Is Mizzou QB Prospect Sam Horn MLB Bound?

The highly touted freshman has a big decision to make this summer

Following the departure of Connor Bazelak to Indiana via the NCAA Transfer Portal, the Missouri Tigers will have a new starting quarterback in 2022.

New Southern Miss transfer Jack Abraham, sophomore Tyler Macon, junior Brady Cook, and highly touted incoming freshman Sam Horn will be among the contenders.

And while that decision has yet to be made by head coach Eli Drinkwitz, and with the MLB Draft looming next month, Horn will have his own choices to wade through this summer.

“I’m not naive to the fact that Sam is going to have a difficult choice in front of him in mid-July, as he is an unbelievable baseball player with the ability to get drafted,” Drinkwitz told reporters. “He’s going to have to make a decision on which sport he wants to pursue in the future. I’ve met with his family and him and we believe he’s got a great, unbelievable future here as both a football player and a baseball player within the Mizzou football and baseball families. That’s what we’re pushing him on."

As it stands, Horn is projected as a top 75 prospect and a top 35 pitcher by MLB.com, meaning he could be drafted relatively high in the process. 

He was also projected to be a significant contributor to the Mizzou baseball team, alongside his football responsibilities.

"I’m also not naive to the fact that he could choose to pursue a career in the major leagues," Drinkwitz continued. "I could not stay status quo and only have 2 quarterbacks on the roster with experience.”

Any loss of quarterback depth could be a big hit for the Tigers. Especially a prospect like Horn, who ranked as SI All-American's No. 58 prospect nationally, and No. 5 overall quarterback in the 2022 class.

And if Horn goes high enough, he could very well make the choice to head to the major leagues before ever getting the chance to start for the Tigers.

“It really just depends on how high or low I go (in the draft),” Horn said in a phone interview last December. “It’s definitely going to be a tough decision ... probably one of the hardest decisions I ever make. But I don’t really want to worry about that until I get to that point."

One way or another, there will be a new man under center in Columbia next fall.

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You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan

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