Arizona Baseball in the Mix for Major JuCo Prospect
The 2025 college baseball season is well over and Arizona’s success getting to the College World Series, which featured a Super Regional 2-1 series win over No. 5 seed North Carolina is a massive stepping stone and tone setter for the program moving forward under head coach Chip Hale.
Like we have talked about before, Hale has done a great job of keeping the talent on the roster following the trip to the CWS. Outside of graduating players and players taking the next step to the MLB draft, Arizona will have key players returning, making for an interesting 2026 season.
The starting rotation will have talent coming back in Smith Bailey and Owen Kramkowski set to take on bigger roles after ending the season on a high note with the two combining for 11 innings of work in the CWS and struck out 11 batters while giving up just five runs.
Even with things going in the right direction, that hasn’t stopped Hale from looking across the country and seeing what players the Wildcats can snag in the portal to improve the 2026 roster.
In all, Arizona has been able to bring in eight transfers ahead of the window closing, which has officially closed for the time being.
The players that Arizona has added are pitchers RHP JT Drake (Texas Tech), LHP Luc Fladda (Tulane), RHP Corey Kling (South Florida), LHP Patrick Morris (Western Kentucky). RHP Nolan Straniero (Elon)
Off the mound, the Wildcats have added three position players in INF Tyler Bickers (Milwaukee), C Beau Sylvester (Oklahoma State) and OF Carson McEntire (Oregon State).
Recently, Arizona received a commitment for its 2026 recruiting class in middle infielder Lyndon Lee from Las Vegas, who has been heavily recruited by Hale and his coaching staff.
Lee announced his recruitment on both his X account and Instagram making him the 12 prep commit for the 2026 recruiting class.
“I would like to announce that I have committed to play at the University of Arizona,” said Lee on his commitment post. “A huge thanks to my family, coaches and teammates for their unwavering support.”
Lee comes in at 5-foot-7, 145 pounds and received interest from other Power 4 programs before making his decision to commit to the Wildcats.
Now, the Wildcats and Hale are continuing to work on the 2026 recruiting class and recently had 6-foot-6, 205-pound pitching prospect Collin Smith on campus taking a visit to Arizona's facilities.
This past season, Smith pitched at Cochise College where he made 21 appearances and made six starts going an impressive 8-3 while recording five saves, 92 strikeouts in 86 innings of work.
Huge thank you to @john_derouin22 and the rest of the staff at University of Arizona for having me out! #BearDown #uncommited pic.twitter.com/UUvdGqu3Oq
— Collin Smith (@CollinSmith2024) September 10, 2025
Smith posted a 3.56 ERA with a WHIP of 1.17 while on the mound for his freshman season.
Hale is trying to reload and keep the program on the pace of making tournaments and competing for a spot in the CWS.
Please be sure to share with us your thoughts on Arizona going after a strong 6-foot-6 pitching prospect from the community college ranks. To do so, follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.
Troy Hutchison grew up attending Arizona athletic events, which gave him a unique perspective and knowledge of the athletic department's rich history. He attended UA and began covering the Wildcats in 2018. As the Arizona Wildcats Beat Writer on SI, he is set to deliver wall-to-wall coverage to give fans an in-depth perspective.
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