Can Hogs Get Aidan Miller on Campus Despite Odds Once Again?

Van Horn once beat Hurricane Ian to get coveted player to campus, but he now has to beat MLB

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Jan 5, 2023 11:16 AM EST
Original:
Jan 4, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – While fans are on edge with all of the chaos going on in the world of Razorback football recruiting, this is the time of year that gets especially stressful for Arkansas baseball coach Dave Van Horn.

While college coaches for big time programs usually know who is theoretically on their way to campus come August, there is always concern that as Major League Baseball scouts start putting their final evaluations for this summer's draft over the next few months that one, or in the usual case with Arkansas, several recruits will climb into the upper rounds.

One Razorback recruit scouts will be keeping close tabs on is Aidan Miller of Trinity, Florida.

Miller is a 6-2, 210 walking spotlight. He's a Jackie Robinson Award winner, played on Team USA, can theoretically fill in at any position except catcher and perhaps first base, and has recently been upgraded to the No. 4 high school prospect in the Class of 2023 according to the Perfect Game scouting service.

On paper, Miller looks like he might have long odds to make it to Fayetteville.

However, the odds have been long in him making it to Northwest Arkansas before. Yet, he found a way.

Just days before Miller was to fly to Northwest Arkansas for a visit in late September, Hurricane Ian hit his Tampa Bay area home. The most significant damage was 30 minutes to an hour away, but that didn't leave his community in the Tampa suburbs untouched.

Reports, and soon videos, of the water being sucked out of Tampa Bay by the hurricane left people in awe of mother nature's power as the ocean almost immediately dropped over seven feet along the coast.

"That’s where I was," Miller said. "It was spooky for sure. It was kinda weird. When that happens it goes out and comes back in harder and faster. So when that happens you’re supposed to leave because it’s not safe."

As for his home and surrounding area, things were as well as could be expected.

"They’re all good here," Miller said back in early October. "The high school field is good. The facility where I train at got some flooding."

But one thing that wasn't working out as well as expected was Miller's visit to Arkansas. The hurricane was hours from closing in when it was time to leave, completely ruining flight plans.

"Power was out for three days," Miller said. "We left the day of the storm and came back right after it hit.

"We kinda prepared for it a little bit. When you’re in Florida, as soon as you hear about it on the news the grocery stores are empty and the water is gone."

Also gone was his flight out of Tampa.

"My plane was originally to Atlanta from Tampa, but all the airports shut down in West Florida," Miller said. "We ended up driving all the way to Georgia."

Unfortunately, even his Atlanta flight got cancelled. Yet, instead of giving up, he booked a flight the next day.

While he arrived later than intended, Miller did finally arrive in Fayetteville in time to catch the second half of the fall baseball scrimmage.

Getting there when he did proved valuable.

After the game, Miller got to hang out in the locker room and meet Brady Slavens, Peyton Stovall, Kendall Diggs, and others in the locker room after the game.

He was able to spend more time with Stovall since the second-year infielder was his host, which proved beneficial as Miller will likely face the same decision Stovall had to make a couple of years ago as a highly sought-after MLB prospect.

"I talked to Stovall a lot about his journey, like what he’s learned so far at Arkansas, because he turned down two point something million dollars out of high school and we were kinda talking about that," Miller said. "What his experience has been like, how it's paid out for him and worked out. He loves it there.

"We talked about what the coaches are all about, the campus, everything about the school learning-wise, about his dorm and all that stuff. Pretty much anything you could talk about we kinda talked about.

Miller and his father also got to see the new multi-million dollar facility that hadn't been built when he visited two summers prior and also took in a chance to dive a little deeper with Van Horn, Nate Thompson and Matt Hobbs.

"We talked on the phone all the time about how much he wants me to be there and what I will get when I get there, nutrition-wise, development-wise, everything I will learn more from the coaches and the experience that will come with it," Miller said. "He went more into depth about that."

He spent the next day on the sidelines at the Arkansas vs. Alabama game taking in how much bigger college football players are than normal human beings. The atmosphere was something he loved and wants to experience again when the Razorbacks take on Auburn in basketball if possible.

One other thing Miller wants to be able to do is get a bit of retribution for his girlfriends' antics this past summer. She attends Ole Miss and gave him a hard time about Arkansas losing to the Rebels in the College World Series.

"I 100 percent want just to rub it in her face," Miller said of his desire to win a national championship at Arkansas. "When they beat us in the College World Series last year, she was bragging about it".

Miller's plan to report in June once his high school season is over is a positive sign for Arkansas. It puts him on campus a month before the draft where he looks to take advantage of opportunities that set Arkansas apart on the diamond.

"For sure the development," Miller said. "They have a great nutritionist, a great weight room and a great trainer. They just signed a new trainer – we talked to him a little bit too. The facilities are just unmatched.

"It’s easily the best in college baseball. It’s just a place where I think every player who’s trying to get better in baseball should be. This is the place to be in college baseball."