Arkansas baseball and football commit Connor Noland of Greenwood has a lot on his plate, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.
He was in Little Rock on Tuesday to participate in the Prep Baseball Report Arkansas All-State Showcase at Lamar Porter Field that featured the top prospects in the state. Noland and nine other Arkansas signees or commits were on display.
“You get to see where you’re at,” said Noland, who pitched one scoreless inning. “You’ll go through the season and you might not play really good teams, but you get to gauge yourself out here and really see what you can do against good competition and obviously a better look at the college level.”
Noland (6-2, 190 pounds) batted .340 with 2 home runs and 26 RBI as a junior and also threw 85 strikeouts in 58 innings for an ERA of 0.48 for the Bulldogs. He topped out at 92 mph on the radar gun.
In the fall, Noland completed 151 of 229 passes for 2,095 yards, 18 touchdowns and rushed 122 times for 553 yards in helping Greenwood to a 12-1 record and state runner-up finish.
He left Tuesday’s event early to head back to Greenwood, where he had to get up at 4:55 a.m. for a football workout the next day.
“We usually practice Monday through Wednesday in the morning at 6 to 7:30, and then after practice we usually go eat, and then I usually work out from 9:30 to about 1:30,” Noland said.
ESPN rates Noland a 4-star recruit, the No. 14 pocket-passer and No. 232 overall prospect in the nation. He and three other Hog football commits are recruiting others for the 2018 class.
“We’re talking to a lot of guys and getting the name out there, just trying to get some other people on board,” Noland said. “A lot of people are waiting right now though because they want to wait until their senior year and do the big announcement.”
“They want to take their time. They want to enjoy the process, but I’m ready for it.”
Highly recruited cornerback Ken Montgomery (6-2, 160, 4.58 seconds in the 40-yard dash) of Tampa (Fla.) Hillsborough and offensive lineman Curtis Dunlap (6-5, 350) of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., are just some of the prospects Noland is trying to lure to Fayetteville.
“I've got a good feeling out of him,” Noland said of Montgomery. “He’s been giving us good vibes, so we’ll see how that goes. Curtis Dunlap, I’ve been talking to him, and he really likes Arkansas.”
Noland, who's a candidate to be selected in the 2018 MLB Draft, said a team will have to offer a life-altering amount of money to change his mind about being a Razorback.
“Man, it’s going to take a lot of money — life-changing money,” Noland said. “That’s different for a lot of people, but it’s going to take a large sum to miss out on a college experience like that.”
Noland is impressed with the job Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn and pitching coach Wes Johnson are doing with the 39-15 Hogs going into the SEC Tournament.
“They’re doing great,” Noland said. “Obviously Coach Johnson came in, and I think he’s improved the pitching staff a lot. They’re hitting the ball like crazy and leading in home runs. There’s a lot of things to look at and be happy about, but they have some left in the tank, and they’re going to take it a long way this year.”
He’s confident he can endure the physical and mental demands of playing football and baseball in college.
“Definitely, I think it’s all mental,” Noland said. “Some people can’t handle it. It’s tough. I’m not going to say it’s easy, but you just have to go in with the right mindset and grind it out.”