FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas received a baseball commitment Sunday from a junior college outfielder who grew up in Van Buren.
Landrey Wilkerson (5-10, 190 pounds) plans to transfer to the Razorbacks from Crowder (Mo.) College. Wilkerson will have three years of eligibility remaining beginning with the 2022 season.
Wilkerson, who hits and throws left handed, is batting .361 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI in 52 games this season at Crowder.
Wilkerson has also drawn 49 walks and has been successful in 11 of 15 stolen base attempts. He has a .525 on-base percentage and is slugging .690.
He was named the NJCAA national player of the week March 31 following an 8-for-15 week during which he had 7 extra-base hits, drew 4 walks and scored 12 runs in 5 games.
Wilkerson played travel baseball for the Arkansas Sticks in high school. Sticks coach Chase Brewster said Wilkerson’s JUCO experience will prepare him for when he plays for the Razorbacks, similar to the way it did for Arkansas starters Matt Goodheart, Brady Slavens and Jalen Battles.
“What Landrey has been able to do coming out of a really good high school that was successful and going to a really good junior college and be successful, I have no doubt that when he gets on campus at Arkansas he will be ready at 21, 22 years old to have a very successful career right away and step in like Matt Goodheart did, or some of these other guys,” Brewster said. “He’s followed in their transitional footsteps. He took the right path and it’s going to show up next spring when he’s ready to play.”
Wilkerson was a four-year letterman at Van Buren High School. He was recruited by Arkansas before he committed to Crowder.
“(Arkansas coaches) were saying I could walk on, and I said I’ll probably just go JUCO,” Wilkerson said. “They said they would keep up with me, so I really just trusted the process.”
Oklahoma State, Texas and others recruited Wilkerson since he began his JUCO career in the shortened 2020 season. He was batting .432 with 6 home runs and 28 RBI in 23 games when the season was shut down.
“Last year I was off to a really hot start and then had to stop playing the best baseball I’ve ever played,” Wilkerson said. “I’m trying to just keep it going, just be myself.”
Wilkerson said he has learned a lot about how to hit and run bases, and that his arm has gotten stronger since enrolling at Crowder. Brewster said that at one point this season Wilkerson was leading all outfielders in his region in assists and putouts.
“He’s had a really big year,” Brewster said. “His arm strength is a lot better from right field. He’s a left-handed hitter, left-handed thrower who can hit in the three, four, five hole for someone — a really good team like Crowder. He can produce whenever they need him both offensively and defensively, which is rare these days to have such a two-way player who plays in the outfield.”