Sounds Like Dave Van Horn Trying to Figure Out Hogs' Roster

Right now it's a little early to be talking lineup because head coach may not know yet

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn has ordered championship rings for the SEC regular season, but that's really the one he's wanting. You have to make it to Omaha to do that.

“This is the fifth year in a row that we get to design a ring for these guys and it is pretty special,” Van Horn said. “An SEC championship is really hard to get. We want to take one more step. Obviously our goal is to win a national championship and if we can get all the pieces to come back, we are going to do everything we can to get one here in the next year or two.”

Right now, Van Horn would probably just like to know who all will be available for the Razorbacks. The draft for pro ball is still coming up and that's going to determine the immediate future for some of the guys. Right now, he has a pretty good idea on a few of them, but he won't know for sure until the second week of July. That's cutting things close for a lot of college baseball team. Coaches don't particularly like it, but it is what it is sounds like the approach Van Horn is taking.

"I’m done complaining about it, and I think every Division I coach has talked about it until we’re blue in the face," Van Horn said. "The draft should have been two weeks ago. Or at the very latest now. At the very latest. So at least we could move on and figure this thing out. We don’t know what’s going to go on with Aidan Miller or Walker Martin. We are talking with them, trying to figure out what kind of money they’re going to demand to sign and what they’re really thinking. Do they really want to school?

"Having all those conversations, it's just what you do. But you have to be smart about it. You can dream about getting all these guys. We don’t want to dream around here. We’re more about reality. So we’ve tried to handle some things, take care of some things, and hoping we can maybe sneak one of those three or four position players that are going to sign through."

Pitching has a pretty good start with Hagen Smith and Brady Tygart coming back, but things start getting a little uncertain for a lot of that. Hunter Hollan has dangled the possibility of a return, but things are far from certain until there's actually that draft, which is probably the biggest stop in the whole process.

“Having all those conversations, it’s just what you do Van Horn said. But you have to be smart about it. You can dream about getting all these guys. We don’t want to dream around here. We’re more about reality. So we’ve tried to handle some things, take care of some things, and hoping we can maybe sneak one of those three or four position players that are going to sign through.”