By Otis Kirk

FAYETTEVILLE -- After a disappointing finish to the 2026 baseball season, Dave Van Horn has taken massive steps to reload the roster.

Arkansas fell in the Lawrence Regional to host Kansas. Arkansas (41-22) had a season many would feel good about, but by the standards Van Horn has built it was considered widely disappointing. Arkansas' recruiting class is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation by 64Analytics. What a difference a year makes for recruiting.

"It's a good start," Van Horn said Thursday. "So off season, I guess this is the off season. I mean, we've worked every day since we got back from Kansas. It's been nonstop. Obviously discussing things with the players that are coming back and obviously with kids that aren't and we just have to get our roster right as far as what our main needs are. We've got a group of young players that coming in that are out playing a lot of the hitters doing well.

"So we have to have enough. You can't really overdo it. The draft's coming up. There's just so many unknowns right now. We're taking some kids that are draft eligible that when we bring them in and talk to them, it's like they want to go to college another year and now we have the five for five rule passed and it looks like they would have another year of eligibility for a little bargaining power that we feel like can help us maybe sway them to come to school another year."

Van Horn has always dealt with the MLB Draft, but now when adding NIL to the mix it keeps coaches guessing much of the summer. Many of the top recruits Arkansas has signed are draft eligible.

"Yeah, I mean, we're confident we're going to get some through," Van Horn said. "We may get them all through. Some of these kids are going to come out early and start working out and doesn't mean that if they get drafted really high, they're going to stay here, but I think they'll get acclimated and feel comfortable. I don't think these kids are going to sign cheap, especially now when you think about it, you can come in for a year. You have another year of bargaining power. It's like you can make some NIL, make some money on this end, get drafted on that end and makes a lot of sense when you step back and start counting a little bit. So we've got to deal with a lot of really good guys, their families, and it's been a great experience the last couple of weeks."

Van Horn mentions the difference in Arkansas' resources this summer compared to last year.

"We didn't get hardly anybody last year," Van Horn said. "We were playing and we didn't have the resources. Bottom line. This year we have the resources and there's a lot of generous companies, people that want to help us that knew what we were going through a little bit last year and fighting for players. And we've always had a really good reputation with kids around the country, kids that are at other programs about how we can help them achieve their goals, get better here, but sometimes that's not enough. This year it's a little different. Yeah, we'll leave it there."

Van Horn was asked if it took a season like last year to make some fans more generous with their spending to help the baseball program?

"I think that a lot of our really good fans that really, really tune in, follow, know our players," Van Horn said. "They knew that our roster was maybe not as deep as it should be. I would have to answer your yes to that question."

One thing that is abundantly clear with the recruiting so far is that Van Horn is very intent on adding pitchers.

"Yeah, we just need more depth in pitching," Van Horn said. "We need a couple guys that have been through division one baseball a couple of years or even a year. It just adds up. And a couple of guys that are coming in that are going to only be sophomores, they pitched a lot for their team. In on case, one was injured, but when he did pitch, it was good. He's healthy now. Yeah, I mean, we're losing some pitching and we need some guys with experience to step in and help us out. Feel good about a couple, three of the freshmen that are strike throwers because that's usually the issue is throwing it over the plate, but we've got some freshmen coming in that they throw a lot of strikes. We can get them here. There's pro interest in some of these guys and then the returners, they have to take that step forward."

Van Horn hopes the Five for Five rule recently passed helps the team keep more of its signees. The draft burned the Hogs are a particular position last year and Van Horn is hoping to avoid that this season.

"Well, we need these guys, number one," Van Horn said. "Yeah, then there's that big risk of them signing. And we've had that happen to us last year with shortstop. They tell you one thing and do another, but the difference is if it's just, "I just want to go ahead and start my pro career and take my 150 grand or 200," those type of guys, because they take you late after the 10th, 12th round and that's what you get unless they want to have ... They can go over that, but it costs them a little bit, the pro team. Then we get it. These guys aren't telling us that's what they want to do. So we trust them a little bit, but on our end, we can do what the pro people are doing now. How do you think these other teams kept all these good players the last couple years?"

Arkansas will once again open the 2027 season in Arlington.