect some borderline prospects who could be boom or bust. A recent player like that who comes to mind is former Razorback hurler Jake Faherty. The hard-throwing right-hander was a project who touched triple digits, but had little idea where it was going.
Faherty originally signed with Wabash Valley – a top JUCO – in November of 2020, but when Arkansas offered him the opportunity to pitch in the SEC and learn from one of the best pitching coaches in college baseball, he decided to go to Arkansas with no guarantee of a future. Over the course of three seasons, Arkansas pitching coach Matt Hobbs transformed Faherty into an MLB draft pick.
With fewer roster spots under the new rule, though, Arkansas won’t be able to take a chance on a player like Faherty – or guys like Carson Shaddy or Kevin Kopps, who redshirted their first year before evolving into stars. Top programs will have to go after players who can contribute right away.
TCU Baseball Changes Recruiting Philosophy
As a result of the rule change, top programs are already tweaking their recruiting class sizes and philosophy.
TCU, according to program insiders, is not signing any baseball prospects in the November signing period. The Horned Frogs are instead re-evaluating current commitments and asking that players hold off until the spring signing period.
Left-handed pitcher Baron Mannis from Argyle, Texas, was a TCU baseball commitment who was asked not to sign in the early period. This prompted Mannis to open up his recruiting to find a program where he could make an immediate impact.
“For me, it didn’t make sense for me to close out my options for a school who did not have the same commitment to me that I did in them and sign later with a school where I can really help and I’m wanted,” Mannis told Best of Arkansas Sports.
Mannis held an offer from Arkansas baseball last August when official offers could be sent to 2025 prospects. Originally from Conway, he still frequents the state to see family and friends. He is a 4.0 student with aspirations of becoming a lawyer when his baseball career ends.
Last season, Mannis was 8-2 with a 2.02 ERA over 49 2/3 innings for Argyle High School north of Fort Worth. His two losses were to Grapevine High School and left-hander Dasan Hill, the 69th overall pick in this year’s MLB Draft. The 18-year-old now turns his attention to leading Argyle to a Class 5A state championship next spring.
“I’m really focused on preparing myself for the spring,” Mannis said. “I get to face top players every week and if I do my job, it will create opportunities for me and that is what I am focused on.”
As for where Mannis ultimately ends up, he really likes Oklahoma State and will visit Stillwater soon. The Cowboys do not have a left-handed pitcher committed for the 2025 class and Mannis could be their missing piece. The Razorbacks currently have three left-handed pitchers committed in the 2025 class, but are still high on the list for Mannis.
More Decommits Coming for Arkansas Baseball?
Arkansas baseball started making changes to its recruiting philosophy starting with the 2023 class.
Before the 2023 MLB Draft, the Razorbacks signed 13 top-100 players, according to Perfect Game – the most ever in the recruiting rankings era. The class was highlighted by Aiden Miller, Walker Martin and Dylan Questad. The Hogs lost that trio, plus three others, to MLB clubs, but were able to keep high-end prospects Gabe Gaeckle, Ryder Helfrick and Nolan Souza. All three saw significant action as freshmen and are projected starters in 2025.
The Arkansas baseball program is a national brand much like Alabama in football. While recruiting nationally is always there for Nate Thompson, making sure the best in-state players become Hogs is critical, as well. With a 34 man roster, though, some of the top players will end up at other schools.
Russellville senior right-handed pitcher Russ Martin is one such in-state product who decided to not go to Fayetteville and commit to Chris Curry’s Little Rock Trojans instead. Martin committed to Arkansas in August 2022, but decided he could contribute earlier for the Trojans and changed his commitment in late September.
He is believed to be the first player to decommit from the Razorbacks and commit to another in-state school – but he may not be the last. Based on my discussions with recruits and insiders, expect a domino effect of 2025 recruits (4-6 overall) currently committed to Arkansas who could be looking for new homes soon.
It’s a simple numbers situation, really. The Hogs currently have 20 players committed in the 2025 class and – with the rosters being trimmed to 34 – the expectation is the group could end up capped at around 15. That means we could see 2-3 other in-state players reopen their recruiting before the November signing period.
While the roster limits could affect in-state recruits in a negative fashion, out-of-state recruits like Mannis could benefit based on a team’s needs in a given recruiting cycle.
Mid-majors like Little Rock, Arkansas State and UCA are embracing the smaller rosters, knowing they have a chance to get high profile players. With UALR having a nationally recognized law school, the Trojans are an attractive landing spot for a player like Mannis considering his plans for after baseball. When the roster changes were announced in July, Curry welcomed the news.
“I am happy to see college baseball players finally have the opportunity for full scholarships which have been long overdue,” Curry told BoAS. “It will be interesting to see the timing of when the roster limits are implemented. I believe this could make the talent ar mid-majors and across college baseball even better.”
(UPDATE: The second domino has fallen when it comes to Arkansas baseball’s 2025 recruiting class. Kevin Landry Farr, a right-handed pitcher who committed to the Razorbacks last August, announced Tuesday morning that he had flipped his commitment to Southern Miss. While he plays at Northpoint Christian School in Mississippi, Farr is originally from Proctor, Ark.)
Moving Forward with the New Rule
Now that the 2025 recruiting cycle is coming to a close, the Class of 2026 is rounding into form.
Conway catcher Max Holland recently became just the ninth known commitment for Arkansas baseball. The class is split evenly with four in-state players and five out of state. Holland had plenty of suitors in August, with Kansas State being in his final group along with the Razorbacks. Ultimately, the home-state school won out.
“I felt my heart was at Arkansas,” Holland told BoAS. “Being an in-state kid, there’s some pride there, and the facilities are the best in the nation, and the coaches and atmosphere are awesome.”
Holland earned all-state honors for Conway as a sophomore and wasn’t really concerned about the new roster limitations.
“Most everyone who comes in, in the fall, will be on the team, I’m pretty sure,” Holland added.
The catching position in baseball is like the quarterback room in football. Arkansas will make offers to multiple guys, but usually just take one per year, maybe two if they can play another position. Arkansas sees Holland as the catcher of the future in the 2026 class.
One thing we know for certain is that the college baseball landscape will change once again starting next season. The teams that adapt to the changes sooner seem to be the teams that find their way to Omaha.
The SEC has done a good job of adapting to change over the last few years with LSU and Tennessee winning the last two national titles with MLB talent from the high school ranks and the transfer portal. Building the right roster has never been more important.
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More from Arkansas’ Last Scrimmages vs OSU
Perhaps the most unsettled position battle for Arkansas heading into the spring is at first base. The Razorbacks feasibly have four different options they could try: Reese Robinett, Kuhio Aloy, Trenton Rowan and Michael Anderson.
Last weekend, in three games vs Oklahoma State, Van Horn opted to start a different first baseman in each of the outings, with the fourth of those candidates getting the nod at designated hitter.
More here:
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Kevin Bohannon is a member of Member of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and serves a a high school/college baseball analyst for a number of local media outlets including the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
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