Arkansas received a nontraditional recruit yesterday. Former MLB player Monte Harrison has reportedly committed to the Razorbacks as a preferred walk-on.
It’s not every day a college football team nabs a commitment from someone ten years older than most Freshmen. In fact, the last time he played football was in 2013.
There’s no question that Harrison was an athlete back in the day. He was a four-star receiver out of high school and initially committed to play at Nebraska. Instead, he opted for the MLB draft right after he graduated and never played a down of college football, making him a 28-year-old freshman.
Between 2014 and 2023, he’s jumped between minor league programs, averaging .240 for 336 RBIs and 90 home runs. He was called up to the majors and had stints with the Marlins and Angels' franchises. During his major league career, he recorded a .176 batting average with six RBIs and two home runs.
The one thing Arkansas is obviously getting with Harrison is speed. In the X (Twitter) post below, Harrison ran from first to home on a double to left-center field.
Monte Harrison will definitely add a lot of speed to the WR room. 1st to 3rd is not an easy thing to do, especially in the MLB pic.twitter.com/6dGDg1dzlS
— Sidelines - Arkansas (@SSN_Arkansas) May 7, 2024
Sam Pittman might have former Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden on his mind when he offered Harrison. Weeden also entered the MLB draft straight out of high school, where he played for four years. He went on to be one of the best QBs to play at Oklahoma State. Harrison is much older than Weeden when decided to try out football again, but as a preferred walk-on, it's a gamble that's much easier to swallow for Arkansas fans.