FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas signed safety Montaric Brown of Ashdown in its 2017 recruiting class and the Razorbacks could add another Panther in the 2018 class with defensive back LaDarius Bishop.
But Ashdown pitcher/quarterback Jaden Hill (6-3, 215) decided to carve out his own path by committing to LSU’s baseball program on Dec. 22 to play baseball and possibly play football.
He had baseball offers from the Razorbacks, LSU, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Missouri and football ones from Missouri, Arkansas State, Louisiana-Monroe at the time of his pledge.
“I kind of knew for sure that Arkansas wasn’t for me so I knew that I wanted to go somewhere out of state,” Hill said at Saturday’s Fab 40 combine in Benton. “My cousin went to LSU - (outfielder) Cedric Harris - and my brother recently had a daughter and she stays in Baton Rouge.
“And just the tradition of the school of winning, I want to be a winner and I think is a top of the line school in the SEC. I just think they have all the tools I need to be successful in life whether it is in the classroom or on the baseball field.”
Hill, who says he made his choice between LSU, Arkansas and Oklahoma, was 4-2 on the mound this spring with a 1.00 ERA while hitting .289 with a homer and 15 RBIs.
That came after he passed for 2,617 yards and 26 touchdowns as a junior and rushed for 366 yards while adding 11 more scores.
If Hill decides to play football as well, Brown could end up playing defense against him down the line.
“(Fayetteville) just didn’t feel like home to me,” Hill said. “It is a great school for a lot of people, Montaric is going there. It is a great school, but just didn’t feel like home.
“And I just want to be part of something different. I kind of felt that Arkansas was kind of the same as Ashdown. I just want to do something different. I tried to be different in everything I do.”
Hill models himself after Carolina quarterback Cam Newton.
“Being normal is boring,” Hill said. “I aspire to be like Cam Newton. Cam Newton is a trendsetter. He is different from everyone, different type of person, different characteristics. I just love those guys like Deion Sanders that catch your attention more than just that guy.”
Hill, whose fastball has touched 94 miles per hour, doesn’t have a favorite sport.
“Sports are my love,” Hill said. “I feel like baseball is the best opportunity for helping my family later on and for my future baseball seems like the better route. But I just love competing whether it is basketball, football or baseball, track or soccer.”
Hill hopes to be taken high in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.
“It was always my dream to get drafted as a kid,” Hill said. “It is anyone’s dream. I plan on that in the future…It comes down to a lot of things, but that is for sure an option for me.”
As solid as Hill is to LSU, he does keep the option of ending up somewhere else if things change.
“I don’t know what could happen in the future with LSU or me or anything,” Hill said. “So I always want to keep my options open with that type of thing.”