When Chip Hale was hired to coach his alma mater in July 2021, the recruiting class for his first season had already been signed eight months earlier. And the first one he and his staff would get to put assemble was thrown together at the last minute, the byproduct of college baseball’s recruiting cycle that until recent rule changes saw many prospects commit as high school freshmen and sophomores.
The one signed Wednesday then can be considered Hale’s first true recruiting class in terms of identifying and pursuing talent from the outset.
“From the day we got the job this class has sort of been the one that we pointed to,” Hale said of the 14-member 2024 recruiting class the Wildcats announced.