Arkansas Razorbacks coach Dave Van Horn on Thursday before the last practice of fall practice. They will begin preseason practices when everyone returns from the holidays and the season starts in February.
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00:00 You guys have been busy, so I appreciate it.
00:02 You know, it's been a wild fall.
00:06 First things first, just a shout-out to Coach Watson
00:10 and volleyball and Coach Hale, soccer, Coach Buckman again,
00:15 all three of those guys.
00:17 SEC coaches of the year had great falls,
00:20 excited about what's going on for the most part,
00:23 and looking forward to jumping into basketball season.
00:28 And it was a great win last night against Duke.
00:30 I really enjoyed it.
00:32 Atmosphere was amazing.
00:35 It was just -- it was fun.
00:36 And then baseball is just around the corner,
00:39 so we're pretty excited.
00:40 Fall went great.
00:42 For the most part, stayed healthy,
00:45 which is always a concern in the fall.
00:47 The fall is all about development.
00:49 It still is.
00:51 Still going through that.
00:53 But got to see a lot of good things.
00:55 Excited about where the program is
00:58 and the potential of what could happen this spring.
01:03 Go ahead, Hutch.
01:05 Yeah, Dave, I'm curious, after seeing everything in the fall,
01:09 what maybe position battles are still kind of looming
01:12 that are going to have to be sorted out
01:14 with preseason practices?
01:16 Yeah, you know, I almost really feel like the position battles
01:20 are going to always be there.
01:21 I truly believe that's a big part of our program
01:25 and the way we run things here,
01:27 that you just have to keep working to play.
01:32 Even if you're a returning starter,
01:34 obviously your name's penciled in until it's not.
01:38 And I think the competition is what makes players better.
01:42 I think the competition amongst teammates
01:48 makes you better for the future.
01:49 A lot of these guys are going to play pro ball,
01:51 teaches you how to fight through the minor leagues.
01:54 So, you know, kind of answering your question,
01:58 I still feel like they all have to fight.
02:00 But, you know, if you're talking about wide open,
02:04 nobody's back, no starter there, you know,
02:08 you could look at a lot of positions on our team right now,
02:12 and it's been that way three years in a row.
02:14 And we just - we're going to find a way
02:16 to get it done again this year.
02:18 But, you know, the catching spot is -
02:21 it's amazing this year that we have four really good catchers.
02:26 And, you know, a lot of times you're just hoping
02:28 you have one and a quarter.
02:30 And what do I mean by that?
02:31 You're just hoping a guy that could back up your starter
02:33 and give him a rest every now and then.
02:35 But, I mean, honestly, we could -
02:37 we could catch any one of these four guys
02:39 and feel good about it.
02:41 They're all a little bit different.
02:44 Some may be more defensive, right-handed hitters,
02:47 switch hitters, power, maybe quick release,
02:51 really strong arm, different - different situations.
02:54 But I do believe that battle is going to continue,
02:57 and it's going to make us really strong back there.
03:00 And we should be able to stay fresh.
03:03 Are you wanting me to mention names,
03:05 or how do you want me to go about this?
03:08 However you want to take it.
03:10 Well, you guys are at a lot of our scrimmages and practices,
03:13 so you know we're talking about Hudson White,
03:17 transferred in here from Texas Tech
03:19 and had a pretty good reputation about being a good hitter.
03:23 And maybe, you know, it's crazy, you talk to one coach
03:27 and they say, yeah, he's a really good catcher.
03:28 And another guy would say, he's just an okay catcher.
03:31 And he came in here,
03:32 and he's probably the most improved defensively
03:35 of all of our guys from the time he walked in the door,
03:39 you know, until, like, right now.
03:41 What do I mean by that?
03:42 I mean, his receiving skills have gotten better,
03:44 keeping pitches in the zone longer, you know.
03:48 And I credit Bobby Wernus and Coach Hobbs
03:52 for really showing him the way as far as with technology,
03:59 you know, keeping balls close,
04:00 where you're going to steal some pitches.
04:03 Just have done a tremendous job there.
04:05 And then, obviously, Parker Roland
04:07 had an incredible fall offensively.
04:09 And that was the issue last year.
04:10 He caught great, threw great, but he didn't hit very well.
04:13 I mean, he was amazing this fall.
04:16 You know, I mean, and if he was sitting in here with me,
04:18 we'd be kind of giggling about it.
04:19 But it was shocking how much better he was.
04:22 And he went out to summer ball, played ball, did well,
04:26 made the All-Star team.
04:27 And, you know, he wanted to play baseball, and he got better.
04:30 And then true freshman Ryder Helfrich is, he's the future.
04:36 He may be the guy that catches a lot this year.
04:40 I mean, time will tell. I don't want to put that on him.
04:42 It's hard for a freshman to manage an SEC staff,
04:46 especially one like we have, without some help.
04:50 So I think it's a perfect scenario for him
04:53 where he can play and get after it
04:55 and get some coaching from our older catchers
04:58 and learn from watching, learn from playing.
05:02 And then Hudson Polk, he came in and had a tremendous fall.
05:05 Hit the ball extremely hard, hit four or five home runs.
05:07 And, you know, it's fun to see kids get better.
05:12 You know, but when you're dealing with the possibility
05:16 of kids getting drafted after their junior year,
05:20 guys jumping in the portal, you just got to recruit.
05:22 And you kind of, when the smoke clears,
05:24 usually you might have two catchers and a walk-on.
05:27 And we just happened to have four really good catchers.
05:29 So is it a problem? No. Is it a good problem?
05:33 Yes. But we'll work it out.
05:36 They're all really good teammates.
05:38 So other positions, that took a long time.
05:41 Outfield is still a work in progress.
05:45 Kendall Diggs is our starting right fielder.
05:47 I mean, he played longer than anybody this summer.
05:50 They won the Cape Cod Championship out there.
05:54 He had some good days and okay days.
05:56 He was a little tired.
05:58 But he's a guy. He's earned it.
06:02 Right field is his until it isn't.
06:04 And I don't think it's going to be anybody else's.
06:07 You know, I could DH him a little bit,
06:08 but I plan on him playing right field.
06:11 We have -- and the other guys are new.
06:14 You know, you got Ty Wilmsmire from Missouri,
06:17 hit .300 there last year, did not hit this fall.
06:20 Didn't hit our pitching. Played great defense.
06:22 I think he's a lot better hitter than he showed,
06:24 and we hope he is, but he's a really good defender.
06:26 Kind of -- he's a center fielder.
06:28 And then Will Edmondson,
06:29 the transfer from a junior college, had a good fall.
06:32 Got better and better as fall went on.
06:35 Learned how to deal with the velocity he was seeing
06:38 and got better in the outfield.
06:40 Had a good fall.
06:41 And then another guy we didn't play out there much
06:44 because he was working at third was Jason Jones.
06:46 And for those of you that remember last year,
06:49 that was injury after injury after injury after injury.
06:52 I played Jason Jones in left field against Mississippi State.
06:55 I thought he looked really good
06:56 until he took about a 95-mile-an-hour
06:58 fastball in the helmet.
06:59 And I had to pull him out of the game.
07:02 But we've been working with him out there
07:05 because we're trying to get everybody in the lineup
07:07 that we need to get in the lineup.
07:09 But he's still working at third.
07:11 So those are some of the guys in the outfield.
07:13 And then third base, you got Peyton Holt.
07:16 You got Jared Sprague-Lott, who played at Richmond last year.
07:20 That's one of our top defenders.
07:22 Started hitting the ball really well at the end of the year.
07:24 He hit .300 at Richmond last year.
07:27 And he could play anywhere.
07:30 He's kind of our utility guy.
07:34 Play short, second.
07:36 He could play first if we want him to,
07:37 but he also is a really,
07:38 really good third baseman defensively.
07:41 And then Jason Jones can play there as well.
07:42 And that's probably what you're looking at.
07:44 At second base, it's Peyton Stovall's job to lose.
07:48 He was incredible fielding the ball this fall.
07:51 He didn't play in scrimmages,
07:52 just talking about practice, workouts, all the way up.
07:56 And today is our last official day
07:59 we can work with our players.
08:00 I don't know if I've seen him miss one ball,
08:02 and it's been incredible.
08:04 His skills have just gotten better.
08:07 The arm's coming along.
08:08 He's got, like, one more week of structured throwing program.
08:14 But he looks better than ever. He's swinging the bat now.
08:16 Obviously, it's not off live pitching.
08:18 But sometimes when you get something
08:21 taken away from you with an injury,
08:23 you just appreciate everything more.
08:24 And it's been fun there.
08:27 Obviously, Peyton Holt is an outstanding second baseman.
08:31 Sprague-Lott is an outstanding second baseman.
08:33 So we're going to be fine there.
08:36 Shortstop, Behave-A-Loy transferred in here.
08:40 He's just getting better and better with the glove.
08:42 Big kid, got a lot of power.
08:45 I think he led our team in home runs this fall.
08:47 I think he had 14 or 15 as a true freshman last year.
08:50 He's very coachable.
08:54 He's letting us coach him, and we're watching him get better.
08:57 And then Sprague-Lott is probably his backup.
09:01 So that's a quick run around except for first.
09:03 And at first, it's, you know, Ben McLaughlin and Jack Wagner.
09:08 McLaughlin was our DH down the stretch,
09:10 one of our top hitters.
09:12 Had an opportunity to sign pro this summer.
09:16 Turned it down, didn't get drafted.
09:17 Would have been drafted probably about the 15th round.
09:19 There was one team that was really, really into him
09:24 with a lot of communication between myself and Ben.
09:29 He's back. Let's just put it that way.
09:30 So we're excited that we're going to have him
09:32 plugged in the middle of our lineup
09:34 because I think he's going to drive in a lot of runs.
09:35 He's a contact guy. He's got some power.
09:38 Got off to a slow start in fall ball.
09:40 A lot of experiment at the plate.
09:42 Swinging too hard, I could go on and on.
09:44 Kind of went back to being his old self,
09:46 and he started killing it. So excited about him.
09:48 And then Jack Wagner, I think he had 14, 15 home runs.
09:52 Last year over at Tarleton State,
09:53 he started his career at Kansas.
09:56 And when there's been coaching changes
09:58 at both places, he's left.
10:00 Probably one of our team favorites amongst players.
10:02 Hard-nosed kid. Had an incredible last week of fall ball.
10:08 Home runs, doubles.
10:09 He could play first. He could play outfield.
10:12 So, you know, I've named off a lot of guys,
10:15 and that's a good thing.
10:17 You've got to have about 13, 14 guys
10:19 for those nine offensive spots
10:21 that can move around a little bit.
10:23 So we feel real good.
10:25 And I know I've missed a guy or two,
10:26 but we feel good about where we're going to be
10:29 once we get this thing figured out throughout the season.
10:34 I appreciate it, Coach. I'll turn it over to the other guys.
10:37 Bob, go ahead.
10:41 Hey, I think he said Tom.
10:42 Dave, I'm always fascinated by what your pitching
10:45 is going to look like.
10:47 Who do you think is going to be in the starter mix
10:49 and just, you know, thoughts on that?
10:53 And we are so fortunate to have a really good bunch of kids
10:59 and a good bunch of arms, let me tell you.
11:02 Obviously, it starts with Hagan Smith,
11:04 and I want to mention this real quick.
11:08 We had a team meeting yesterday, went over a few things,
11:10 handed out their SEC Championship rings.
11:12 I think a lot of people forgot that we won the SEC
11:14 Championship, and it still bothers me a little bit,
11:17 I'll be honest with you.
11:18 It's one of my favorite teams I've ever coached.
11:20 Just kept getting hurt, and guys just kept stepping up,
11:23 and all we did was find a way to win,
11:25 and so proud to hand out those rings to those guys yesterday.
11:28 But we also voted on team captains,
11:30 and Hagan Smith is one of them.
11:33 I mean, I don't know if I've ever had one player
11:36 get so many votes.
11:37 I mean, it was almost unanimous, 40-some guys,
11:39 and super excited about him.
11:41 And then also, Kendall Diggs really stepped up as a leader,
11:45 you know, kind of quiet his first couple of years this year,
11:48 a lot more verbal, works hard, players love him.
11:51 He was selected as a team captain.
11:53 And then Peyton Stovall, who was a captain last year,
11:55 and thought it was big that the players voted for him again.
12:00 We have so many new guys, and this is a guy
12:02 that didn't play on the field in scrimmages all fall,
12:06 but I think they saw his work ethic, his rehab work,
12:11 and they know his talent level
12:14 and the way he talked to the guys this fall.
12:17 I feel super excited about the three guys
12:19 that they selected as captains, and, you know,
12:23 if you would have asked me,
12:25 I would have probably taken the same three guys,
12:26 so excited there.
12:27 But getting back to the pitching,
12:29 you know, it starts with Hagan Smith,
12:32 and then you can probably run over to Brady Tiger,
12:35 and I think his stuff's better than ever.
12:39 Just got to keep him healthy.
12:40 We need him to pitch. We need him to pitch a lot.
12:42 And, you know, he's really worked on his body.
12:45 He's got so much stronger in the last five months.
12:49 It's been fun watching it.
12:51 And then, you know, we also have a transfer,
12:52 Mason Molina from Texas Tech,
12:54 and his numbers were really good.
12:57 He walked too many batters this fall,
12:59 but we didn't hit him at all.
13:01 I mean, we did not hit him.
13:02 Gave up maybe one or two hits all fall.
13:04 Didn't hardly give up any runs and command the zone better,
13:09 and he really didn't have those breaking ball
13:10 that he had throughout the season last year.
13:14 So, talking about two lefties and a righty, you know,
13:18 you can throw in a couple other guys that are young.
13:21 You can throw in a guy like Ben Bybee has really made a move.
13:25 Gave up some home runs this fall,
13:26 but also was dominant every now and then.
13:29 And, you know, we're just talking starting pitching.
13:32 You know, you can throw in Gabe Gackle as a freshman
13:34 and Tate McGuire as a freshman, Hunter Dietz as a freshman,
13:39 and I don't talk about freshmen a whole lot,
13:40 but those guys are going to pitch a lot.
13:42 And I thought Colin Fisher threw extremely well.
13:45 Parker Coyle was amazing.
13:47 One of the biggest jumps of any pitcher that we've had.
13:51 Had a tremendous summer.
13:54 And I know I'm leaving out some guys, you know, like veterans.
13:57 You know, Will McIntyre, I think his thing
13:59 is going to be out of the bullpen,
14:00 but that's just some potential starter guys,
14:04 and obviously if they're not starting,
14:07 they're going to be pitching somewhere for us.
14:11 Joseph?
14:14 Yeah, Coach, I know you don't really know
14:15 what type of team you have
14:17 until they start playing other teams,
14:18 but have you allowed yourself to kind of start thinking of,
14:20 hey, we're better in this area, maybe we're worse in this area,
14:23 and start comparing and contrasting
14:24 to some of your more recent teams the last few years?
14:27 Well, you know, I think as a coach,
14:29 you're always doing that.
14:30 You're always pondering things,
14:32 thinking about how you can get better.
14:34 Hey, last year we did this or did that.
14:36 But, you know, I think back of -
14:39 I think back to the '22 team,
14:41 how great that infield was.
14:43 And so all fall last year,
14:45 we were talking about that infield.
14:47 How are we going to - we'll never have that infield again.
14:49 They were unbelievable.
14:51 And then all else we did was work and work,
14:53 and our infield was really good in '23 as well,
14:56 fielded like 981.
15:00 So I guess if you're doing your job as a coach,
15:06 you're always thinking into the future.
15:08 You're always trying to correct your deficiencies,
15:11 so to speak, and your weaknesses.
15:13 And, you know, that's what we do.
15:16 But I don't - I don't - I don't see major weaknesses.
15:21 Are we going to have as good of an outfield
15:23 as we had last year on the offensive side?
15:26 Time will tell.
15:27 If we don't do as much damage at the plate with our outfielders,
15:31 we got to pick it up with our infielders and our DH.
15:33 I mean, pitching-wise, you know, I like what I see.
15:38 I like the potential.
15:39 I like the stuff.
15:41 But like you said, they got to go do it
15:42 when we play other teams,
15:43 somebody with a different uniform on,
15:46 on the road in front of their fans.
15:47 There's so many things that, you know, play into this.
15:51 But, I mean, obviously, I think we're -
15:53 and I mentioned it - we're a lot deeper behind the plate.
15:56 We have a lot of good options for our designated hitter.
16:00 I feel like that, you know - example,
16:03 John Bolton did a great job at shortstop for us last year.
16:06 Didn't swing the bat a lot.
16:09 We have a good shortstop.
16:11 He's very dangerous at the plate.
16:13 And so, you know, there's a little give and take.
16:16 Second base, we're going to be fine.
16:17 Third base, we're going to be fine.
16:19 I don't think we've gone backwards very many places,
16:22 if any.
16:23 The outfield is very inexperienced.
16:25 I mean, we lost Tavion Josenberger,
16:28 who's an incredible lead-off man last year.
16:31 We were rolling until he got hurt.
16:33 And then we really struggled.
16:35 By the time he got it going, our season ended.
16:37 And, you know, so that's got to -
16:42 that's still a work in progress, center field, outfield play.
16:46 So - but for the most part, we have enough.
16:51 I'm sure the rest of the league has enough.
16:53 It's going to be who can do it on Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
16:57 Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and we'll see what happens.
17:01 All right, Bob.
17:03 Close it out.
17:04 Hey, Dave, you started to say something about -
17:10 something bothered you,
17:11 and you were talking about handing out the rings.
17:13 What were you -
17:16 Well, what bothered me, I said, we won the SEC Championship,
17:18 and a lot of people didn't even realize that.
17:21 I mean, we won the SEC two out of the last three years,
17:24 whether we tied with Florida or not.
17:26 I just felt like the season ended.
17:28 It was kind of sad. I felt bad for the team.
17:30 They weren't really celebrated.
17:32 They won the SEC Championship in baseball.
17:34 I mean, they beat - LSU won the national championship.
17:37 They had the most talented team in the country.
17:39 They kicked it into gear at the end of the year.
17:41 And - but our guys fought all year long
17:43 with a bunch of injuries, and I was just so proud of them,
17:46 and I told them that yesterday,
17:49 that I haven't been around a bunch of guys
17:51 that fought like they did,
17:53 and when, you know, two pitchers,
17:55 three pitchers go down, a couple position players,
17:57 starters go down, we just kept finding ways to win,
18:00 and giving them that ring was special.
18:04 And, you know, they weren't celebrated at all.
18:07 The season was over, bang, we moved on.
18:09 People were disappointed. I love that team.
18:12 And I wanted to make sure that they felt that from our staff,
18:16 and we tried to get as many of them back
18:19 that weren't still on this team
18:21 to have that little celebration yesterday, kind of privately.
18:25 And, yeah, that's what I said.
18:28 And Kendall, I mean, we know he can hit.
18:30 He seems like he's really come a long way as an outfielder.
18:33 I remember he was on some highlights,
18:36 you know, on ESPN from, I guess, summer ball.
18:38 Just wondering what you think Kendall is defensively.
18:42 He's - I mean, you think about it last year
18:44 when we put him in when we had an injury,
18:47 and that's why he got in the lineup.
18:49 Put him in right field, and, you know, he made the plays,
18:52 but it sure didn't look pretty, did it?
18:54 And he knew it, but he made the plays.
18:56 He fought some ball.
18:58 Then he started - he started smoothing out.
19:00 I mean, this is a guy, when you think about it,
19:02 he played shortstop in high school.
19:05 He came here. We played him at third.
19:07 We played him at second.
19:09 We loved his swing.
19:11 Had a strong arm, a little different arm action,
19:14 maybe for a left-side infielder, more of a lower slot,
19:18 but that's fine.
19:19 There was always somebody a little bit better,
19:21 a little bit better.
19:23 You know, we feel like,
19:24 and we've had some professional people tell us,
19:26 you know, their opinion, that, you know,
19:30 maybe outfield was his thing.
19:31 We started working him out there.
19:32 We were doing it a little bit.
19:34 I asked him after his freshman season
19:36 to go play some outfield before the sophomore year,
19:39 which was last year,
19:41 and he didn't really get to do it with the team he was on.
19:43 So we've been talking to him about it for a while.
19:45 But going out to summer ball,
19:49 playing some of the outfield last year,
19:50 he's really, really made a big jump.
19:54 Defensively, he looks like an outfielder,
19:56 throws like an outfielder,
19:58 and I think he's going to have a great year,
20:01 and I think he's going to hit right in the middle of our order.
20:04 Okay, thanks.
20:06 Jackson, all you.
20:09 Yeah, Coach, obviously, Hagen has had two great years for you,
20:13 but the uptick in velocity has kind of spread over
20:16 on social media and everything.
20:17 I'm just wondering, has anything changed for him,
20:20 whether it's preparation, approach,
20:22 how he goes after hitters now
20:24 with this kind of uptick that he's gotten?
20:26 Yeah, I'd say all of the above, honestly.
20:28 First off, Hagen Smith is probably one of the hardest
20:32 workers I've ever been around,
20:34 and, you know, he's super young for his class.
20:37 I mean, he'll only be 20 years old at the draft,
20:41 and he'll be three years in college.
20:43 So he really worked hard on his body.
20:49 I mean, he already had a great, strong physique,
20:51 but now he's super strong.
20:54 He's put on some really good weight.
20:57 We rested him.
20:58 Yeah, you could say the uptick in velocity,
21:01 he's always had good velocity.
21:02 You know, if he was just our closer,
21:05 and all he did was pitch the eighth or the ninth inning,
21:08 he's going to go 97 to 100, probably pretty much all the time.
21:13 You know, we'd like him to pitch at 93 to 96,
21:16 and he has developed a pitcher, too.
21:19 I won't give away too many details,
21:21 but his arsenal has improved.
21:25 Leadership qualities, work ethic.
21:28 Didn't like the way the season ended last year.
21:32 The kid's a winner, and if the game's on the line,
21:36 he's the guy I want on the mound.
21:39 And real quick, just, you know, we got the SEC,
21:42 the new schedule a month ago or so.
21:45 Just wondering your thoughts, any sadness with, you know,
21:47 maybe not playing some teams not every year
21:50 or just excitement with the new league?
21:53 Yeah, I wouldn't call it sadness,
21:55 but I would -- I mean, I'm not in love with top
22:00 to bottom with that many teams.
22:01 I might have been one of the coaches in the room
22:05 that voiced my opinion
22:07 that I think baseball is about divisions.
22:10 You know, it just seems like we follow MLB on a lot of things,
22:13 rules, this and that, and, you know,
22:16 I would have liked to have seen two divisions
22:18 or four divisions, and, you know, I don't know,
22:22 but it is what it is.
22:25 You know, it's going to be strange if there's a year
22:27 that we don't play Mississippi State or Ole Miss --
22:29 or, excuse me, LSU.
22:32 It'll just be different, but it is what it is.
22:37 It's like we always tell the players,
22:38 you know, who's ever on the schedule,
22:39 that's who we got to go --
22:41 we got to find a way to beat them,
22:42 and don't get too high or too low.
22:46 I think the way the league's set up,
22:48 you bring it in Oklahoma and Texas,
22:50 two established baseball powers,
22:53 national championships won over the years,
22:56 many by Texas, obviously.
23:00 How many teams are going to get into a regional?
23:02 There's going to be some really, really good baseball teams
23:06 that are a lot better than a lot of teams in regionals
23:10 that aren't going to get in because the league is so deep.
23:15 And I don't, you know,
23:17 I don't know if we'll ever get more than ten,
23:19 but really we should probably get 13
23:21 somewhere in there every year.
23:23 And there's going to be a lot of --
23:26 the league is going to be really tight
23:27 when you're looking at number seven through --
23:30 in the league through maybe 16 -- or, excuse me, 14.
23:33 And it's -- I think it's going to be a little bit of chaos,
23:36 but, yeah, going to miss some of those teams here and there.
23:41 And we'll see how it turns out.
23:43 And if it's great, it's great.
23:44 If it's not, I'm sure they'll tweak it
23:46 over the next few years.
23:48 Dudley.
23:51 I know you announced your recruiting class since then.
23:54 Just talk a little bit about, you know,
23:56 what you got done with that and how you and your assistants,
23:59 you know, really put together a pretty good class.
24:02 Yeah, you know, it's the way --
24:04 there's a lot involved in recruiting now, as you know.
24:10 There's 11.7 scholarships.
24:12 There's other ways.
24:15 There's some teams that have a little more than others.
24:18 Just leave it at that.
24:20 It's really hard to put together
24:23 maybe two or three top five-ranked classes.
24:27 We had an incredible class come in this year.
24:32 You know, I just have to be careful
24:33 on how I word all these things.
24:35 But we went out and got some really good players
24:40 that really want to be at Arkansas.
24:44 There's a lot of kids that we felt
24:46 like we probably could have gotten,
24:48 and after talking with them for a while
24:50 and being around them, sometimes financially,
24:52 we just couldn't get them, so to speak.
24:54 So we did the best we could.
24:58 They -- recruits these days, they want to know
25:01 that they have a great opportunity to play now,
25:03 and they see that you have a one- or two-ranked class come in,
25:07 and a couple of guys are there from your --
25:09 that are at their positions.
25:11 You deal with that a little bit.
25:12 You throw in a few other things,
25:13 and, you know, you move to different guys.
25:16 I really like the class we have coming in, athletic,
25:21 some good arms, some solid guys that I think can come in
25:25 and contribute quick.
25:28 Recruiting these days, again, it's never over.
25:31 It wasn't before, but it's even -- it's even more so now.
25:36 You're recruiting until the day we start school, almost,
25:38 because -- just because of the landscape of everything.
25:42 So jumping around on your question a little bit,
25:45 excited about our class, excited to watch them play
25:50 and see how they do this spring
25:51 and try to get as many of those guys to school.
25:55 Appreciate it.
25:56 Oh, it's coming back around, David.
25:58 Yeah, Dave, I was wondering what your reaction
26:00 was to the new Arkansas Edge NIL Collective,
26:04 just kind of what you think about all that.
26:06 I love it.
26:09 We need it. We got to -- we need it.
26:13 You know, can't really talk about it,
26:15 but there's a lot going on in the SEC,
26:19 the ACC, all over the country,
26:20 and you just want to be able to compete for players
26:28 on an equal basis, and, you know,
26:32 that would be huge for our program
26:36 if we knew where we were at with the collective
26:41 and knew what these guys would have an opportunity to,
26:47 you know, come in and get some employment
26:50 and know what they were going to get before they got here.
26:52 It would be big.
26:54 So I'm excited about Edge and them getting to work,
26:59 and, you know, we'll do whatever we can,
27:03 whatever the rules let us do, to point out things and help them.
27:08 I appreciate them a lot, believe me.